Source: http://docplayer.net/14635-Direct-participation-in-hostilities.html
Timestamp: 2016-12-10 11:08:05
Document Index: 433823957

Matched Legal Cases: ['ART 1', 'ART 2', 'Art. 5', 'Arts 4', 'Arts 51', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'Arts 51', 'Arts 21', 'Art. 41', 'Art. 50', 'Art. 4', 'Art. 43', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 29', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 35', 'Arts 20', 'Art. 57', 'Art. 30', 'Art. 32', 'Art. 144', 'Art. 93', 'Arts 18', 'Art. 144', 'Art. 15', 'Art. 43']

⭐Direct participation in hostilities
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1 INTERPRETIVE guidance on the notion of Direct participation in hostilities under international humanitarian law Nils Melzer, Legal adviser, ICRC2 International Committee of the Red Cross 19, avenue de la Paix 1202 Geneva, Switzerland T F icrc.org ICRC, May 20093 4 5 INTERPRETIVE guidance on the notion of Direct participation in hostilities under international humanitarian law Nils Melzer, Legal adviser, ICRC6 2 DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN HOSTILITIES CONTENTS FOREWORD 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8 INTRODUCTION 9 1. Purpose and nature of the Interpretive Guidance 9 2. The issue of civilian participation in hostilities Key legal questions 12 PART 1: RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ICRC 15 PART 2: RECOMMENDATIONS AND COMMENTARY 19 A. The concept of civilian 20 I. The concept of civilian in international armed conflict Mutual exclusiveness of the concepts of civilian, armed forces and levée en masse Armed forces Levée en masse Conclusion 26 II. The concept of civilian in non-international armed conflict Mutual exclusiveness of the concepts of civilian, armed forces and organized armed groups State armed forces Organized armed groups Conclusion 36 III. Private contractors and civilian employees Particular difficulties related to private contractors and civilian employees International armed conflict Non-international armed conflict Conclusion 40 B. The concept of direct participation in hostilities 41 IV. Direct participation in hostilities as a specific act Basic components of the notion of direct participation in hostilities Restriction to specific acts Conclusion 457 CONTENTS 3 V. Constitutive elements of direct participation in hostilities Threshold of harm Direct causation Belligerent nexus Conclusion 64 VI. Beginning and end of direct participation in hostilities Preparatory measures Deployment and return Conclusion 68 C. Modalities governing the loss of protection 69 VII. Temporal scope of the loss of protection Civilians Members of organized armed groups Conclusion 73 VIII. Precautions and presumptions in situations of doubt The requirement of feasible precautions Presumption of civilian protection Conclusion 76 IX. Restraints on the use of force in direct attack Prohibitions and restrictions laid down in specific provisions of IHL The principles of military necessity and humanity Conclusion 82 X. Consequences of regaining civilian protection Lack of immunity from domestic prosecution Obligation to respect IHL Conclusion 858 4 DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN HOSTILITIES Foreword The protection of civilians is one of the main goals of international humanitarian law. Pursuant to its rules on the conduct of hostilities, the civilian population and individual civilians enjoy general protection against the effects of hostilities. Accordingly, the law obliges the parties to an armed conflict to distinguish, at all times, between the civilian population and combatants and to direct operations only against military targets. It also provides that civilians may not be the object of deliberate attack. In the same vein, humanitarian law mandates that civilians must be humanely treated if and when they find themselves in the hands of the enemy. This overarching norm finds expression in many provisions of humanitarian law, including those prohibiting any form of violence to life, as well as torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Unusual as it may seem today, the comprehensive protection of civilians was not always a main focus of international humanitarian law. Its origins, at least in terms of treaty rules, lie at a time when civilian populations were largely spared from the direct effects of hostilities and actual fighting was carried out only by combatants. In 1864, when the first Geneva Convention was adopted, armies faced off on battlefields with clearly drawn frontlines. It was the suffering of soldiers, often tens of thousands of them who lay wounded or dying after a military engagement, that needed to be alleviated. Only later, when technological innovations in weaponry started causing massive civilian suffering and casualties in war, did the protection of civilians also need to be addressed. Over time, and particularly after the Second World War, the law also had to regulate the consequences of more and more frequent direct participation by civilians in hostilities. Two situations were emblematic: first, wars of national liberation in which government forces faced off against irregular armed formations fighting for the freedom of colonized populations. In 1977, Additional Protocol I recognized that such wars could under certain circumstances be deemed international in character. A second situation has become prevalent and remains of great concern today: armed9 FOREWORD 5 conflicts not of an international character waged between government forces and organized non-state armed groups, or between such groups, for political, economic, or other reasons. It hardly needs to be said