Implementation of Geneva Conventions Act, 2012
R 385
Prohibition or Restriction of Certain Conventional Weapons Act, 2008 (Act No. 18 of 2008)Chapter 2 : Prohibitions or Restrictions, Offences and Penalties6. Mines, booby-traps or other devices |
| (1) | No person may use or direct any mine, booby-trap or other device— |
| (a) | which is designed or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering; |
| (b) | which employs a mechanism or device specifically designed to detonate the munition by the presence of commonly available mine detectors as a result of their magnetic or other non-contact influence during normal use in detection operations; |
| (c) | in any city, town, village or other area containing a similar concentration of civilians in which combat between ground forces is not taking place or does not appear to be imminent, unless either— |
| (i) | such mine, booby-trap or other device is placed on or directed against a military objective; or |
| (ii) | measures are taken to protect civilians from their effects; |
| (d) | either in offence, defence or by way of reprisals, against the civilian population or against individual civilians or civilian objects; |
| (e) | in an indiscriminate manner— |
| (i) | which is not on or directed against a military objective, and in case of doubt as to whether an object which is normally dedicated to civilian purposes, such as a place of worship, a house or other dwelling or a school, is being used to make an effective contribution to military action, it shall be presumed not to be used; or |
| (ii) | which employs a method or means of delivery which cannot be directed at a specific military objective; or |
| (iii) | which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. |
| (2) | No person may use booby-traps or other devices— |
| (a) | which are in any way attached to or associated with— |
| (i) | internationally recognised protective emblems, signs or signals; |
| (ii) | sick, wounded or dead persons; |
| (iii) | burial or cremation sites or graves; |
| (iv) | medical facilities, medical equipment, medical supplies or medical transportation; |
| (v) | children's toys or other portable objects or products specially designed for the feeding, health, hygiene, clothing or education of children; |
| (vi) | food or drink; |
| (vii) | kitchen utensils or appliances, except in military establishments, military locations or military supply depots; |
| (viii) | objects of a religious nature; |
| (ix) | historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples; or |
| (x) | animals or their carcasses; |
| (b) | in the form of apparently harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material. |
| (3) | No person may use a self-deactivating mine equipped with an anti-handling device that is designed in such a manner that the anti-handling device is capable of functioning after the mine has ceased to be capable of functioning. |
| (4) | No person may use remotely delivered mines unless they are, to the extent feasible, equipped with an effective self-destruction or self-neutralisation mechanism and have a back-up self-deactivation feature, which is designed so that the mine will no longer function as a mine when the mine no longer serves the military purpose for which it was placed in position. |
