Chapter 13. Specifically prohibited acts in occupied territory

This chapter examines two specific prohibited acts in occupied territory: deportation or forcible transfer of protected persons; and forced labour. With respect to the former issue, there is ample body of case-law, which is derived both from the international jurisprudence and from national case-law, which has engendered complex doctrinal discourse on specific elements of deportation or forcible transfer. The chapter reviews general principles on this matter. The occupying powers take measures of temporary evacuation of civilians, total or partial when their presence is deemed as obstacle to military operations. When drafted in 1949, specific rules embodied under Article 49 Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV) were innovative and not reflective of pre-existing customary international law. The drafters broadened the scope of prohibited acts to encompass acts going beyond the Nazi practice, such as the individual deportation of civilians in an occupied territory, or the forcible transfer of civilians within the occupied territory.Keywords: customary international law; forced labour; forcible transfer; occupied territory; protected persons; specifically prohibited acts; temporary evacuation