Deneb Accords

The Deneb Accords were the interstellar agreement concerning the law of war in the Post Diaspora era. Historians sometimes noted the similarity in spirit of the Geneva ConventionsPre-Diaspora law of war was the Hague Conventions in fact. of Pre-Diaspora Earth.
== Signatory star nations ==
Many civilized worlds, perhaps even most when considering the size of the Solarian League, agreed to the Deneb Accords.Exceptions among spacegoing nations included Masada and, probably covertly, Mesa. The Accords were in force, at least formally, on both sides during the First Manticoran-Havenite War, and the Solarian League acted, at least nominally, as the neutral monitoring party. (, )
== Subjects ==
The Deneb Accords were strictly applied to wars declared between star nations.
* Combatants acting without the legal orders of their own government were not protected by such law. ()
* Commerce raiders were entitled to be protected like prisoners of war when they operated under the legal orders of their own government. Such provision probably included privateers also, though there were cases of privateers being treated as pirates due to the reality of their political sponsors. (, , , )
:For example personnel of Task Force 496, SLN, captured at the Battle of Spindle, were not automatically subject to the Deneb Accords.
== Section 27 ==
Section 27 dealt with the treatment of prisoners of war.Another such agreement was the Geneva Convention on Old Earth. It specifically prohibited criminal proceedings (including trial) against enemy personnel in time of war.
=== Subsection 41 ===
Subsection 41Also referred to as Article 41 defined an exception to the POW protection rules established in Section 27. A POW's status as a prisoner of war could be vacated if there were prior proceedings (convictions, sentences, etc) which predated the present conflict. Thus, such situations could, in essence, continue as though the conflict did not exist; continuation of judicial or penal business as usual. ()
:The Deneb Accords had been amended by that provision after the Kersey Association's war against the Manitoban Republic. The Kerseyites put convicted Manitoban murderers into uniform and then claimed their status as prisoners of war protected them from the execution of their sentences.
:In 1911 PD, Havenite Secretary of Public Information Cordelia Ransom exercised Subsection 41 to transfer Commodore Honor Harrington, RMN, from military custody into the hands of the Office of State Security, in order to execute her on the grounds that Harrington had been convicted of murder committed in 1901 PD, prior to the start of the current conflict.Harrington's prosecution and conviction (in absentia) was primarily a public relations exercise to blunt the Manticoran claim that a Havenite Q-ship had precipitated the Basilisk terminus takeover attempt.
=== Subsection 42 ===
:Nullum crimen sine lege.
Subsection 42 allowed wartime trials for violations of local (pre-occupation) law.
:This prevented ex post facto trials under the later laws.
:Most legal authorities interpreted this to mean that those accused of violations should be tried in civilian courts following the end of hostilities. However, due to an unusual and emergency situation Admiral Honor Harrington decided to establish a military court, and appoint to it officers drawn from those imprisoned on Hades.
:The military tribunal on Hades tried StateSec personnel under the criminal law of the People's Republic of Haven, in accord with provisions of the People's Uniform Code of Conduct and the Field Regulations. ()
== Other provisions concerning POWs ==
=== Notification of capture ===
Belligerents were obliged to notify the monitors of the capture of prisoners, especially those with high status or value. (, )
=== Assault on captors ===
POWs who assaulted their captors other than in escape attempts, or in self-defense, forfeited the protections of the Accords, though the punishment for such actions could not be capital, even for murder. ()
:Provoked incident was an excuse to explain, why senior personnel of Allied Cruiser Squadron 18 weren't transferred into regular POW camp, but taken into custody by the Havenite Office of State Security. It seems it was a case without precedent however:
:* it wasn't mentioned that any combatant bonded treecat was captured earlier,
:* Nimitz' unique status was not claimed before captors and recognized by them, like:
:** a minor child, protected by the Constitution of the Star Kingdom of Manticore,
:** a bonded person, recognized and recorded by the Royal Manticoran Navy,
:* the Havenite government did not recognize Nimitz as a sentient creature; Cordelia Ransom of the Committee of Public Safety issued orders to shoot him immediately with the excuse that POWs should not possess pets,
:* self-defense issue:
:** the only person entitled to act in direct self-defense was Nimitz,
:** because of their bonding, Commodore Harrington was forced to defend Nimitz,
:** Grayson law obliged members of the Harrington Guard to defend their steadholder,
:** not all present CruRon 18 personnel made an assault on StateSec functionaries.
