Military secret
A military secret or military secret is military information which, because of a law, ordinance or order, may not be made available to anyone for whom this information is not expressly intended. Since national defense is one of the fundamental interests of a state and the information advantage in the military field very often decides on victory or defeat or on war and peace, information in this area is fundamentally protected by (criminal) law.
While photography of military facilities is forbidden almost everywhere, this also applies in many countries for military reasons to train stations, bridges, tunnels, ports, airfields, power stations, transmission and industrial facilities.
Germany
Military secrets under National Socialism 1933–1945
At the time of National Socialism , the basic requirements for secrecy in the military sector were laid down in the classified information regulation (H.Dv. 99, M.Dv.Nr. 9, L.Dv.99 - of October 1, 1935 and August 1, 1943 ). The term classified information is defined as follows: "Classified information in the sense of this provision are writings and documents that require special security protection for the good of the Reich, in particular in the interests of national defense or for other official reasons."
The classified information was divided into three degrees of confidentiality :
- "For official use only" (NfD)
- "Secret" (g.)
- " Secret command matter" (g.Kdos.)
The classified information regulation precisely regulated the identification, distribution, destruction and behavior in the event of loss. The GKdos often had the addition “only by an officer”.
Military secrets in the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949
The criminal law of the Federal Republic of Germany does not know this term, but military secrets are on the one hand protected as state secrets by § § 93 to § 101a StGB ( treason and the like). On the other hand, certain types of military secrets are protected from exploration, mapping and publication by § 109f and § 109g StGB. In particular, photographs, including those from the air, are prohibited.
Austria
In the Austrian Military Criminal Law , the willful disclosure of a military secret is regulated in § 26 ( Intentional disclosure of a military secret ) and § 27 ( Negligent disclosure of a military secret ).
Switzerland
The Swiss Military Criminal Law of June 13, 1927 (MStG; SR 321.0) criminalizes the violation of military secrets in Art. 106.
Due to the possibility of disciplinary sanctions for a violation of this norm, corresponding sanctions can be imposed not only by the organs of the military justice , but in minor cases also by the troop commanders .
Examples of military secrets
- During the Second World War , members of the Navajo , Iroquois and Comanche tribes were used by the US military for radio communications. The language was not documented. Until 1968 , code talkers weren't even allowed to tell their families about their mission, see Navajo Code .
- France repeatedly declared the circumstances of the Castor transports as military secrets in order to prevent publication.
- In the Spiegel affair , facts about national defense were published, which the federal government at the time classified as military secrets.
literature
- H.Dv. 99, M.Dv.Nr. 9, L.Dv. 99 - Classified Information Regulation - Valid for the Wehrmacht - 1943, ISBN 978-3749466924