that these types of conflict, in which parts of the civilian population are effectively transformed into fighting forces, and in which civilians are also the main victims, continue to cause untold loss of life, injury and destruction. International humanitarian law has addressed the trend towards increased civilian participation in hostilities by providing a basic rule, found in both Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions, pursuant to which civilians benefit from protection against direct attack unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities. It is the meaning of this notion direct participation in hostilities that the present Interpretive Guidance seeks to explain. In examining the notion of direct participation in hostilities the ICRC not only had to face longstanding dilemmas that had surrounded its practical application (e.g., can a person be a protected farmer by day and a targetable fighter at night?), but also had to grapple with more recent trends that further underlined the need for clarity. One such trend has been a marked shift in the conduct of hostilities into civilian population centres, including cases of urban warfare, characterized by an unprecedented intermingling of civilians and armed actors. Another has been the increased outsourcing of previously traditional military functions to a range of civilian personnel such as private contractors or civilian government employees, which has made distinguishing between those who enjoy protection from direct attack and those who do not ever more difficult. A third, particularly worrying trend has been the failure of persons directly participating in hostilities, whether civilians or members of armed forces or groups, to adequately distinguish themselves from the civilian population. The Interpretive Guidance provides a legal reading of the notion of direct participation in hostilities with a view to strengthening the implementation of the principle of distinction. In order for the prohibition10 6 DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN HOSTILITIES of directing attacks against civilians to be fully observed, it is necessary that the armed forces of parties to an armed conflict whether international or non-international be distinguished from civilians, and that civilians who never take a direct part in hostilities be distinguished from those who do so on an individual, sporadic or unorganized basis only. The present text seeks to facilitate these distinctions by providing guidance on the interpretation of international humanitarian law relating to the notion of direct participation in hostilities. In so doing, it examines three questions: who is considered a civilian for the purposes of the principle of distinction, what conduct amounts to direct participation in hostilities and what modalities govern the loss of protection against direct attack. The responses provided and the resulting interpretations included in the Interpretive Guidance tackle one of the most difficult, but as yet unresolved issues of international humanitarian law. The ICRC initiated reflection on the notion of direct participation in hostilities based both on the need to enhance the protection of civilians in practice for humanitarian reasons and on the international mandate it has been given to work for the better understanding and faithful application of international humanitarian law. In this context, it is appropriate that three observations be made: First, the Interpretive Guidance is an expression solely of the ICRC s views. While international humanitarian law relating to the notion of direct participation in hostilities was examined over several years with a group of eminent legal experts, to whom the ICRC owes a huge debt of gratitude, the positions enunciated are the ICRC s alone. Second, while reflecting the ICRC s views, the Interpretive Guidance is not and cannot be a text of a legally binding nature. Only State agreements (treaties) or State practice followed out of a sense of legal obligation on a certain issue (custom) can produce binding law. Third, the Guidance does not purport to change the law, but provides an interpretation of the notion of direct participation in hostilities within existing legal parameters.11 FOREWORD 7 The present text interprets the notion of direct participation in hostilities for the purposes of the conduct of hostilities only. Thus, apart from providing guidance on when and for how long a person is considered to have lost protection from direct attack, it does not address the consequences of direct participation in hostilities once he or she finds himself or herself in the adversary s hands. Other rules of international humanitarian law then govern, foremost among them being the already mentioned principle of humane treatment. Unfortunately, there seems to be little reason to believe that the current trend towards increased civilian participation in hostilities will weaken over time. Today, more than ever, it is of the utmost importance that all feasible measures be taken to prevent the exposure of the civilian population to erroneous or arbitrary targeting based, among other things, on reliable guidance as to how to the principle of distinction should be implemented in the challenging and complex circumstances of contemporary warfare. By presenting this Interpretive Guidance, the ICRC hopes to make a contribution to ensuring that those who do not take a direct part in hostilities receive the humanitarian protection that they are entitled to under international humanitarian law. Dr. Jakob Kellenberger President of the International Committee of the Red Cross12 8 DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN