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A presumption of civilian status has been applied to the US Department of Defense’s Law of War Manual in a landmark change.
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The Law of War provides authoritative legal guidance for DoD personnel in implementing the law of war and executing military operations. This is the third update to the manual since it was issued in June 2015.
The previous December 2016 version stated that “no legal presumption of civilian status exists for persons or objects, nor is there any rule inhibiting commanders or other military personnel from acting based on the information available”.
This has been revised to “commanders and other decisionmakers must presume that persons or objects are protected from being made the object of attack unless the information available at the time indicates that the persons or objects are military objectives”.
The manual sets out that if there is no information indicating that a person is a combatant or a non-combatant member of the armed forces, then it must be presumed they are a civilian; and thus may not be made the object of attack. This also applies to objects dedicated to civilian purposes such as places of worship, houses or civilian schools.
Department of Defense General Counsel Caroline Krass said the US DoD must make every effort to protect civilians and mitigate civilian harm during armed conflict, as previously stated by US Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“Protection of civilians is vital to the success of our military operations keeping America safe … and doing so is both a moral necessity and a strategic imperative,” she said.
“This updated version of the Department’s Law of War Manual provides greater clarity on the requirements of the law of war that are critical for protecting civilians and civilian objects during military operations.”
The change substantially improves the discussion of what is required when determining whether a person or object is a lawful target. It sets out a legal duty to presume persons and objects are protected from attack unless information indicates otherwise.
The updated manual is publicly available at www.defense.gov.
