Which law of war principle forbids unnecessary suffering, injury or destruction, or making enemy combatants the object of attack when they have been placed hors de combat?

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Humanity in the laws of armed conflict requires protecting people from unnecessary suffering and ensuring those who cannot fight are not attacked. If an enemy fighter is hors de combat—wounded, exhausted, captured, or otherwise unable to continue fighting—continuing to attack them would cause needless suffering and bring no legitimate military advantage. This principle also forbids weapons or tactics that cause superfluous harm. So the right idea here is humanity, because it directly protects those out of combat from further harm and aims to minimize suffering overall. Distinction, proportionality, and military necessity govern different safeguards: distinguishing military targets from civilians, balancing force with the objective, and permitting only actions that are necessary to achieve a legitimate aim, respectively.