The
latter kind of murder is the killing of the innocent inhabitants of a
village because shots have been fired, or are alleged to have been
fired, on the troops by some one in the village. For this practice no
previous example and no justification have been or can be pleaded.
Soldiers suppressing an insurrection may have sometimes slain civilians
mingled with insurgents, and Napoleon's forces in Spain are said to have
now and then killed promiscuously when trying to clear guerrillas out of
a village. But in Belgium large bodies of men, sometimes including the
Burgomaster and the priest, were seized, marched by officers to a spot
chosen for the purpose, and there shot in cold blood, without any
attempt at trial or even inquiry, under the pretense of inflicting
punishment upon the village, though these unhappy victims were not even
charged with having themselves committed any wrongful act, and though,
in some cases at least, the village authorities had done all in their
power to prevent any molestation of the invading force. Such acts are no
part of war, for innocence is entitled to respect even in war. They are
mere murders, just as the drowning of the innocent passengers and crews
on a merchant ship is murder and not an act of war.
Pages:
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496