32
votes
Accepted
Do armed residents engaging in self-defense count as civilians during armed conflict?
T became a combatant by spontaneously picking up arms
For simplicity, I will call T Ted from now on.
Assuming that the assailants of the armed forces were following the rules of law, Ted became a ...
- 45.2k
21
votes
Accepted
Does the Geneva Convention apply to the party denying that the war is going on?
International Humanitarian Law applies to all armed conflicts
The Geneva Conventions are a part of the overarching body of this law. It applies to all armed conflicts, not just declared wars.
An armed ...
- 227k
17
votes
Accepted
name rank and serial... against the police?
If I understand the question correctly, the captive is a US marine who was participating in a training exercise in the United States and then arrested by civilian police who were not participating in ...
- 40.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Is capital punishment for prisoners of war legal?
Under Art. 99 of the Geneva Convention,
No prisoner of war may be tried or sentenced for an act which is not
forbidden by the law of the Detaining Power or by international law,
in force at the time ...
- 217k
11
votes
What's counts as "taking active part in the hostilities" under the Geneva Convention?
Members of the armed forces who are not hors de combat are taking an “active part”
Hors de combat is not there for padding - its a defined term of the Convention:
A person is hors de combat if:
(a) ...
- 227k
10
votes
Is capital punishment for prisoners of war legal?
Yes
There have been many examples of such trials, the most famous being the Nuremberg trials following World War II. While some of the defendants were civilians, many were service personnel and ...
- 227k
8
votes
Do armed residents engaging in self-defense count as civilians during armed conflict?
T is an enemy combatant.
According to the Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law, civilians who directly participate in hostilities temporarily lose their protection. This means that they can be lawfully ...
- 2,277
5
votes
What are the boundaries of warfare in regards to targeting persons in command?
It is not necessary for a combatant to actually carry arms to become a legitimate target. An uniformed mechanic carrying a screwdriver at an airbase is a combatant, entitled to the protections of the ...
- 20.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Does the Israeli military have a legal right to shoot at anyone within the Gaza Strip that they suspect of being a member of Hamas?
It is never legal to shoot at someone just because they are a member of Hamas or any other organisation
That would be attempted murder under Israeli and international law.
In an armed conflict, it is ...
- 227k
4
votes
Where is the line between defending a city and using human shields?
I think you'll find the definition of "human shields" used in practice in Western courts narrower than what Russia claims (it is), e.g.
In the Review of the Indictments in the Karadžić and ...
- 3,785
4
votes
Does the Geneva Convention apply to the party denying that the war is going on?
These questions are addressed explicitly in the text of the third Geneva convention, which is the one that applies to prisoners of war.
Suppose a country R invades another country U without declaring ...
- 40.1k
2
votes
Does the Geneva Convention apply to the party denying that the war is going on?
Assuming that R and U have signed the Conventions (some protections apply to countries that haven't signed the Conventions, but a treaty isn't binding on countries that haven't signed it, although of ...
- 6,162
2
votes
Is a civilian protected by law of war if they may provide a vital information to their military and cannot be detained?
Non-combatants are protected
See https://law.stackexchange.com/a/67684/344
1 All persons who do not take a direct part or who have ceased to take part in hostilities, whether or not their liberty has ...
- 227k
1
vote
Accepted
Could a country hand its Prisoners of War to another country to avoid having to guard them?
Only under conditions
The International Committee of the Red Cross has a lecture on the Law of Armed Conflict. Lesson 8 - neutrality, page 10, reads:
TRANSFER OF POWS INTO A NEUTRAL STATE
By ...
- 45.2k
1
vote
Is capital punishment for prisoners of war legal?
In your specific case, Israel really doesn't have a death penalty. According to Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Israel, Israel has asked for the death penalty twice, ...
- 127
1
vote
What are the boundaries of warfare in regards to targeting persons in command?
would that also include people who never actually take part in
hostilities, like command personnel stationed at home?
It depends on what you mean by "never take part in hostilities". ...
- 1,344
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