Dictionary of Meaning
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Civilian
*** Shopping-Tip: Civilian
A '''civilian''' is any person who is not an active member of the
military or
police. The term may also be used to identify people who are not members of a particular profession or occupation, particularly those who do not belong to an
emergency service.
The term is used in this context by
model (art) models and in the performing arts, recently becoming more widely used as a result of the New York Theater Company production, "The Civilians". {{fact}}
Civilians and war
Under the
Fourth Geneva Convention it is a
war crime to deliberately attack a
non-combatant civilian or wantonly and unnecessarily destroy or take the
property of a civilian. However, civilian property may be destroyed in pursuit of a
military objective; civilian property may be seized for military use; and
collateral damage is an accepted part of
war.
However, in times of conflict the distinction between combatants and non-combatants may become very unclear, particularly where combatants operate with the support of a civilian population, which may occur during
guerrilla warfare.
As at
31 December 1996, 188
states are party to the applicable Geneva Convention, including
Afghanistan,
Cambodia,
China,
Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo,
India,
Iran,
Iraq,
Jordan, both
Koreas,
Kuwait,
Laos,
Rwanda,
Syria and
Vietnam.
Civil law
A '''civilian''' is also a
jurist in
civil law, or may describe a civil law
jurisdiction (eg. "civilian jurisdiction").
See also
*
Combatant
*
Illegal combatant
*
Laws of war
*
Law of land warfare
External links
-
Geneva Conventions for the protection of war victims
-
'The Civilians'
Category:War
de:Zivilist
fr:Civil
id:Warga sipil
ja:文官
fi:Siviili
sv:Civil
