Combatants and Non-combatants

Combatant

Are those members of the armed forces who engage directly in the hostilities of an armed
conflict or War, these combatants are the only ones that may lawfully wage war and thus are
subject to direct attack from enemy.

As stated in the book of Isagani A. Cruz the following are regarded as combatants:

 The members of the armed forces, whether pertaining to the army, the navy or the air force,
except those not actively engaged in combat, such as chaplains and medical personnel.
(“International Law” 225)
 The Irregular forces, such as the franc tireurs (free shooters) or the guerrillas, provided that: (a)
they are commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; (b) they wear a fixed
distinctive sign recognizable at a distance; (c) they carry arms openly; and (d) they conduct their
operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. (“International Law” 225)
 The inhabitants of unoccupied territory who, on approach of the enemy, spontaneously take
arms to resist the invading troops without having had time to organize themselves, provided
only that they carry arms openly and observe the laws and customs of war. This is often referred
to as a leeve en mase (mass uprising, [Britanica.com]) (“International Law” 225)
 The officers and crew of merchant vessels who forcibly resist attack. (“International Law” 225)

When a combatant is captured, if he or she followed the law of war, he or she will be considered as a
prisoner of war under the Third Geneva Convention(Relative to the treatment of Prisoners of
War[Wikipedia.com]), which he or she has the right to be accorded with the proper respect
corresponding to his or her rank, to be given sufficient food and clothing, to have a safe and sanitized
quarter, proper medical assistance, to refuse to give military information or render military service
against his or her own state, and to communicate with his or her family.

Non-combatants

Are also known as civilians, of which, who do not partake directly in armed conflicts, some
armed forces members are considered non-combatants such as the military medics. “Non-combatants
should not be subjected to attack as they are not supposed to participate in the actual fighting”
(“International Law” 225) when it comes to being captured, non-combatants are not entitled to perks as
like as to those combatant prisoners, nevertheless these non-combatants are ensured to be safe from
inhumane treatment.
Conduct of Hostilities

Three basic principles underlie the rules of warfare: the principle of military necessity, the principle
of humanity, and the principle of chivalry.

Principle of Military necessity

The participants of war may use any kind or amount of force to ensure the surrender of the
other, taking into consideration the least money and time to be spent and minimum lives to be lost.
“It was this principle that was invoked to justify the atom bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki”
(“International Law” 226) if the armed conflict between the United States and Japan continued, it
would have been even costly for both sides, where they would spend unmeasured wealth in
supplying war-materials for troops as well as civilians caught in between the war, expenditures
would have continued for years, so long as the war had not ended. To put in the simplest way, this
principle is more or less a way to determine who among the belligerents wants to claim the victory
the most, the last resort of ending possible stalemates among them.

Military necessity has several constraints this being; an attack or action must be intended to
help in the military defeat of the enemy; it must be an attack on a military objective, and the harm
caused to civilians or civilian property must be proportional and not excessive in relation to the concrete
and direct military advantage anticipated. (wikipedia.org, Date accessed: July 20, 2016)

Principle of Humanity

This principle bans the use of any action that is not completely required for the purpose of the
war, “such as poisoning of wells and weapons, the employment of dumdum (a kind of soft-nosed bullet
that expands on impact.), and asphyxiating gases, the destruction of works of art and property devoted
to religious or humanitarian purposes, the bombarding of undefended places, and the attack of hospital
ships.” (“International Law” 226) this principle seeks to limit the destruction, destruction of lives,
property and also morale of both combatants and non-combatants, that the war may bring to one or
both the territory, prisoners of war, and how they are treated also belong to this principle, those
combatants, be it friend or foe, that need proper medical care will be treated with utmost expertise,
along this principle is a rule for combatants, those combatants who which or has surrendered may not
be killed and will be considered prisoners of war.