HOSTILITIES acknowledgements The present Interpretive Guidance constitutes an institutional publication of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It is the outcome of an expert process conducted by the ICRC from 2003 to The conceptualization, drafting, and publication of the Interpretive Guidance would not have been possible without the commitment and contributions of many individuals, only some of whom can be thanked here. Our personal gratitude goes, first of all, to Dr. Nils Melzer, Legal Adviser at the ICRC, who has been responsible for the expert process since 2004 and who is the author of the Interpretive Guidance and most background documents and expert meeting reports produced during that process. We would also like to express our most cordial gratitude to the experts, all of whom participated in the expert meetings in their personal capacity and without whose commitment, expertise, and experience this clarification process could not have been brought to a successful conclusion. Finally, we would like to sincerely thank all our colleagues at the ICRC who contributed to the text of the Interpretive Guidance through their comments, provided valuable support in the organization and follow-up of the expert meetings, or helped with the publication of the Interpretive Guidance. International Committee of the Red Cross February 200913 INTRODUCTION 9 Introduction 1. Purpose and nature of the Interpretive Guidance The purpose of the Interpretive Guidance is to provide recommendations concerning the interpretation of international humanitarian law (IHL) as far as it relates to the notion of direct participation in hostilities. Accordingly, the 10 recommendations made by the Interpretive Guidance, as well as the accompanying commentary, do not endeavour to change binding rules of customary or treaty IHL, but ref lect the ICRC s institutional position as to how existing IHL should be interpreted in light of the circumstances prevailing in contemporary armed conflicts. The Interpretive Guidance draws on a variety of sources including, first and foremost, the rules and principles of customary and treaty IHL and, where necessary, the travaux préparatoires of treaties, international jurisprudence, military manuals, and standard works of legal doctrine. Additionally, it draws on the wealth of materials produced in the course of an expert process, jointly initiated by the ICRC and the TMC Asser Institute with the aim of clarifying the notion of direct participation in hostilities under IHL. 1 Five informal expert meetings were conducted from 2003 to 2008 in The Hague and Geneva, each bringing together 40 to 50 legal experts from academic, military, governmental, and nongovernmental circles, all of whom participated in their private capacity. 2 The Interpretive Guidance is widely informed by the discussions held during these expert meetings but does not necessarily reflect a unanimous view or majority opinion of the experts. It endeavours to propose a balanced and practical solution that takes into account the wide variety 1 All materials produced in the course of the expert process, such as reports, background documents etc., will be available at: 2 For more information on the expert process, see the document Overview of the ICRC s Expert Process ( ).14 10 DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN HOSTILITIES of concerns involved and, at the same time, ensures a clear and coherent interpretation of the law consistent with the purposes and principles of IHL. Ultimately, the responsibility for the Interpretive Guidance is assumed by the ICRC as a neutral and independent humanitarian organization mandated by the international community of States to promote and work for a better understanding of IHL. 3 Although a legally binding interpretation of IHL can only be formulated by a competent judicial organ or, collectively, by the States themselves, the ICRC hopes that the comprehensive legal analysis and the careful balance of humanitarian and military interests underlying the Interpretive Guidance will render the resulting recommendations persuasive for States, non-state actors, practitioners, and academics alike. The Interpretive Guidance consists of 10 recommendations, each of which summarizes the ICRC s position on the interpretation of IHL on a particular legal question, and a commentary explaining the bases of each recommendation. Throughout the text, particularly where major divergences of opinion persisted among the experts, footnotes refer to the passages of the expert meeting reports and background documents where the relevant discussions were recorded. The sections and recommendations of the Interpretive Guidance are closely interrelated and can only be properly understood if read as a whole. Likewise, the examples offered throughout the Interpretive Guidance are not absolute statements on the legal qualification of a particular situation or conduct, but must be read in good faith, within the precise context in which they are mentioned and in accordance with generally recognized rules and principles of IHL. They can only illustrate the principles based on which the relevant distinctions ought to be made, but cannot replace a careful assessment of the concrete circumstances prevailing at the relevant time and place. 