Commentaries: Art. 264c

The penalty is a custodial sentence of not less than five years for any person who commits a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949¹in connection with an international armed conflict by carrying out any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the Conventions:
1. intentional homicide;
2. hostage taking;
3. causing severe pain or suffering or serious injury, whether physical or mental, in particular by torture, inhuman treatment or biological experiments;
4. extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
5. compelling a person to serve in the forces of a hostile power;
6. unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
7. denying the right to a fair and regular trial before the imposition or execution of a severe penalty.
Acts in terms of paragraph 1 committed in connection with a non-international armed conflict are equivalent to serious violations of international humanitarian law if they are directed against a person or property protected by international humanitarian law.
In especially serious cases, and in particular where the offence affects a number of persons or the offender acts in a cruel manner, a custodial sentence of life may be imposed.
In less serious cases under paragraph 1 letters c–g, a custodial sentence of not less than one year may be imposed.

Geneva Convention of 12 Aug. 1949 for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (GA I),SR 0.518.12 ; Geneva Convention of 12 Aug. 1949 for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea (GA II),SR 0.518.23 ; Geneva Convention of 12 Aug. 1949 relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (GA III),SR 0.518.42 ; Geneva Convention of 12 Aug. 1949 relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (GA IV),SR 0.518.51 . ↩

Art. 264c