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Enemy combatant

January 01, 1970

This article is about persons held as enemy combatants. For the book, see Enemy Combatant (book).
Look up enemy combatant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Enemy combatant is a term for a person who, either lawfully or unlawfully, engages in hostilities for the other side in an armed conflict, used by the U.S. government and media during the War on Terror.[1] Usually enemy combatants are members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war.[2][3] In the case of a civil war or an insurrection "state" may be replaced by the more general term "party to the conflict" (as described in the 1949 Geneva Conventions Article 3).[4]

After the September 11 attacks, the term "enemy combatant" was used 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. 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. However, unlike unlawful combatants who qualify for some protections under the Fourth Geneva Convention, enemy combatants, under the Bush administration, were not covered by the Geneva Convention. Thus, the term "enemy combatant" has to be read in context to determine whether it means any combatant belonging to an enemy state or non-state actor, 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".[5]

Change of meaning in the United States edit

In the 1942 Supreme Court of the United States ruling Ex Parte Quirin, the Court uses the terms with their historical meanings to distinguish between unlawful combatants and lawful combatants:

Unlawful combatants are likewise subject to capture and detention, but in addition they are subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals for acts which render their belligerency unlawful. The spy who secretly and without uniform passes the military lines of a belligerent in time of war, seeking to gather military information and communicate it to the enemy, or an enemy combatant who without uniform comes secretly through the lines for the purpose of waging war by destruction of life or property, are familiar examples of belligerents who are generally deemed not to be entitled to the status of prisoners of war, but to be offenders against the law of war subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals. (Emphasis added)

Johnson v. Eisentrager (1950) reaffirmed the idea that the Constitution does not apply to enemy combatants, and that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction over them.[6]

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks the United States Congress passed a resolution known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF) on September 14, 2001,[7] wherein the Congress invoked the War Powers Resolution. Using this authorization granted to him by Congress, on November 13, 2001, President George W. Bush issued a Presidential Military Order: "Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism".[8] The administration chose to call those who it detained under the Presidential Military Orders "enemy combatants". The Bush administration began using the term in March 2002. William Lietzau, a legal advisor in the Bush administration first proposed using the term.[9] According to Lietzau, America was detaining people not because they were criminals, but because they were the enemy. While the term was not drawn from the Quirin case, the administration looked to Quirin as validation of the term.[9] Since then, the administration has formalized its usage of the term by using it specifically for detained alleged members and supporters of al-Qaida or the Taliban. For example:

Under the provisions of the Secretary of the Navy Memorandum Implementation of Combatant Status Review Tribunal Procedures for Enemy Combatant Detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Cuba ... An enemy combatant has been defined as "an individual who was part of or supporting the Taliban or al Qaida forces, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners. This includes any person who committed a belligerent act or has directly supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces."[10]

This lead has been followed by other parts of the Government and some section of the American news media. The result of this new usage means that the term "enemy combatant" has to be read in the context of the article in which it appears as to whether it means a member of the armed forces of an enemy state, or if it means an alleged member of al Qaida held prisoner by the United States.

Military Commissions Act edit

Following the Supreme Court's ruling of lexi Hamdan v. Rumsfeld the United States Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 which contained definitions for lawful and unlawful enemy combatants. The Military Commissions Act mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.[11]

Boumediene v. Bush edit

On June 12, 2008, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated. The judges considering the captives' habeas petitions would be considering whether the evidence used to compile the allegations that the detainees were enemy combatants justified a classification of "enemy combatant".[citation needed]

Following the Supreme Court's Boumediene v. Bush ruling edit

On February 20, 2009, the administration of President Barack Obama sided with the Bush Administration's interpretation of law when they argued to bar access to civil courts sought by enemy combatants held at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.[12]

During a hearing on October 23, 2008, US District Court Judge Richard J. Leon commented on the ambiguity of the term "enemy combatant".[13] Farah Stockman, writing in The Boston Globe, quoted Leon's remarks characterizing him as having "lashed out" at Congress and the Supreme Court for leaving the term undefined:

We are here today, much to my dismay, I might add, to deal with a legal question that in my judgment should have been resolved a long time ago. I don't understand, I really don't, how the Supreme Court made the decision it made and left that question open. ... I don't understand how the Congress could let it go this long without resolving.

On October 27, 2008, Leon ruled that the definition of "enemy combatant" he would use was that set forth in the 2004 rules for Combatant Status Review Tribunals.[14][15][16]

"Enemy combatant" shall mean an individual who was part of or supporting Taliban or al Qaeda forces, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners. This includes any person who has committed belligerent act or has directly supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces.

