Article 613 of the Penal Code

  Penal Code

1. Anyone who, during an armed conflict, carries out or orders any of the following actions will be punished with a prison sentence of four to six years:

a) Attack or cause reprisals or acts of hostility against cultural property or places of worship that constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples, provided that such property or places are not located in the immediate vicinity of a military objective or are not used in support of the adversary's military effort and are properly marked;

b) Improperly use the cultural property or places of worship referred to in letter a) in support of a military action;

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c) Appropriates on a large scale, steals, loots or carries out acts of vandalism against the cultural property or places of worship referred to in letter a);

d) Attack or make the civilian property of the adverse party the subject of reprisals or acts of hostility, causing its destruction, provided that this does not offer, in the circumstances of the case, a defined military advantage or that such property does not contribute effectively to the military action of the adversary;

e) Attack, destroy, remove or disable property essential for the survival of the civilian population, unless the adverse party uses such property in direct support of a military action or exclusively as a means of subsistence for members of its armed forces;

f) Attack or retaliate against works or facilities that contain dangerous forces, when such attacks could cause the release of those forces and consequently cause significant losses in the civilian population, unless such works or facilities are used in regular, significant and direct support of military operations and that such attacks are the only feasible means of ending such support;

g) Destroys, damages or seizes, without military necessity, things that do not belong to him, forces another to hand them over or carries out any other acts of plunder;

h) Seizes, improperly or unnecessarily, movable or immovable property in occupied territory or destroys a non-military ship or aircraft, and its cargo, of an adverse or neutral party or captures them, in violation of the international standards applicable to armed conflicts in the sea;

i) Attack or carry out acts of hostility against the facilities, material, units, private residence or vehicles of any member of the personnel referred to in paragraph 10 of the article 612 or threatens such attacks or acts of hostility to force a natural or legal person to perform or refrain from performing any act.

2. When the attack, reprisal, act of hostility or misuse involves cultural property or places of worship under special protection or to which protection has been granted under special agreements, or immovable cultural property or places of worship under reinforced protection or its immediate surroundings, the higher sentence may be imposed.

In the other cases provided for in the previous section of this article, the higher penalty may be imposed when extensive and important destruction is caused to the property, works or facilities on which it falls or in cases of extreme seriousness.

art 613 cp