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cannibalism of dead bodies is prohibited. 132 In addition, posing with bodies for photographs orleaving a “calling card” on a body are also inconsistent with the respectful treatment of the dead.7.7.1.2 Prohibition Against Booby-Trapping Dead Bodies. The dead may not bebooby-trapped. 1337.7.2 Handling of Personal Effects Belonging to Enemy Dead. During internationalarmed conflict, personal property recovered from enemy dead becomes the property of therecovering State for the purpose of returning it to the next-of-kin of the deceased.7.7.2.1 Measures to Prevent the Dead From Being Despoiled. At all times, andparticularly after an engagement, parties to the conflict shall, without delay, take all possiblemeasures to prevent the dead from being despoiled. 134 This means that the personal effects ofdeceased persons may not be pillaged or otherwise taken without proper authorization. 135Individuals are not entitled to retain the personal effects of a deceased person as “booty”;the individual military member or person accompanying the armed forces who captures or findsenemy property acquires no title or claim. 1367.7.2.2 Forwarding Valuable Articles Found on the Dead. Parties to the conflictshall collect and forward, through the National POW Information Bureau, one-half of the double132 For example, H. Wayne Elliott, The Third Priority: The Battlefield Dead, ARMY LAWYER 3, 14 (Jul. 1996)(“Reports of the mutilation of bodies, particularly cutting the ears off dead enemy soldiers, also circulated. Onesuch incident was filmed and shown on the CBS Evening News in 1967. In another incident which occurred in1967, an Army sergeant was court-martialed for ‘conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline,’ a violationof Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The sergeant was convicted of decapitating twoenemy corpses and posing for a photograph with the heads. The disciplinary or judicial action taken in theseincidents is proof that such conduct was not sanctioned by the command in Vietnam. In October 1967, GeneralWestmoreland, United States Commander in Vietnam, described the practice of cutting ears and fingers off the deadas ‘subhuman’ and ‘contrary to all policy and below the minimum standards of human decency.’”); Trial of MaxSchmid, Notes on the Case: Mutilation of Dead Bodies and Refusal of Honourable Burial, XIII U.N. LAW REPORTS151, 152 (U.S. General Military Government Court, Dachau, Germany, May 19, 1947) (“Another United StatesMilitary Commission at the Mariana Islands (2nd-15th August, 1946) tried and convicted Tachibana Yochio, aLieutenant-General in the Japanese Army and 13 others, of murdering 8 prisoners of war. Some of the accused werealso charged with ‘preventing an honourable burial due to the consumption of parts of the bodies of prisoners of warby the accused during a special meal in the officers’ mess.’ They were found guilty of these charges; sentencesranging from death to imprisonment for 5 years were imposed. (3) An Australian Military Court at Wewak (30thNovember, 1945) sentenced Tazaki Takehiko, a First Lieutenant in the Japanese Army to death for ‘mutilating thedead body of a prisoner of war’ and for ‘cannibalism.’ The sentence was commuted to 5 years’ imprisonment by theconfirming officer.”).133 Refer to § 6.12.4.9 (Certain Types of Prohibited Booby-Traps and Other Devices).134 GWS art. 15 (“At all times, and particularly after an engagement, Parties to the conflict shall, without delay, takeall possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and illtreatment,to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled.”).135 GWS COMMENTARY 152 footnote 2 (“Although this Article speaks only of measures to prevent the ‘despoiling’(French, dépouillement) of the dead, it incontestably involves a prohibition of ‘pillage’ (French, pillage) of thedead.”).136 Refer to § 5.17.3.2 (Ownership of Captured or Found Property on the Battlefield).431