3 See, e.g., Art. 5 [2] (c) and (g) Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.15 INTRODUCTION 11 Lastly, it should be emphasized that the Interpretive Guidance examines the concept of direct participation in hostilities only for the purposes of the conduct of hostilities. Its conclusions are not intended to serve as a basis for interpreting IHL regulating the status, rights and protections of persons outside the conduct of hostilities, such as those deprived of their liberty. Moreover, although the Interpretive Guidance is concerned with IHL only, its conclusions remain without prejudice to an analysis of questions related to direct participation in hostilities under other applicable branches of international law, such as human rights law or the law governing the use of interstate force (jus ad bellum). 2. The issue of civilian participation in hostilities The primary aim of IHL is to protect the victims of armed conflict and to regulate the conduct of hostilities based on a balance between military necessity and humanity. At the heart of IHL lies the principle of distinction between the armed forces, who conduct the hostilities on behalf of the parties to an armed conflict, and civilians, who are presumed not to directly participate in hostilities and must be protected against the dangers arising from military operations. Throughout history, the civilian population has always contributed to the general war effort of parties to armed conflicts, for example through the production and supply of weapons, equipment, food, and shelter, or through economic, administrative, and political support. However, such activities typically remained distant from the battlefield and, traditionally, only a small minority of civilians became involved in the conduct of military operations. Recent decades have seen this pattern change significantly. A continuous shift of the conduct of hostilities into civilian population centres has led to an increased intermingling of civilians with armed actors and has facilitated their involvement in activities more closely related to military operations. Even more recently, the increased outsourcing of traditionally military functions has inserted numerous private contractors, civilian intelligence personnel, and other civilian government employees into the reality of modern armed conflict. Moreover, military operations have often16 12 DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN HOSTILITIES attained an unprecedented level of complexity, involving the coordination of a great variety of interdependent human and technical resources in different locations. All of these aspects of contemporary warfare have given rise to confusion and uncertainty as to the distinction between legitimate military targets and persons protected against direct attacks. These difficulties are aggravated where armed actors do not distinguish themselves from the civilian population, for example during undercover military operations or when acting as farmers by day and fighters by night. As a result, civilians are more likely to fall victim to erroneous or arbitrary targeting, while armed forces unable to properly identify their adversary run an increased risk of being attacked by persons they cannot distinguish from the civilian population. 3. Key legal questions This trend underlines the importance of distinguishing not only between civilians and the armed forces, but also between civilians who do and, respectively, do not take a direct part in hostilities. Under IHL, the concept of direct participation in hostilities refers to conduct which, if carried out by civilians, suspends their protection against the dangers arising from military operations. 4 Most notably, for the duration of their direct participation in hostilities, civilians may be directly attacked as if they were combatants. Derived from Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions, the notion of taking a direct or active part in hostilities is found in many provisions of IHL. However, despite the serious legal consequences involved, neither the Conventions nor their Additional Protocols provide a definition of direct participation in hostilities. This situation calls for the clarification of three questions under IHL applicable in both international and non-international armed conflict: 4 For the purposes of this Interpretive Guidance, the phrases direct participation in hostilities, taking a direct part in hostilities and directly participating in hostilities will be used synonymously.17 INTRODUCTION 13 Who is considered a civilian for the purposes of the principle of distinction? The answer to this question determines the circle of persons who are protected against direct attack unless and for such time as they directly participate in hostilities. 5 What conduct amounts to direct participation in hostilities? The answer to this question determines the individual conduct that leads to the suspension of a civilian s protection against direct attack. 6 What modalities govern the loss of protection against direct attack? The answer to this question will elucidate issues such as the duration of the loss of protection against direct attack, the precautions and presumptions in situations of doubt, the rules and principles governing the use of force against legitimate military targets, and the consequences of regaining protection against direct attack. 5 The status, rights, and protections of persons outside the conduct of hostilities does not depend on their qualification as civilians but on the precise personal scope of application of the provisions conferring the relevant status, rights, and protections (e.g., Arts 4 GC III, 4 GC IV, 3 GC I-IV, 75 AP I, and 4 to 6 AP II). 