Source: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_cou_us_rule65
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 08:54:39+00:00

Document:
Since situations of distress occur during times of armed conflict, as well as peace, and frequently suggest that the persons involved are hors de combat, feigning distress or death, wounds or sickness in order to resume hostilities constitutes perfidy in ground combat. However, a sick or wounded combatant does not commit perfidy by calling for and receiving medical aid even though he may intend immediately to resume fighting … In aerial warfare, it is forbidden to improperly use internationally recognized distress signals to lure the enemy into a false sense of security and then attack.
United States, Air Force Pamphlet 110-31, International Law – The Conduct of Armed Conflict and Air Operations, US Department of the Air Force, 1976, § 8-6(a); see also § 8-3(a).
It is a violation of the law of armed conflict to kill, injure or capture the enemy … by feigning shipwreck, sickness, [or] wounds … A surprise attack by a person feigning shipwreck, sickness, or wounds undermines the protected status of those rendered incapable of combat … Such acts of perfidy are punishable war crimes.
United States, The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations, NWP 1-14M/MCWP 5-2.1/COMDTPUB P5800.7, issued by the Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Headquarters, US Marine Corps, and Department of Transportation, US Coast Guard, October 1995 (formerly NWP 9 (Rev. A)/FMFM 1-10, October 1989), § 12.7.
It is a violation of the law of armed conflict to kill, injure, or capture the enemy … by feigning shipwreck, sickness, [or] wounds … A surprise attack by a person feigning shipwreck, sickness, or wounds undermines the protected status of those rendered incapable of combat. Such acts of perfidy are punishable war crimes.
The US Manual for Military Commissions (2010), Part IV, Crimes and Elements, states: “One may commit an act of treachery or perfidy by, for example … feigning incapacitation by wounds or sickness”.
United States, Field Manual 27-10, The Law of Land Warfare, US Department of the Army, 18 July 1956, as modified by Change No. 1, 15 July 1976, § 467.
United States, Field Manual 27-10, The Law of Land Warfare, US Department of the Army, 18 July 1956, as modified by Change No. 1, 15 July 1976, § 504(b).
The US Air Force Pamphlet (1976) considers the feigning of surrender as a perfidious act.
The use of a … white flag in order to deceive or mislead the enemy, or for any other purpose other than to … surrender, has long been recognized as an act of treachery … [This] expresses the customary and conventional law in this area.
United States, Air Force Pamphlet 110-31, International Law – The Conduct of Armed Conflict and Air Operations, US Department of the Air Force, 1976, § 8-6(a).
In addition to the grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the following acts are representative of situations involving individual criminal responsibility: … treacherous request for quarter.
example of a treacherous act would be pretending to surrender in order to facilitate an attack upon an unsuspecting enemy. Such tactics are prohibited because they destroy the basis for the restoration of peace short of the complete destruction of one side or the other.
United States, The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations, NWP 1-14M/MCWP 5-2.1/COMDTPUB P5800.7, issued by the Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Headquarters, US Marine Corps, and Department of Transportation, US Coast Guard, October 1995 (formerly NWP 9 (Rev. A)/FMFM 1-10, October 1989), § 6.2.5(12).
IMPROPERLY USING A FLAG OF TRUCE.
United States, Manual for Military Commissions, published in implementation of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, 10 U.S.C. §§ 948a, et seq., 18 January 2007, Part IV, § 6(18), p. IV-14.
The Handbook further states that “[t]reacherous request[s] for quarter (i.e., feigning surrender in order to gain a military advantage)” are examples of acts that could be considered war crimes.
United States, Manual for Military Commissions, published in implementation of Chapter 47A of Title 10, United States Code, as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2009, 10 U.S.C, §§ 948a, et seq., 27 April 2010, § 5(18), p. IV-15.
The manual also states: “One may commit an act of treachery or perfidy by, for example, feigning an intent to negotiate under a flag of truce or a surrender”.
(18) IMPROPERLY USING A FLAG OF TRUCE.—Any person subject to this chapter who uses a flag of truce to feign an intention to negotiate, surrender, or otherwise suspend hostilities when there is no such intention shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.
United States, Military Commissions Act, 2006, Public Law 109-366, Chapter 47A of Title 10 of the United States Code, 17 October 2006, p. 120 Stat. 2629, § 950v(b)(18).
[I]ndividual acts of perfidy did occur. On one occasion, Iraqi soldiers waved a white flag and laid down their weapons. When a Saudi Arabian patrol advanced to accept their surrender, it was fired upon by Iraqi forces hidden in buildings on either side of the street. During the same battle, an Iraqi officer approached Coalition forces with his hands in the air, indicating his intention to surrender. When near his would-be-captors, he drew a concealed pistol from his boot, fired, and was killed during the combat that followed.
“(18) IMPROPERLY USING A FLAG OF TRUCE.—Any person subject to this chapter who uses a flag of truce to feign an intention to negotiate, surrender, or otherwise suspend hostilities when there is no such intention shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.
United States, Military Commissions Act, 2009, § 950t(18).
The white flag has traditionally indicated a desire to communicate with the enemy … It raises expectations that the particular struggle is at an end or close to an end since the only proper use of the flag of truce or white flag in international law is to communicate to the enemy a desire to negotiate. Thus, the use of a flag of truce or white flag in order to deceive or mislead the enemy, or for any other purpose other than to negotiate … has long been recognized as an act of treachery … [This] expresses the customary and conventional law in this area.
United States, Air Force Pamphlet 110-31, International Law – The Conduct of Armed Conflict and Air Operations, US Department of the Air Force, 1976, § 8-6(a)(2); see also § 8-3(a).
The US Naval Handbook (2007) states that “use of the white flag to gain a military advantage over the enemy is unlawful”.
“(18) IMPROPERLY USING A FLAG OF TRUCE.—Any person subject to this chapter who uses a flag of truce to feign an intention to negotiate, … or otherwise suspend hostilities when there is no such intention shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.

References: § 8
 § 8
 § 12
 § 467
 § 504
 § 8
 § 6
 § 6
 § 5
 § 950
 § 950
 § 8
 § 8