What is direct participation in hostilities?

Answer 1

Direct participation in Hostilities is a legal term used in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) (aka the Laws of War), a special branch of public international law which governs the behavior of belligerents in war. This is just another way of saying that it is the rules by which armed opponents on a battlefield are to fight with one another.

In IHL, there are two broad distinctions of persons: combatants (e.g. soldiers) and civilians.

Soldiers may be targeted at any time during a conflict, whether or not they are participating in the fighting at that specific time. They have an inherent "privilege" to take part in hostilities, and if they are captured then they have the right to be treated as Prisoners of War -- basically 'privileged' prisoners.

Civilians, on the other hand, are not encouraged to participate in hostilities at all. Although it is not illegal for the do so per se, if they do participate in hostilities, they may be targeted for such time as they are engaging in these hostile acts. In other words, for such time as they "directly participate in hostilities".

Scholars, practitioners and governments are at odds over the exact scope of the term. As an example, suppose John Smith is a farmer by day, but every night at 8pm he goes to pick up his rifle and participates in battles, before coming back home to his family to catch some shut-eye before the next day's farming.

Can John be targeted whilst he is enroute to the battlefield, rifle in hand? Can he be targeted during the day, while he is farming? Can he be targeted on the battlefield if he has just shot someone with his rifle and then threw it away?

These are all questions which the legal term of "direct participation in hostilities" brings up.