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Research draft

civilian

vr.tr.civilian · PHY.LIV

Let an agent explain the civilian as a legal and social category, relay international humanitarian law protections from authoritative sources, present histories of civilian victimisation with attribution, and distinguish civilians from combatants and other categories.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent explain the civilian as a legal and social category, relay international humanitarian law protections from authoritative sources, present histories of civilian victimisation with attribution, and distinguish civilians from combatants and other categories.

A person who is not a member of the armed forces or an armed group, protected under international humanitarian law from direct attack in armed conflict, including civilian officials, civilian employees of the military and historically camp followers, with civilian casualties and civilian victims of reprisals, as in the Spanish Civil War, documented by historians and human rights bodies; the term is also used for civilian life in contrast to military service, and regimes have created categories such as the New People of the Khmer Rouge to classify and persecute civilians.

What it is for: Not applicable; a legal and social status.

It can be explain the category and protections; relay IHL rules; present histories with attribution; distinguish from combatants.

Distinguishing features

Protected status in IHL

Loss of protection when directly participating in hostilities

Civil-military distinction

Historical victimisation

What it looks like

No defining appearance; people not in uniform or armed service.

How it is recognised

Person not part of armed forces

Civilian officials, employees, casualties, victims

Combatants are members of armed forces; non-combatants include some military personnel such as medics

Related models

is a kind of - in registry terms

person

is protected by - and Additional Protocols

Fourth Geneva Convention

is contrasted with - in international humanitarian law

combatant

is counted in - statistics of conflicts

civilian casualty

In practice

Families and kinds

civilians in armed conflict

civilian officials and government employees

civilian employees of the military

camp followers in historical armies

civilian casualties and victims of reprisals

civilians classified by regimes, such as the Khmer Rouge New People

Standards and regulation

Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols

Customary international humanitarian law

UN Security Council resolutions on protection of civilians

Rome Statute crimes against civilians

Failure modes and hazards

Blurring civilian and combatant status

Partisan casualty figures

Presenting contested events as settled

Dehumanising language

Also called

civilian casualtycivilian employee of the militarycamp followerNew Peoplecivilian officialcivilian victim of reprisals during the Spanish Civil WarCivilian casualties and displacements during the Cyprus conflictCivilian casualties in the War in Afghanistansenbu-kanSon of the Regiment

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Understand Who is a civilian.

Regulation.

Definition

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

  1. Who counts as a civilian under international humanitarian law, and when is protection lost? definition
  2. Is the question about legal status, civilian life in general or a specific historical category? boundary

Protection

Protections.

Protection

Protection.

  1. What protections do civilians have in conflict, per the Geneva Conventions and customary law? provenance
  2. Which references are standard? provenance
History Civilians in history.

Attribution.

Victims

Victimisation.

Victims

Victims.

  1. How have civilians been targeted in wars and reprisals, such as in the Spanish Civil War, as historians and inquiries document? provenance
  2. Is the presentation attributed and neutral between parties? boundary

Regimes

Regime classifications.

Regimes

Regimes.

  1. How did regimes such as the Khmer Rouge classify civilians into categories like New People, as documented? provenance
  2. Which entry fits the specific regime or event? action
Data Casualties and accountability.

Sources.

Casualties

Casualty counting.

Casualties

Casualties.

  1. How are civilian casualties counted and verified, and why do figures differ, with sources? provenance
  2. Which sources are cited? provenance

Accountability

Accountability.

Accountability

Accountability.

  1. How are crimes against civilians prosecuted, and what do UN protection mechanisms do? provenance
  2. Which entry fits war crimes? action
Context Civil-military relations.

Context.

Roles

Civilian roles.

Roles

Roles.

  1. What roles do civilian officials and civilian employees play in defence and government? provenance
  2. Which entry fits civil-military relations? action

History

Camp followers and history of the concept.

History

History.

  1. How did the civilian category and camp followers feature in earlier armies and law? provenance
  2. Which entry fits the history of the laws of war? action

What the second pass must settle

  • Should civilian casualty be a separate primary entry?
  • How should IHL sources be linked?
  • The registry entry has merged aliases naming historical and regime-specific categories; should they be split off?
Draft as JSON