Defense attorneys for Lakhdar Boumediene and his fellow Bosnians of Algerians descent were pleased with the definition because the DoD had long since dropped the allegation that they had plotted to attack the US Embassy in Sarajevo, and they felt that none of the remaining allegations met Leon's definition.[17]

Obama Presidency abandons the term edit

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".[18][19] 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.[20] As of 2019 the United States continues to hold 40 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[21]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "The relevance of IHL in the context of terrorism". ICRC. January 1, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  2. ^ Detention of Enemy Combatants Act (Introduced in House) 109th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1076 2016-01-10 at the Wayback Machine March 3, 2005
    (8) The term 'enemy combatant' has historically referred to all of the citizens of a state with which the Nation is at war, and who are members of the armed force of that enemy state. Enemy combatants in the present conflict, however, come from many nations, wear no uniforms, and use unconventional weapons. Enemy combatants in the war on terrorism are not defined by simple, readily apparent criteria, such as citizenship or military uniform. And the power to name a citizen as an 'enemy combatant' is therefore extraordinarily broad. (Emphasis added)
  3. ^ The current United States Department of Defense definition is: "In general, a person engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners during an armed conflict."(source DOD dictionary enemy combatant March 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine)
  4. ^ ICRC commentary July 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine on Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949: Part I : General provisions: Conflicts no of an international character March 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs (13 March 2009). "Department of Justice Withdraws "Enemy Combatant" Definition for Guantanamo Detainees [Press Release]". Justice News. Department of Justice. from the original on April 13, 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  6. ^ Noah Feldman (2010). Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices. 12/Hachette. pp. 329–334.
  7. ^ US Congress' joint resolution of lexi September 18, 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force ("AUMF"); public law 107-40, 115 Stat. 224
  8. ^ President George W. Bush's Military Order of November 13, 2001: Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism March 15, 2017, at the Wayback Machine; 66 FR 57833
  9. ^ a b Honigsberg, Peter Jan (9 January 2014). "The Real Origin of the Term 'Enemy Combatant'". Huffington Post. from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  10. ^
  11. ^ Keisler, Peter D.; Letter, Douglas N. (October 16, 2006). (PDF). United States Department of Justice. Archived from the original on October 2, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ Pickler, Nedra; Apuzzo, Matt (February 20, 2009). "Obama backs Bush: No rights for Bagram prisoners". Star Telegram. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
  13. ^ Stockman, Farah (October 24, 2008). . The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on October 27, 2008.
  14. ^ Denniston, Lyle (October 27, 2008). . Scotusblog. Archived from the original on November 6, 2008.
  15. ^ Jordan, Lara Jakes (October 27, 2008). "Judge defines enemy combatant status for detainees". Times Leader. from the original on May 23, 2011.
  16. ^ Leon, Richard J. (October 27, 2008). "Lakhdar Boumediene et al. v. George W. Bush et al. -- Civil Action No. 04-1166 (RJL): Memorandum Order" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. (PDF) from the original on October 30, 2008.
  17. ^ "Judge narrows definition of Gitmo's 'enemy combatants'". The Washington Times. October 27, 2008. from the original on November 1, 2008.
  18. ^ Mikkelson, Randal (March 14, 2009). . Reuters. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020.
  19. ^ Denniston, Lyle (March 13, 2009). . Scotusblog. Archived from the original on October 8, 2009.
  20. ^ "U.S. Retires 'Enemy Combatant,' Keeps Broad Right to Detain". The Washington Post. March 14, 2009. from the original on February 24, 2018.
  21. ^ Rosenberg, Carol (September 16, 2019). "The Cost of Running Guantánamo Bay: $13 Million Per Prisoner". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2020.

Further reading edit

  • Daniel Torres An Examination of the Legal Rights of American Citizens Detained as Enemy Combatants in the War on Terror 2007-01-16 at the Wayback Machine
  • Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Enemy Combatants
  • Daniel Ross, Violent Democracy, ch. 6.
  • is a site with details about the Kuwaiti detainees. They have been deemed enemy combatants by the US government.
  • Human Rights First; Behind the Wire: An Update to Ending Secret Detentions (2005) 2010-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
  • Beth Van Schaack, Enemy Combatant: A Genealogy 2010-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, April 6, 2009.
  • National Institute of Military Justice,
 
