Tokens: I
am
a
little
bit
more
hesitant
to
answer
that
in
the
affirmative
.
As
I
pointed
out
above
,
it
is
understandable
that
the
Partisans
did
not
want
the
betrayal
and
massacre
of
their
fellow
Partisans
to
remain
unpunished
.
It
is
also
clear
from
the
facts
that
Kononov
's
commandos
only
reacted
against
those
villagers
in
whose
homes
weapons
supplied
by
the
Germans
had
been
found
–
a
fact
which
made
it
altogether
reasonable
to
consider
them
as
collaborators
.
And
yes
,
as
a
member
of
the
Partisans
–
someone
who
must
be
considered
a
combatant
–
he
should
have
been
aware
of
the
applicable
jus
in
bello
rules
,
as
is
explained
in
paragraph
121
of
the
judgment
.
One
of
these
rules
expressly
requires
the
rights
of
the
civilian
population
,
which
is
not
engaged
in
the
hostilities
itself
,
to
be
respected
.
But
what
if
one
has
strong
reasons
to
believe
that
certain
civilians
have
actively
collaborated
with
the
enemy
to
such
an
extent
that
they
have
betrayed
fellow
Partisans
and
thus
caused
their
cruel
deaths
?
And
what
if
these
civilians
–
who
,
what
is
more
,
are
one
's
own
compatriots
–
are
armed
by
the
selfsame
enemy
one
is
fighting
as
a
Partisan
?
Are
they
still
entitled
to
the
same
level
of
protection
as
real
non
-
combatants
?
Or
can
they
be
equated
with
the
enemy
itself
,
that
is
,
considered
enemy
combatants
?
To
carry
this
argument
further
,
can
the
applicant
still
argue
,
as
he
did
,
that
the
villagers
were
not
the
enemy
but
his
compatriots
?
Are
there
acceptable
,
or
indeed
common
-
sense
answers
to
these
questions
?
With
some
hesitation
I
come
to
the
conclusion
that
–
whatever
the
status
of
the
villagers
who
had
betrayed
the
first
Partisan
group
and
who
had
accepted
weapons
from
the
German
occupying
forces
–
the
applicant
should
have
been
aware
that
,
even
in
the
very
specific
circumstances
of
the
case
,
the
reprisals
and
the
way
they
were
performed
could
not
be
justified
.
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