The act of killing, injuring or capturing an adversary in an armed conflict by resorting to an act inviting the adversary's confidence that they are entitled to protection under international humanitarian law, such as feigning surrender, feigning civilian or non-combatant status, or misusing a protected emblem such as the Red Cross or a flag of truce, with the intent to betray that confidence. It is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols and recognized as a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and is legally distinguished from a lawful ruse of war, such as the use of camouflage, decoys or misleading transmissions, which is permitted precisely because it does not invite the adversary's confidence in a legal protection.
Facts
Elements of OffenseAn act that invites the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe he is entitled to, or obliged to accord, protection under international humanitarian law, with intent to betray that confidence, as defined by Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions 1 Classification
Offense GradeSerious or Indictable Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
Sources
1. Perfidy (Wikipedia)
Definition section, quoting Additional Protocol IQuote, Definition section, quoting Additional Protocol I
invite the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, with intent to betray that confidence.
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