6 For the sake of simplicity, when discussing the consequences of civilian direct participation in hostilities, the Interpretive Guidance will generally refer to loss of protection against direct attacks. Unless stated otherwise, this terminology includes also the suspension of civilian protection against other dangers arising from military operations (Arts 51 [1], [3] AP I and 13 [1], [3] AP II). This entails, for example, that civilians directly participating in hostilities may not only be directly attacked themselves, but also do not have to be taken into account in the proportionality assessment when military objectives in their proximity are attacked.18 19 Part 1: Recommendations of the icrc concerning the interpretation of international humanitarian law relating to the notion of direct participation in hostilities20 I. The concept of civilian in international armed conflict For the purposes of the principle of distinction in international armed conflict, all persons who are neither members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict nor participants in a levée en masse are civilians and, therefore, entitled to protection against direct attack unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities. II. III. IV. The concept of civilian in non-international armed conflict For the purposes of the principle of distinction in non-international armed conflict, all persons who are not members of State armed forces or organized armed groups of a party to the conflict are civilians and, therefore, entitled to protection against direct attack unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities. In noninternational armed conflict, organized armed groups constitute the armed forces of a non-state party to the conflict and consist only of individuals whose continuous function it is to take a direct part in hostilities ( continuous combat function ). Private contractors and civilian employees Private contractors and employees of a party to an armed conflict who are civilians (see above I and II) are entitled to protection against direct attack unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities. Their activities or location may, however, expose them to an increased risk of incidental death or injury even if they do not take a direct part in hostilities. Direct participation in hostilities as a specific Act The notion of direct participation in hostilities refers to specific acts carried out by individuals as part of the conduct of hostilities between parties to an armed conflict. V. Constitutive elements of direct participation in hostilities In order to qualify as direct participation in hostilities, a specific act must meet the following cumulative criteria: 1. The act must be likely to adversely affect the military operations or military capacity of a party to an armed conflict or, alternatively, to inflict death, injury, or destruction on persons or objects protected against direct attack (threshold of harm), and 2. there must be a direct causal link between the act and the harm likely to result either from that act, or from a coordinated military operation of which that act constitutes an integral part (direct causation), and 3. the act must be specifically designed to directly cause the required threshold of harm in support of a party to the conflict and to the detriment of another (belligerent nexus).21 VI. Beginning and end of direct participation in hostilities Measures preparatory to the execution of a specific act of direct participation in hostilities, as well as the deployment to and the return from the location of its execution, constitute an integral part of that act. VII. Temporal scope of the loss of protection Civilians lose protection against direct attack for the duration of each specific act amounting to direct participation in hostilities, whereas members of organized armed groups belonging to a non-state party to an armed conflict cease to be civilians (see above II), and lose protection against direct attack, for as long as they assume their continuous combat function. VIII. Precautions and presumptions in situations of doubt All feasible precautions must be taken in determining whether a person is a civilian and, if so, whether that civilian is directly participating in hostilities. In case of doubt, the person must be presumed to be protected against direct attack. IX. Restraints on the use of force in direct attack In addition to the restraints imposed by international humanitarian law on specific means and methods of warfare, and without prejudice to further restrictions that may arise under other applicable branches of international law, the kind and degree of force which is permissible against persons not entitled to protection against direct attack must not exceed what is actually necessary to accomplish a legitimate military purpose in the prevailing circumstances. X. Consequences of regaining civilian protection International humanitarian law neither prohibits nor privileges civilian direct participation in hostilities. When civilians cease to directly participate in hostilities, or when members of organized armed groups belonging to a non-state party to an armed conflict cease to assume their continuous combat function, they regain full civilian protection against direct attack, but are not exempted from prosecution for violations of domestic and international law they may have committed.22 23 Part 2: Recommendations and commentary24 20 DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN HOSTILITIES A. THE CONCEPT OF CIVILIAN For the purposes of the principle of distinction, the definition of civilian refers to those persons who enjoy immunity from direct attack unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities. 7 Where IHL provides persons other than civilians with immunity from direct attack, the loss and restoration of protection is governed by criteria similar to, but not necessarily identical with, direct participation in hostilities. 