Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. Prior to 2008, the definition was: "Any person in an armed conflict who could be properly detained under the laws and customs of war." In the case of a civil war or an insurrection the term "enemy state" may be replaced by the more general term "Party to the conflict" (as described in the 1949 Geneva Conventions Article 3).
In the United States the phrase "enemy combatant" was used after the September 11 attacks by the George W. Bush administration to include an alleged member of al Qaeda or the Taliban being held in detention by the U.S. government as part of the war on terror. In this sense, "enemy combatant" actually refers to persons the United States regards as unlawful combatants, a category of persons who do not qualify for prisoner-of-war status under the Geneva Conventions. Thus, the term "enemy combatant" has to be read in context to determine whether it means any combatant belonging to an enemy state, whether lawful or unlawful, or if it means an alleged member of al Qaeda or of the Taliban being detained as an unlawful combatant by the United States.
In the United States on March 13, 2009 the Obama administration announced its abandonment of the Bush administration's use of the term "enemy combatant".
Read more about Enemy Combatant: Change of Meaning in The United States, Obama Presidency Abandons The Term "enemy Combatant"
Other articles related to "enemy combatant, enemy, enemy combatants, combatant":
... CSRT panel determined that a detainee was not properly classified as an enemy combatant, the panel members would have to explain their finding to the OARDEC ... when they declared a prisoner not to be an enemy combatant ... decided that there was not enough evidence to conclude that a prisoner was an enemy fighter, and were then ordered to hold an expanded hearing to reconsider ...
... On March 13, 2009 United States Attorney General Eric Holder issued a statement that the United States had abandoned the Bush administration term "enemy combatant" ... The statement said, ""As we work toward developing a new policy to govern detainees, it is essential that we operate in a manner that strengthens our national security, is consistent with our values, and is governed by law." However, various human rights groups noted it as primarily a symbolic act ...
... declared by the United States government to be an illegal enemy combatant and held as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to November 2008 ... DOD continued to hold Hamdan as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo ... DOD might still classify Hamdan as an "enemy combatant" after he completed his sentence, and detain him indefinitely ...
30, which convened to confirm or refute his status as an "enemy combatant" voted to recommend that he should not be considered an enemy combatant ...
... States the power to detain non-citizens suspected of connection to terrorists or terrorism as enemy combatants ... citizen to access habeas corpus even when declared to be an enemy combatant ... consistent with the standards and procedures specified by the Secretary of Defense for Combatant Status Review Tribunals (including the requirement that the conclusion of the Tribunal be ...
Famous quotes containing the word enemy:
“It is an immense misfortune to the empire to have a king of such a disposition at such a time. We are told and every thing proves it true that he is the bitterest enemy we have.... To undo his empire he has but one truth more to learn, that after colonies have drawn the sword there is but one step more they can take.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)