Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 123.djvu/2626

 123STA T . 2 60 6 PUBLIC LA W 111 –84—O CT. 28 , 200 9‘ ‘ 950s.Convict ion o fle sse r offenses. ‘‘950t. Cri m es tri ab leb y military commission. ‘ ‘ §950p.Defin i t i o n s;c onst ru ction of cert a in offenses; co m mon circumstances ‘ ‘ (a)DEFIN I T I O N S.—Inthis s ubc ha p t er: ‘‘( 1 ) T he ter m ‘mi l itar yo b j ecti v e ’ means combatants an d those objects durin g hostilities w hich , by their nature, location, purpose, or use, e f fectively contribute to the war - fighting or war-sustaining capability of an opposing force and whose total or partial destruction, capture, or neutrali z ation would con- stitute a definite military advantage to the attac k er under the circumstances at the time of an attack. ‘‘( 2 ) The term ‘protected person’ means any person entitled to protection under one or more of the G eneva C onventions, including civilians not taking an active part in hostilities, mili- tary personnel placed out of combat by sickness, wounds, or detention, and military medical or religious personnel. ‘‘( 3 ) The term ‘protected property’ means any property specifically protected by the law of war, including buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science, or charitable pur- poses, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, but only if and to the e x tent such property is not being used for military purposes or is not otherwise a military objective. The term includes objects properly identified by one of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions, but does not include civilian property that is a military objective. ‘‘(b) CONST RUC TION OF CERT A IN O FFENSES.—The intent re q uired for offenses under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), ( 4 ), and (12) of section 950 t of this title precludes the applicability of such offenses with regard to collateral damage or to death, damage, or injury incident to a lawful attack. ‘‘(c) CO M MON CIRCUMSTANCES.— A n offense specified in this sub- chapter is triable by military commission under this chapter only if the offense is committed in the context of and associated with hostilities. ‘‘(d) E FFECT.—The provisions of this subchapter codify offenses that have traditionally been triable by military commission. This chapter does not establish new crimes that did not exist before the date of the enactment of this subchapter, as amended by the N ational Defense Authorization Act for F iscal Y ear 2010, but rather codifies those crimes for trial by military commission. B ecause the provisions of this subchapter codify offenses that have tradition- ally been triable under the law of war or otherwise triable by military commission, this subchapter does not preclude trial for offenses that occurred before the date of the enactment of this subchapter, as so amended. ‘‘§ 950 q. P rincipa l s ‘‘Any person punishable under this chapter who— ‘‘(1) commits an offense punishable by this chapter, or aids, abets, counsels, commands, or procures its commission ‘‘(2) causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him would be punishable by this chapter; or ‘‘(3) is a superior commander who, with regard to acts punishable by this chapter, knew, had reason to know, or