8 Before interpreting the notion of direct participation in hostilities itself, it will therefore be necessary to clarify the concept of civilian under IHL applicable in international and non-international armed conflict. I. The concept of civilian in international armed conflict For the purposes of the principle of distinction in international armed conflict, all persons who are neither members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict nor participants in a levée en masse are civilians and, therefore, entitled to protection against direct attack unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities. 1. Mutual exclusiveness of the concepts of civilian, armed forces and levée en masse According to Additional Protocol I (AP I), 9 in situations of international armed conf lict, civilians are defined negatively as all persons who are neither members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict nor 7 Arts 51 [3] AP I; 13 [3] AP II. See also Henckaerts / Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Volume I: Rules (Cambridge University Press, 2005), Rule 6 [hereafter: Customary IHL]. Regarding the terminology of loss of protection against direct attacks used in the Interpretive Guidance see above N 6. 8 For example, medical and religious personnel of the armed forces lose their protection in case of hostile or harmful acts outside their privileged function (Arts 21 GC I, 11 [2] AP II; Customary IHL, above N 7, Vol. I, Rule 25). Combatants hors de combat lose their protection if they commit a hostile act or attempt to escape (Art. 41 [2] AP I). 9 As of 1 November 2008, 168 States were party to AP I. At the same time, the ratification of GC I-IV was virtually universal (194 States party).25 THE CONCEPT OF CIVILIANS 21 participants in a levée en masse. 10 While treaty IHL predating Additional Protocol I does not expressly define civilians, the terminology used in the Hague Regulations (H IV R) and the four Geneva Conventions (GC I-IV) nevertheless suggests that the concepts of civilian, of armed forces, and of levée en masse are mutually exclusive, and that every person involved in, or affected by, the conduct of hostilities falls into one of these three categories. 11 In other words, under all instruments governing international armed conflict, the concept of civilian is negatively delimited by the definitions of armed forces and of levée en masse, 12 both of which shall in the following be more closely examined. 2. Armed forces a) Basic concept According to Additional Protocol I, the armed forces of a party to the conflict comprise all organized armed forces, groups and units which are under a command responsible to that party for the conduct of its subordinates. 13 At first glance, this broad and functional concept of armed forces seems wider than that underlying the Hague Regulations and the Geneva Conventions. Although these treaties do not expressly define 10 Art. 50 [1] AP I. According to Customary IHL, above N 7, Vol. I, Rule 5, this definition of civilian reflects customary IHL in international armed conflict. The categories covered by Art. 4 A [1], [2] and [3] GC III are included in the general definition of armed forces in Art. 43 [1] AP I. See also Sandoz et al. (eds.), Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 (Geneva: ICRC, 1987), 1916 f. [hereafter: Commentary AP]. 11 For example, Art. 22 [2] of the Brussels Declaration (1874) and Art. 29 H IV R (1907) refer to civilians in contradistinction to soldiers. Similarly, as their titles suggest, the Geneva Conventions (1949) use the generic category of civilian persons (GC IV) as complementary to members of the armed forces (GC I and GC II). Even though the scope of application of each convention does not exactly correspond to the generic categories mentioned in their respective titles, the categories of civilian and armed forces are clearly used as mutually exclusive in all four conventions. For example, GC I, GC II and GC IV refer to civilian wounded, sick and shipwrecked (Art. 22 [5] GC I; Art. 35 [4] GC II; Arts 20, 21, 22 GC IV) as opposed to the generic categories protected by GC I and GC II, namely the wounded, sick and shipwrecked of the armed forces (titles GC I and GC II). Similarly, Art. 57 GC IV refers to military wounded and sick as opposed to the generic category protected by GC IV, namely civilian persons. Other provisions of the conventions also use the term civilian as opposed to military (Art. 30 [2] GC III: military or civilian medical unit ; Art. 32 GC IV: civilian or military agents ; Art. 144 [1] GC IV: military and civil instruction ; Art. 93 [2] GC III: civilian clothing, presumably as opposed to military uniform; Arts 18, 19, 20, 57 GC IV: civilian hospitals, presumably as opposed to military hospitals; Art. 144 [2] GC IV: civilian, military, police or other authorities ) or to combatants and non-combatants (Art. 15 GC IV). None of these instruments suggests the existence of additional categories of persons who would qualify neither as civilians, nor as members of the armed forces or as participants in a levée en masse. 12 Affirmative also Commentary AP (above N 10), The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) defined the concept of civilians for situations of international armed conflict as persons who are not, or no longer, members of the armed forces (ICTY, Prosecutor v. Blaskic, Case No. IT T, Judgment of 3 March 2000, 180). For the relevant discussion during the expert meetings see: Report DPH 2005, pp. 43 f., 58, 74; Report DPH 2006, pp. 10, 12 ff., 19 ff.; Report DPH 2008, pp. 35, Art. 43 [1] AP I; Customary IHL, above N 7, Vol. I, Rule 4. View more
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