Military Objective
A legitimate military target is an object, structure, individual, or entity that is considered to be a valid target for attack by belligerent forces according to the law of war during an war, armed conflict. Overview Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, Article 52, provides for the general protection to protected persons, hindering attacks to military objectives in a war between two or more belligerents. Article 52 states, Any attack must be justified by military necessity: 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,Article 52 of ''Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions provides a widely accepted definition of military objective: "In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the ci ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Defense
Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industry, industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology * Self-defense, the use of force to defend oneself * Haganah (Hebrew for "The Defence"), a paramilitary organization in British Palestine * National security, security of a nation state, its citizens, economy, and institutions, as a duty of government ** Defence diplomacy, pursuit of foreign policy objectives through the peaceful employment of defence resources ** Ministry of defence or department of defense, a part of government which regulates the armed forces ** Defence minister, a cabinet position in charge of a ministry of defense * International security, measures taken by states and international organizations to ensure mutual survival and safety Sports * Defe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Belligerent
A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meaning "aggressive", its use as a noun does not necessarily imply that a belligerent country is an aggressor. In times of war, belligerent countries can be contrasted with neutral countries and non-belligerents. However, the application of the laws of war to neutral countries and the responsibilities of belligerents are not affected by any distinction between ''neutral countries'', ''neutral powers'' or '' non-belligerents.Goldstein, Erik; McKercher, B. J. C. ''Power and stability: British foreign policy, 1865-1965'', Routledge, 2003 , p. 63/ref>'' Belligerency "Belligerency" is a term used in international law to indicate the status of two or more entities, generally sovereign states, being engaged in a war. Wars are often fought with o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Law Of War
The law of war is a component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of hostilities (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, occupation, and other critical terms of law. Among other issues, modern laws of war address the declarations of war, acceptance of surrender and the treatment of prisoners of war, military necessity, along with ''distinction'' and ''proportionality''; and the prohibition of certain weapons that may cause unnecessary suffering. The ''law of war'' is considered distinct from other bodies of law—such as the domestic law of a particular belligerent to a conflict—which may provide additional legal limits to the conduct or justification of war. Early sources and history The first traces of a law of war come from the Babylonians. It is the Code of Hammurabi, king of Babylon, which in 1750 B.C., explains its laws imposing a code o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Protocol I
Protocol I (also Additional Protocol I and AP I) is a 1977 amendment Protocol (diplomacy), protocol to the Geneva Conventions concerning the protection of civilian casualty, civilian victims of international war, including "armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against Colonialism, colonial domination, military occupation, alien occupation or Apartheid, racist regimes". In practice, Additional Protocol I updated and reaffirmed the international laws of war stipulated in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to accommodate developments of warfare since the Second World War (1937–1945). Summary of provisions Protocol I contains 102 articles. The following is a basic overview of the protocol. In general, the protocol reaffirms the provisions of the original four Geneva Conventions. However, the following additional protections are added. *Article I states that the convention applies in "armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occup ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geneva Conventions
upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Convention'' colloquially denotes the agreements of 1949, negotiated in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939–1945), which updated the terms of the two 1929 treaties and added two new conventions. The Geneva Conventions extensively define the basic rights of wartime prisoners, civilians and military personnel; establish protections for the wounded and sick; and provide protections for the civilians in and around a war-zone. The Geneva Conventions define the rights and protections afforded to those non-combatants who fulfill the criteria of being '' protected persons''. The treaties of 1949 were ratified, in their entirety or with reservations, by 196 countries. The Geneva Conventio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Protected Persons
Protected persons is a legal term under international humanitarian law and refers to persons who are under specific protection of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, their 1977 Additional Protocols, and customary international humanitarian law during an armed conflict. The legal definition of different categories of protected persons in armed conflicts is found in each 1949 Geneva Conventions and also in 1977 Additional Protocols.First Geneva Convention, Article 13Third Geneva Convention, Article 4Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 4 The extent of protection and obligations of belligerent states and parties depends on the type of the armed conflict (international or not international) as well as on the category of protected persons in terms of their age (adult/child), sex (man/woman), participation in the armed conflict (combatant/prisoner of war/civil person) and personal situation (e.g. shipwrecked, sick, wounded, etc.). Minimum rights and fundamental guarantees are granted by the 1977 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Military Necessity
Military necessity, along with distinction (law), distinction, and proportionality (international humanitarian law), proportionality, are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the laws of war, legal use of force in an armed conflict. Attacks Military necessity is governed by several constraints: 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;Article 52 of ''Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions'' provides a widely accepted definition of military objective: "In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage" (Source: ). and the harm caused to civilians or civilian property must be proport ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Collateral Damage
"Collateral damage" is a term for any incidental and undesired death, injury or other damage inflicted, especially on civilians, as the result of an activity. Originally coined to describe military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts to refer to negative unintended consequences of an action. Since the development of precision-guided munitions in the 1970s, military forces often claim to have gone to great lengths to minimize collateral damage. Critics of use of the term "collateral damage" see it as a euphemism that dehumanizes non-combatants killed or injured during combat, used to reduce the perceived culpability of military leadership in failing to prevent non-combatant casualties. Collateral damage does not include civilian casualties caused by military operations that are intended to terrorize or kill enemy civilians (e.g., the bombing of Chongqing during World War II and Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure openly described as "ret ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Proportionality (law)
Proportionality is a general principle in law which covers several separate (although related) concepts: *The concept of proportionality is used as a criterion of fairness and justice in statutory interpretation processes, especially in constitutional law, as a logical method intended to assist in discerning the correct balance between the restriction imposed by a corrective measure and the severity of the nature of the prohibited act. *Within criminal law, the concept is used to convey the idea that the punishment of an offender should fit the crime. *Under international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict, ''proportionality'' and '' distinction'' are important factors in assessing military necessity. *Under the United Kingdom's Civil Procedure Rules, costs must be "proportionately and reasonably incurred", or "proportionate and reasonable in amount", if they are to form part of a court ruling on costs. Proportionality as a general princ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hors De Combat
''Hors de 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, thus generally not treated as active combatants but rather protected persons. Examples include persons parachuting from their disabled aircraft, shipwreck survivors, as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled. Intentional hostility from assumed ''hors de combat'' persons removes any legal protection on their part and renders them as active combatants once again. 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 powe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Neutral Country
A neutral country is a sovereign state, state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, Collective Security Treaty Organization, CSTO or the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO). As a type of non-combatant status, nationals of neutral countries enjoy protection under the law of war from belligerent actions to a greater extent than other non-combatants such as enemy civilians and Prisoner of war, prisoners of war. Different countries interpret their neutrality differently: some, such as Costa Rica have Demilitarization, demilitarized, while Switzerland holds to "armed neutrality", to deter aggression with a sizeable military, while barring itself from foreign deployment. Not all neutral countries avoid any foreign deployment or alliances, as Austria and Republic of Ireland, Ireland have active UN peacekeeping forces and a political allia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |