PERFIDY

[Mr.Bee]

Last edited Sat Jan 17, 2026, 04:29 PM - Edit history (1)

deceitfulness; untrustworthiness.

In the context of war, perfidy is a form of deceptive tactic where one side pretends to act in good faith, such as signaling a truce, but does so with the deliberate intention of breaking that promise.

Perfidy is a war crime because it exploits protections and trust built into the Laws of Armed Conflict (LOAC), like surrender signals or the Red Cross emblem, to treacherously kill, injure, or capture enemies, which undermines the entire system of rules that protect combatants, civilians, and the wounded, making conflict more brutal and distrustful. By abusing good faith, perfidy erodes the ability for parties to respect truce signals, making soldiers less likely to trust genuine attempts at surrender or humanitarian aid, thus putting vulnerable people at greater risk.