Look up enemy combatant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

January 01, 1970
enemy, combatant, this, article, about, persons, held, enemy, combatants, book, enemy, combatant, book, look, enemy, combatant, wiktionary, free, dictionary, term, person, either, lawfully, unlawfully, engages, hostilities, other, side, armed, conflict, used, . This article is about persons held as enemy combatants For the book see Enemy Combatant book Look up enemy combatant in Wiktionary the free dictionary Enemy combatant is a term for a person who either lawfully or unlawfully engages in hostilities for the other side in an armed conflict used by the U S government and media during the War on Terror 1 Usually enemy combatants are members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war 2 3 In the case of a civil war or an insurrection state may be replaced by the more general term party to the conflict as described in the 1949 Geneva Conventions Article 3 4 After the September 11 attacks the term enemy combatant was used 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 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 However unlike unlawful combatants who qualify for some protections under the Fourth Geneva Convention enemy combatants under the Bush administration were not covered by the Geneva Convention Thus the term enemy combatant has to be read in context to determine whether it means any combatant belonging to an enemy state or non state actor 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 5 Contents 1 Change of meaning in the United States 1 1 Military Commissions Act 1 2 Boumediene v Bush 1 3 Following the Supreme Court s Boumediene v Bush ruling 2 Obama Presidency abandons the term 3 See also 4 References 5 Further readingChange of meaning in the United States editIn the 1942 Supreme Court of the United States ruling Ex Parte Quirin the Court uses the terms with their historical meanings to distinguish between unlawful combatants and lawful combatants Unlawful combatants are likewise subject to capture and detention but in addition they are subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals for acts which render their belligerency unlawful The spy who secretly and without uniform passes the military lines of a belligerent in time of war seeking to gather military information and communicate it to the enemy or an enemy combatant who without uniform comes secretly through the lines for the purpose of waging war by destruction of life or property are familiar examples of belligerents who are generally deemed not to be entitled to the status of prisoners of war but to be offenders against the law of war subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals Emphasis added Johnson v Eisentrager 1950 reaffirmed the idea that the Constitution does not apply to enemy combatants and that U S courts lack jurisdiction over them 6 In the wake of the September 11 2001 attacks the United States Congress passed a resolution known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists AUMF on September 14 2001 7 wherein the Congress invoked the War Powers Resolution Using this authorization granted to him by Congress on November 13 2001 President George W Bush issued a Presidential Military Order Detention Treatment and Trial of Certain Non Citizens in the War Against Terrorism 8 The administration chose to call those who it detained under the Presidential Military Orders enemy combatants The Bush administration began using the term in March 2002 William Lietzau a legal advisor in the Bush administration first proposed using the term 9 According to Lietzau America was detaining people not because they were criminals but because they were the enemy While the term was not drawn from the Quirin case the administration looked to Quirin as validation of the term 9 Since then the administration has formalized its usage of the term by using it specifically for detained alleged members and supporters of al Qaida or the Taliban For example Under the provisions of the Secretary of the Navy Memorandum Implementation of Combatant Status Review Tribunal Procedures for Enemy Combatant Detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Cuba An enemy combatant has been defined as an individual who was part of or supporting the Taliban or al Qaida forces or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners This includes any person who committed a belligerent act or has directly supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces 10 This lead has been followed by other parts of the Government and some section of the American news media The result of this new usage means that the term enemy combatant has to be read in the context of the article in which it appears as to whether it means a member of the armed forces of an enemy state or if it means an alleged member of al Qaida held prisoner by the United States Military Commissions Act edit Following the Supreme Court s ruling of lexi Hamdan v Rumsfeld the United States Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 which contained definitions for lawful and unlawful enemy combatants The Military Commissions Act mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed 11 Boumediene v Bush edit On June 12 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Boumediene v Bush that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system And all previous Guantanamo captives habeas petitions were eligible to be re instated The judges considering the captives habeas petitions would be considering whether the evidence used to compile the allegations that the detainees were enemy combatants justified a classification of enemy combatant citation needed Following the Supreme Court s Boumediene v Bush ruling edit On February 20 2009 the administration of President Barack Obama sided with the Bush Administration s interpretation of law when they argued to bar access to civil courts sought by enemy combatants held at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan 12 During a hearing on October 23 2008 US District Court Judge Richard J Leon commented on the ambiguity of the term enemy combatant 13 Farah Stockman writing in The Boston Globe quoted Leon s remarks characterizing him as having lashed out at Congress and the Supreme Court for leaving the term undefined We are here today much to my dismay I might add to deal with a legal question that in