Practice question
During a qualifying non-international armed conflict, an armed unit detains civilians who take no active part in hostilities. Its commander orders their execution without any judgment by a regularly constituted court or indispensable judicial guarantees. The commander argues that absence of a formal declaration of interstate war bars section 4(b). Which answer is best?
- The absence of interstate war defeats every RA 9851 charge.
- Detention automatically converts civilians into lawful execution targets.
- Section 4(b) addresses non-international conflict and expressly prohibits the stipulated sentences and executions without the required guarantees.
- Any commander's order is equivalent to a judicial judgment.
- Civilian status is irrelevant to every war-crime provision.
Legal references
- Republic Act No. 9851, sections 3–6 and 10, https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2009/ra_9851_2009.html
- Rome Statute, Articles 6–8 (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes), https://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/cstatute.htm
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