VIII. CATEGORIES OF WOUNDED AND SICK.
A. Protected Persons (Article 13) -same as Article 4, GPW
1. Members of armed forces of a Party to the conflict, . . . militias [and] volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.
2. Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict . . . provided [they] fulfill the following conditions:
a. that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
b. that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;
c. that of carrying arms openly;
d. that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
1. Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.
2. Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being members thereof . . . provided they have received authorization from the armed forces which they accompany. ...
3. Members of crews ...of the merchant marine and . ..civil aircraft of the Parties to the conflict, who do not benefit by more favorable treatment under any other provisions of international law.
4. Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces ...provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.
B. Civilians.
1. Not expressly covered by GWS -but have general protection as noncombatants -may not be targeted (unless they abrogate their status by their actions.)
2. Express coverage is found, however, in the Geneva Conventions on Civilians (GC), Article 16: "The wounded and sick, as well as the infirm, and expectant mothers, shall be the object of particular protection and respect." See G.I.A.D. Draper, THEREDCROSS CONVENTIONS
OF 1949 74 (1958).
3. Article 8(a), Protocol I (GP I) expressly included civilians within its definition of "wounded and sick."
53 1 ~I;I/'~, '
/.c, I/ Xi.. I," {-;(
4. Thus, as a practical matter, all wounded and sick, military and civilian, in the hands of the enemy must be respected and protected. FM 27-10, at para. 208; FM 4-02, para. 4-4.
IX. THE HANDLING OF THE WOUNDED AND SICK.
A. Protection (Article 12).
1. General -"Members of the armed forces and other persons mentioned in the following Article, who are wounded or sick, shall be respected and protected in all circumstances."
a. Respect -to spare, not to attack.
(1)During the Vietnam conflict there were several examples of violations of this prohibition, e.g., dwing the November 1965 battle in Ia Drang Valley pitting regular North Vietnamese (NVA) units against units of the 1" Cavalry Division there were several accounts of NVA personnel shooting wounded Americans lying on the battlefield. Moore, WE WERE SOLDIERSONCEANDYOUNG(1993).
(2)During the Falklands War, international humanitarian law was generally well followed but there was an incident where two lightly armed British helicopters accompanying a supply ship were shot down and Argentinean forces continued to fire on the helicopter crewmen as they struggled in the water. Three of the crewmen were killed, and the fourth was wounded. Soon after this incident an Argentinean flyer was shot down. British leadership ensured proper treatment despite some reprisal suggestions. Robert Higginbotham, Case Studies in the Law ofLand Warfare 11:The Campaign in the Falklands, Military Review 52-53 (Oct 1984).
b. Protect -to come to someone's defense; to lend help and support.
(1)An excellent example of this concept occurred in the Falklands when a British soldier came upon a gravely wounded Argentinean whose brains were leaking into to his helmet. The British soldier scooped the extruded material back into the soldier's skull and evacuated him. The Argentinean survived. Higginbotham at 50.
(2)Extent of Obligation -It is "unlawful for an enemy to attack, kill, ill treat or in any way harm a fallen and unarmed soldier, while at the same time . . . the enemy [has] an obligation to come to hs aid and give him such care as his condition require." Pictet at 135.
B. Care (Article 12).
1. Standard is one of humane treatment -"[Elach belligerent must treat his fallen adversaries as he would the wounded of his own army." Pictet at 137