The “Shoot on the Spot” Declaration (Finnish: ''Ammutaan paikalla -julistus'') was a statement issued by

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military commander, aristocrat, and statesman. He served as the military leader of the White Guard (Finland), Whites in the Finnish Civil War (1918), as List of ...

, military leader of the

Whites White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...

, on 25 February 1918, in the early stages of the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

. The Declaration was adopted as a rule of engagement of the White troops. Among other things, it directed the troops about the treatment of prisoners, and gave commanders of units wide powers to carry out

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

s at their sole discretion. Already at its inception, its legality was highly questionable, because a death sentence for treason was not legal unless a state of war was declared. The

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(the government of the Whites) did not want to do this, because the only applicable law would have been the hated Tsarist Russian

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

, which would also transfer

emergency powers A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

to the army. They preferred to consider the Reds as "armed civilians". The army favored a declaration of war, in order to treat the prisoners as civilians, wherein execution for treason would become legal. A compromise was reached: the motivation was that an extrajudicial execution of a "saboteur caught red-handed" or "quarter at discretion" was a

justifiable homicide The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden to produce exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification. In most countries, ...

committed in defense of life or property. In practice, battlefield commanders decided which Red prisoners would be released, detained or considered dangerous and summarily executed. For example, known "murderers" or "arsonists" were shot at the sole discretion of the commander. Due to this policy, it can be difficult to distinguish whether deaths "in battle" actually occurred in combat or as

summary execution In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...

s after the fact. The mass execution known as " lottery of Huruslahti", an alleged decimation, was the defining moment. After this event, summary executions became common. Military tribunals were initially established, but generally interrogators could freely decide on the fate of the prisoners. On 25 February 1918, Mannerheim promulgated a decree to dismiss these tribunals. However, this had little effect because the battlefield commanders exercised their discretion largely independently far into the spring. Summary executions continued throughout 1918 even after the conclusion of the war, particularly in prison camps. As Soviet

military adviser Military advisors or combat advisors are military personnel deployed to advise on military matters. The term is often used for soldiers sent to foreign countries to aid such countries' militaries with their military education and training, organi ...

s fought on the Red side, the Whites assumed that any ethnic Russians captured would be hostile, which stoked ethnic hatred. Thus, any Russians captured fighting along with the Reds, civilian or military, were typically summarily executed. This included for example 200 Russian civilians in the aftermath of the

Battle of Viipuri The Battle of Viipuri was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought 24–29 April between the White Guards (Finland), Finnish Whites and the Red Guards (Finland), Finnish Reds in Viipuri. Together with the Battle of Tampere and Battle of Helsinki ...

and even one White officer of Polish origin in the

Battle of Tampere The Battle of Tampere was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought in Tampere, Finland from 15 March to 6 April between the Whites and the Reds. It is the most famous and the deadly of all the Finnish Civil War battles. Its bloody aftermath saw ...

. Regardless of its legality, the legality and possible guilt became a moot point after amnesty laws were passed after the war.

References

External links

Shoot on the Spot Declaration
{{Authority control White terror in the Finnish Civil War February 1918 1918 documents Proclamations Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Russian Civil War prisoner of war massacres Crimes against prisoners of war