Is a spy disguising as a friendly a war crime?

[Cassie the Loot Goblin]

Alright, hear me out. I don't like friendlies either, but i thought this was worth discussing.

On multiple occasions, i have walked past a friendly without blowing them to kingdom come in games because, unlike them, i'm playing the game and have decided to save my effort and ammo for enemies who are actually playing, only to be met with a knife in my back and a laugh taunt in my killcam because said "friendly" was a spy in disguise.

this has, understandably, resulted in me mercilessly exterminating not only said spy, but every single friendly in the server in a wave of indignant gamer fury under the premise that, because this spy has used the tactic once, i had no choice but to deny them the opportunity to use it again by simply shooting every friendly on sight.

the 1977 Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 defines the concept of Perfidy in article 37, "Prohibition of perfidy":

1. It is prohibited to kill, injure or capture an adversary by resort to perfidy. Acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, with intent to betray that confidence, shall constitute perfidy. The following acts are examples of perfidy:

(a) The feigning of an intent to negotiate under a flag of truce or of a surrender;
(b) The feigning of an incapacitation by wounds or sickness;
(c) The feigning of civilian, non-combatant status; and
(d) The feigning of protected status by the use of signs, emblems or uniforms of the United Nations or of neutral or other States not Parties to the conflict.

It is my belief that, in such a situation, the spy that caused me to reduce half the server to ash and angry messages in the text chat committed an act similar in scope to example C, highlighted in bold, by assuming the form of a non-combatant in order to lure me in under false pretences.

TL;DR: can we try spy mains as war criminals for using this cancerous tactic that ruins the fun for everyone regardless of what side of the friendly argument they fall under?

[Cat_Soldier]

Team Fortress 2

[mna99]

All of the mercs are war criminals.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vz_wJNb74M

[Ash]

Yes, death penalty to spys

[M1 Gaming #GiveMeTheTF2]

ChatGPT says: "It's important to remember that Team Fortress 2 is not intended to depict a realistic portrayal of warfare or address real-world legal issues. The game's primary focus is on providing an enjoyable and entertaining multiplayer experience."

[dag]

It influences me to kill friendlies even more, that’s a good thing

[A Fat, Angry Serval]

Technically, it's not a war crime because TF2's setting isn't considered a military conflict. It's basically corporately sponsored gang warfare, which means all involved parties are still civilians.

[Nyota Mwuaji]

It's a game. Who gives a flying ♥♥♥♥ about the Geneva Convention.

[Xi jing ping pong]

Common L u were killed by a friendly

[Cassie the Loot Goblin]

Originally posted by Nyota Mwuaji:

It's a game. Who gives a flying ♥♥♥♥ about the Geneva Convention.

thank you hazbin hotel PFP this information was very informative.

[Cassie the Loot Goblin]

Originally posted by O:

Common L u were killed by a friendly

please read the post before commenting.