my judgment should have been resolved a long time ago I don t understand I really don t how the Supreme Court made the decision it made and left that question open I don t understand how the Congress could let it go this long without resolving On October 27 2008 Leon ruled that the definition of enemy combatant he would use was that set forth in the 2004 rules for Combatant Status Review Tribunals 14 15 16 Enemy combatant shall mean an individual who was part of or supporting Taliban or al Qaeda forces or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners This includes any person who has committed belligerent act or has directly supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces Defense attorneys for Lakhdar Boumediene and his fellow Bosnians of Algerians descent were pleased with the definition because the DoD had long since dropped the allegation that they had plotted to attack the US Embassy in Sarajevo and they felt that none of the remaining allegations met Leon s definition 17 Obama Presidency abandons the term editOn March 13 2009 United States Attorney General Eric Holder issued a statement that the United States had abandoned the Bush administration term enemy combatant 18 19 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 20 As of 2019 the United States continues to hold 40 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp 21 See also editDisarmed Enemy Forces Lawful enemy combatant Unlawful combatant al Marri v Spagone 2009 Enemy Combatant book References edit The relevance of IHL in the context of terrorism ICRC January 1 2011 Retrieved January 4 2020 Detention of Enemy Combatants Act Introduced in House 109th CONGRESS 1st Session H R 1076 Archived 2016 01 10 at the Wayback Machine March 3 2005 8 The term enemy combatant has historically referred to all of the citizens of a state with which the Nation is at war and who are members of the armed force of that enemy state Enemy combatants in the present conflict however come from many nations wear no uniforms and use unconventional weapons Enemy combatants in the war on terrorism are not defined by simple readily apparent criteria such as citizenship or military uniform And the power to name a citizen as an enemy combatant is therefore extraordinarily broad Emphasis added The current United States Department of Defense definition is In general a person engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners during an armed conflict source DOD dictionary enemy combatant Archived March 25 2012 at the Wayback Machine ICRC commentary Archived July 6 2007 at the Wayback Machine on Convention III relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War Geneva 12 August 1949 Part I General provisions Conflicts no of an international character Archived March 22 2016 at the Wayback Machine Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs 13 March 2009 Department of Justice Withdraws Enemy Combatant Definition for Guantanamo Detainees Press Release Justice News Department of Justice Archived from the original on April 13 2013 Retrieved 21 April 2013 Noah Feldman 2010 Scorpions The Battles and Triumphs of FDR s Great Supreme Court Justices 12 Hachette pp 329 334 US Congress joint resolution of lexi September 18 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force AUMF public law 107 40 115 Stat 224 President George W Bush s Military Order of November 13 2001 Detention Treatment and Trial of Certain Non Citizens in the War Against Terrorism Archived March 15 2017 at the Wayback Machine 66 FR 57833 a b Honigsberg Peter Jan 9 January 2014 The Real Origin of the Term Enemy Combatant Huffington Post Archived from the original on February 3 2014 Retrieved February 1 2014 Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal Detainee Begg Moazzam Keisler Peter D Letter Douglas N October 16 2006 Notice of Military Commissions Act of 2006 PDF United States Department of Justice Archived from the original on October 2 2008 Retrieved September 30 2008 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Pickler Nedra Apuzzo Matt February 20 2009 Obama backs Bush No rights for Bagram prisoners Star Telegram Archived from the original on February 21 2009 Stockman Farah October 24 2008 Lawyers debate enemy combatant The Boston Globe Archived from the original on October 27 2008 Denniston Lyle October 27 2008 Defining a wartime enemy Scotusblog Archived from the original on November 6 2008 Jordan Lara Jakes October 27 2008 Judge defines enemy combatant status for detainees Times Leader Archived from the original on May 23 2011 Leon Richard J October 27 2008 Lakhdar Boumediene et al v George W Bush et al Civil Action No 04 1166 RJL Memorandum Order PDF United States Department of Justice Archived PDF from the original on October 30 2008 Judge narrows definition of Gitmo s enemy combatants The Washington Times October 27 2008 Archived from the original on November 1 2008 Mikkelson Randal March 14 2009 Guantanamo inmates no longer enemy combatants Reuters Archived from the original on November 11 2020 Denniston Lyle March 13 2009 U S defines its claim to detention power Scotusblog Archived from the original on October 8 2009 U S Retires Enemy Combatant Keeps Broad Right to Detain The Washington Post March 14 2009 Archived from the original on February 24 2018 Rosenberg Carol September 16 2019 The Cost of Running Guantanamo Bay 13 Million Per Prisoner The New York Times Retrieved January 4 2020 Further reading editDaniel Torres An Examination of the Legal Rights of American Citizens Detained as Enemy Combatants in the War on Terror Archived 2007 01 16 at the Wayback Machine Read Congressional Research Service CRS Reports regarding Enemy Combatants Daniel Ross Violent Democracy ch 6 Kuwaiti Family Committee is a site with details about the Kuwaiti detainees They have been deemed enemy combatants by the US government Human Rights First Behind the Wire An Update to Ending Secret Detentions 2005 Archived 2010 06 21 at the Wayback Machine Beth Van Schaack Enemy Combatant A Genealogy Archived 2010 12 04 at the Wayback Machine April 6 2009 National Institute of Military Justice Detainee and National Security Law nbsp Look up enemy combatant in Wiktionary the free dictionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Enemy combatant amp oldid 1215016252, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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