Re Christiansen [Holland, Special Court (War Criminals) of Arnhem.]

• Jurisdiction: Holanda
• Date: 12 Agosto 1948
• Docket Number: Case No. 160
• Court: Special Criminal Court (Netherlands)

Holland, Special Court (War Criminals) of Arnhem.

Case No. 160

Re Christiansen.

Capitulations — Capitulation of Rijsoord, May 15, 1940 — Legal Effects on Civilian Population — Resistance Contrary to Proclamation — Necessity for Ratification — Reprisals against Innocent Civilian Population.

The Facts.—See Case No. 121. One of the grounds of General Christiansen's defence was that the acts of resistance against which he adopted reprisals were contrary to certain obligations which, he maintained, had been imposed on the population of the occupied Netherlands as the result of the capitulation of the Dutch Army signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch forces, General Winkelman, at Rijsoord on May 15, 1940.

Held: that this plea must fail. The only relevant provision in the capitulation was Article 5, which imposed on the Commander-in-Chief, who accepted the conditions in the name of the Dutch armed forces, the obligation of issuing to the population a proclamation instructing them to refrain from attacking the army of...