=== POW camp monitoring ===
Places where prisoners of war were detained had to be monitored by a neutral party, typically a monitoring power. ()
:During both the First and Second Havenite-Manticoran War, the Solarian League monitored both sides' treatment of prisoners, at least nominally. The People's Republic of Haven notified it of captured combatants kept in the POW camps managed by the People's Navy only. Prisoners kept in the prisons managed by the Havenite Office of State Security were not monitored.Cordelia Ransom unofficially viewed the Accords as "archaic remnants of the plutocratic past", and only followed them because of the anticipated damage to the PRH's public image should they be prominently violated.
=== Exchange of prisoners ===
The Deneb Accords also regulated the exchange of a prisoner of war between belligerent parties. ()
:There was no exchange of prisoners during the First Havenite-Manticoran War. Exchange occurred during the truce however. ()
=== Parole ===
Conditions of a parole were binding until proper exchange of paroled Prisoner of war. The Charleston Center referenced the Greenbriar-Chanticleer War when it created an exception to the accords. ()
===Torture===
Torture was outlawed. 
===Psych adjustment===
Psych adjustment was outlawed, however nations had to constantly improve counter-techniques. ()
== Other rules of the interstellar law of war ==
There were some issues concerning the interstellar law of war without referring to the Deneb Accords.
===Surrender===
Once a warship had surrendered by "strike the wedge"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striking_the_colors, it was expected that it would end resistance. The surrendering ship was required to obey the demands of the victor. The computer systems could be destroyed if no demands were made, the computer systems had to be spared if demands were made. (, , , , , , , )
=== Unlawful assault ===
Assaulted party was entitled to scuttle warships belonged to assaulter. ()
===Communication===
Consular dispatch bags had diplomatic immunity regardless of the carrier. ()
Interstellar conventions concerning illegal access of communications, there were at least "half a dozen" laws and rules. ()
Illegal computer access of diplomatic courier ships. ()
===Territorial Limit===
There was a "twelve-hour limit" concerning naval deployments on the borders of interstellar borderlines in space. ()
=== Neutral territory ===
The armed vessels of belligerent powers were to leave the sovereign territory of neutral powers within forty-eight T-hours of notice being given by one party to the conflict. A system's territorial limit extended half a standard light-day from its primary. ()
:After that time limit expired, combat on the neutral territory was legitimate, if a party to the conflict had not obeyed the requirement to leave a neutral territory.
:If a neutral authority refused to give the required notice, its territory lost neutral status.
Article Eighty-Five, Section Seven of the Accords states that a neutral power has the authority to intern a belligerent warship in their territory, especially if the warship in question has completed all of her repairs and is using the neutral territory as a hiding place. Further more, Article Eighty-Five, Section Seven, Clause Three permits a belligerent power to assume hostile intent even in neutral territory if approached by a warship of another belligerent, a principal that was upheld by the Solarian admiralty court in Solarian League-vs-Allenton System. ()
===Interception and Examination of Suspect Starships===
Most star nations maintained the legal right to intercept and examine any suspect vessel within the borders of their territorial space.
For centuries, the Republic of Haven advocated the legal claim that the right of examination of its vessels in foreign territory meant no more than the right to interrogate a ship by signal unless it intended to touch or had, since its last inspection, in fact touched the territory of the star system in which the examination was demanded. Since beginning its expansionist era, the Republic had changed its position with its own borders to the one accepted by most of the rest of the galaxy: that the right of examination meant the right to physically stop and search a suspect ship within the examiner's territorial space regardless of its past or intended movements. Haven had not accepted however that interpretation in other star nations' territory in a double standard that even irritated the Solarian League. ()
===Survivors===
It was forbidden to shoot at shipwrecked persons. (, , )
===Orbital Attack===
While it was customary to allow for a partial evacuation, orbital industry could legally be attacked once the orbitals of a planet were within firing range without permitting civilians time to evacuate.As an example, see the Second Battle of Basilisk At least six interstellar treaties, several rules of interstellar law, and the Constitution of the Solarian League placed restrictions on the destruction of orbital industry however.As stated in Operation Buccaneer. (,,)
===Planetary Attack===
The interstellar law of war concerning the protection of civilians was influenced by Amendment 97 of the Constitution of the Solarian League called the Eridani Edict. ()
== References ==
Category:Law
Category:Military