Hors de combat: Difference between revisions
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{{Italic title|reason=.}}{{Short description|Soldiers unable to fight}} |
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'''''Hors de Combat''''', literally meaning "out of the fight," is a French term used in [[diplomacy]] and [[international law]] to refer to [[soldier]]s who are incapable of performing their military function. Examples include a downed [[fighter aircraft|fighter]] [[Aviator|pilot]], as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled. Soldiers ''hors de combat'' are normally granted special protections according to the [[laws of war]], sometimes including [[prisoner of war]] status. |
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{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2019}} |
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{{wikt}} |
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'''''Hors de combat''''' ({{IPA|fr|ɔʁ də kɔ̃ba|lang}}; {{lit.|out of combat}}) is a [[List of English words of French origin|French term]] used in the [[law of war|laws of war]] to refer to persons who are incapable of performing their [[combat]] duties during [[war]]. Examples include [[Attacks on parachutists|persons parachuting from their disabled aircraft]], shipwreck survivors, as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled. Intentional hostility from assumed persons removes any legal protection on their part. |
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[[Baroness Orczy]] wrote in her famous novel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' of Chauvelin saying, |
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"When we find them, there will be a band of desperate men at the bay. Some of our men, I presume, will be put hors de combat. These royalists are good swordsmen, and the Englishman is devilish cunning, and looks very powerful." |
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Under the [[Geneva Conventions|1949 Geneva Conventions]], [[enemy combatant]]s ''hors de combat'' are [[non-combatant]]s and automatically granted the status of [[protected persons]]. Lawful [[combatant]]s ''hors de combat'' receive [[prisoner of war]] (POW) status and cannot be prosecuted for simply partaking in hostilities. [[Unlawful combatant]]s ''hors de combat'' do not receive the same privilege and are subject to trial and punishment (which may include [[capital punishment]] if the detaining power has such a punishment for the crimes they have committed). |
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[[Kurt Vonnegut]] described himself as ''hors de combat'' on the title page of his famous anti-war novel, ''[[Slaughterhouse Five]]'': |
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"...who, as an American Infantry Scout hors de combat, as a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire bombing of [[Dresden]] ..." |
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[[Protocol I]] to the Geneva Conventions defines a person as ''hors de combat'' if:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebART/470-750050?OpenDocument |work=International Humanitarian Law|title=Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977, Part III : Methods and means of warfare – Combatant and prisoner-of-war status #Section I – Methods and means of warfare, Article 41 – Safeguard of an enemy hors de combat, Paragraph 2|publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross|access-date=2009-11-23}}</ref> |
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The term is occasionally used in humorous writings or performances as a synonym for some forms of [[camp follower]]; this is entirely inappropriate saving humourous intent. |
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<blockquote> |
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: (a) he is in the power of an adverse Party; |
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: (b) he clearly expresses an intention to surrender; or |
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: (c) he has been rendered unconscious or is otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness, and therefore is incapable of defending himself; |
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provided that in any of these cases he abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape. |
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</blockquote> |
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== |
==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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* [[Combatant]] |
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* [[Non-combatant]] |
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* [[Unlawful combatant]] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hors De Combat}} |
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{{mil-stub}} |
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[[Category:International humanitarian law]] |
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{{Mil-stub}}{{legal-stub}} |
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[[de:Hors de combat]] |
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[[ms:Hors de combat]] |
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[[pl:Hors de combat]] |
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Latest revision as of 03:45, 25 December 2024
Hors de combat (French: [ɔʁ də kɔ̃ba]; lit. 'out of combat') is a French term used in the laws of war to refer to persons who are incapable of performing their combat duties during war. Examples include persons parachuting from their disabled aircraft, shipwreck survivors, as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled. Intentional hostility from assumed persons removes any legal protection on their part.
Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, enemy combatants hors de combat are non-combatants and automatically granted the status of protected persons. Lawful combatants hors de combat receive prisoner of war (POW) status and cannot be prosecuted for simply partaking in hostilities. Unlawful combatants hors de combat do not receive the same privilege and are subject to trial and punishment (which may include capital punishment if the detaining power has such a punishment for the crimes they have committed).
Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions defines a person as hors de combat if:[1]
- (a) he is in the power of an adverse Party;
- (b) he clearly expresses an intention to surrender; or
- (c) he has been rendered unconscious or is otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness, and therefore is incapable of defending himself;
provided that in any of these cases he abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape.
References
[edit]- ^ "Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977, Part III : Methods and means of warfare – Combatant and prisoner-of-war status #Section I – Methods and means of warfare, Article 41 – Safeguard of an enemy hors de combat, Paragraph 2". International Humanitarian Law. International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
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