Democratic lawmaker condemns Hegseth’s call for ‘no quarter’ for US enemies
Defense secretary appeared to endorse killing prisoners, a violation of international law, during press briefing
A top Democratic lawmaker with a military background has reacted strongly to US defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s call for “no quarter” for US enemies during a Friday press briefing at the Pentagon, calling such an order – if followed by troops – a potential violation of international law.
The US senator Mark Kelly, of Arizona, posted on Friday on X that “‘No quarter’ isn’t some wanna be tough guy line – it means something. An order to give no quarter would mean to take no prisoners and kill them instead.”
Kelly added: “That would violate the law of armed conflict. It would be an illegal order. It would also put American service members at greater risk. Pete Hegseth should know better than to throw around terms like this.”
According to a transcript of the briefing, Hegseth said: “We will keep pressing, keep pushing, keep advancing – no quarter, no mercy for our enemy.”
Critics of Hegseth say the phrase “no quarter” is more than a belligerent figure of speech, implying that enemy combatants will not be taken prisoner but instead executed. Under the Hague Convention of 1899, that is considered a war crime.
An amendment to the convention, from 1907, states that “it is especially forbidden … to declare that no quarter will be given”.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), global “humanitarian law prohibits the use of this procedure, that is, ordering that there shall be no survivors, threatening the adversary therewith, or conducting hostilities on this basis”.
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