Principle of Chivalry

Is a Principle” which demands a certain amount of fairness in offense and defense, and a certain
mutual respect between the opposing forces.” (lawofwar.org, Date accessed: July 21 2016)

Principle of Chivalry may be identified as the set of rules the belligerents must follow during war
(Terry Gill) even in times of war, belligerents must always keep in mind their decency, not resorting to
any means of disobeying some principles as like as using of those prohibited form of weapons during
war, even if on the verge of defeat (“Principle of Humanity”) The use of strategies that can outwit or
deceive the enemies are allowed in this principle, so long as those strategies do not use
“treacherous methods, such as illegal use of Red Cross emblems to throw the enemy off-guard prior
to an attack”. Another example of this treacherous method is Espionage, it does not fall under
stratagems for espionage is played out in a deceitful manner, this type of scheme is used to find
loopholes or weaknesses in the enemy.

An individual can be considered a spy if the person who, in disguise or under false pretenses,
insinuate himself among the enemy, in order to discover the state of his affairs, to pry into his designs,
and then communicate to their employer the information thus obtained. If a spy is caught doing his
deeds, he is subject to municipal law of the other belligerent and is entitled to a trial, but if the spy was
successful in his duty and was able to go back to his army and is later captured then he is entitled to the
perks of being a prisoner of war and his act of espionage is not recognized.

Kinds of Warfare

 Land Warfare
 Naval Warfare
 Aerial Warfare

These warfare are conducted in places corresponding to their names (e.g. Land Warfare is
conducted on Land) Land Warfare uses soldier or any vehicle of war (e.g. tanks) and other war
paraphernalia (e.g. land mines) to directly engage their enemy. Naval Warfare also uses troops but
is more on vessels used to carry the troops (e.g. Battleships) and also war paraphernalia(e.g. sea
mines) to confront the enemies. Aerial Warfare takes place up in the vast sky, where planes and
other aerial paraphernalia are used. Each of this Warfare follows the rule or principles during war,
they are bound to them until the war is over.

Rules for Aerial Warfare set out by Hague Conventions of 1899 states that “for a term of five
years, the launching of projectiles and explosives from balloons or by other new methods of similar
nature is prohibited”

As for Naval Warfare the use of unanchored mines is generally prohibited and the misuse of
submarines and torpedoes (Geneva Convention 1949)

The Rules of Land Warfare in general is on the treatment of combatants on the battlefield.
“One important rule is that booty, or personal property found in the battlefield, is subject to
confiscation by the belligerent state except only the personal belongings of the individual
combatant which have no military value. (Geneva Convention 1949)

The place where hostilities are conducted is called the theatre of war, different from the region of
war, which is a much greater are where the parties involved in hostilities may lawfully engage one
another. The region of war is found only within the territories of the belligerent, excluding only
neutral territories.
Belligerent Occupation

An unavoidable instance in war is the conquering of hostile territories by belligerent, these

occupants forcibly exercise authority over the territory, until its forces voluntarily withdraw or are
repelled by the enemy.

A territory is considered to be occupied, when it is actually set under the authority of its
occupants, the authority of the occupant is thereby only limited to that territory of which it
conquered and if its authority is being exercised.

Belligerent occupation does not mean that the sovereignty of the legitimate government is
ceased or be given to the occupant, but for that time being, the legitimate government cannot
exercise its power. However, under such circumstances, the belligerent occupant cannot oblige the
inhabitants of their occupied territory to renounce their allegiance to their previous government.
(“International Law” 229)

Throughout their reign to the territory, the occupant can create and implement political and
non-political laws provided that these laws would not contradict the generally accepted principle of
international law. But, after the occupancy, political laws are automatically abolished, however,
non-political laws would remain in effect unless they are renounced by the legitimate government.
Upon the occupation of the belligerent they may not acquire any personal belongings from the
inhabitants unless it is of military use, and these occupants shall be known only as administrators
of their temporary territory.

Postliminium

As defined by Vattel “ Is that in Which persons or things taken by the enemy are restored to the
former state on coming actually into the power of nations to which they belong”. During hostilities, it is
evident that some areas in the region of war be captured by Belligerent, this enforcedly entitles them to
have authority to that place, taking in considerations in the legal Laws of Nations, after the conquest
over a specific area it is then time for the restoration of territory, after the war, to the previous owner of
the territory. All laws that may have passed down to that area may be dissolved or be kept, depending
on the government of the re-claimer of the territory.