“Reprisals.”
As regards the admissibility of reprisals, it is to be remarked that these are objected to by numerous teachers of international law on grounds of humanity. To make this a matter of principle, and apply it to every case exhibits, however, “a misconception due to intelligible but exaggerated and unjustifiable feelings of humanity, of the significance, the seriousness and the right of war. It must not be overlooked that here also the necessity of war, and the safety of the State are the first consideration, and not regard for the unconditional freedom of prisoners from molestation.”[56]
One must not be too scrupulous.
That prisoners should only be killed in the event of extreme necessity, and that only the duty of self-preservation and the security of one’s own State can justify a proceeding of this kind is to-day universally admitted. But that these considerations have not always been decisive is proved by the shooting of 2,000 Arabs at Jaffa in 1799 by Napoleon; of the prisoners in the rising of La Vendée; in the Carlist War; in Mexico, and in the American War of Secession, where it was generally a case of deliverance from burdensome supervision and the difficulties of maintenance; whereas peoples of a higher morality such as the Boers in our own days, finding themselves in a similar position, have preferred to let their prisoners go. For the rest, calamities such as might lead to the shooting of prisoners are scarcely likely to happen under the excellent conditions of transport in our own time and the correspondingly small difficulty of feeding them—in a European campaign.[57]
The end of Captivity.
The captivity of war comes to an end:
1. By force of circumstances which de facto determine it, for example, successful escape, cessation of the war, or death.
2. By becoming the subject of the enemy’s state.
3. By release, whether conditional or unconditional, unilateral or reciprocal.
4. By exchange.
As to 1. With the cessation of the war every reason for the captivity ceases, provided there exist no special grounds for another view. It is on that account that care should be taken to discharge prisoners immediately. There remain only prisoners sentenced to punishment or awaiting trial, i.e., until the expiation of their sentence or the end of their trial as the case may be.
As to 2. This pre-supposes the readiness of the State to accept the prisoner as a subject.
Parole.