In modern warfare, warring parties commonly employ clandestine groups to achieve various objectives. Watkins interrogates the peculiar space, in the context of international laws, regulations, and protocols governing wartime, which the personnel of these clandestine groups occupies. In the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia for instance, the Russians have used intelligence operatives inside Ukraine to accomplish military goals. In some cases, the special operatives camouflage themselves as civilians or law enforcement personnel behind enemy lines and carry out missions as extreme as assassinations of political leaders as well as sabotage of enemy infrastructure.
International law regarding the status of lawful combatants is clear according to Watkins. He points out the four criteria, detailed in Article 4 of the 1949 Third Geneva Convention (GC III), which one must attain for them to qualify as a lawful combatant and thus be eligible for prisoner of war status and exempt from criminal liability for war crimes post-war. Also, he notes the significance of other regulations that inform and enhance GC III such as the 1907 Hague Land Warfare Regulations. The article also attempts to determine the status of mercenaries who are not necessarily absorbed into the recognized armed forces of a particular party to a conflict.
The article’s main focus is however spies and other undercover operatives behind enemy lines that do not qualify as lawful combatants under Article 4 of GC III. Watkins attempts to make sense of what the existing international laws make of undercover operatives by drawing from existing literature on the same. Also, Watkins offers an interpretation of the existing international laws as well as other legislation such as the European Convention on Human Rights that can apply in this particular case. The article concludes that in the face of the complexities of wartime, the best course of action is to treat all captured militants as prisoners of war under Article 4 while awaiting further determination of their status as such, or as unlawful belligerents. Additionally, the article posits the importance of the various international laws on human rights guaranteed to every person that should always apply regardless of the combatant status of an individual.
Works Cited
Watkin, Ken. “Special Forces, Unprivileged Belligerency, and the War in the Shadows.” Lieber Institute West Point, 2022.