Human shield

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Human shield is a military and political term describing the presence of civilians in or around combat targets to deter an enemy from attacking those targets. It may also be used to describe the use of civilians to literally shield combatants during attacks, by forcing the civilians to march in front of the soldiers during human wave attacks. Using this technique increases the civilian casualty rate and is illegal in any nation that is party to the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Tactic in war

The term human shield can also be used collectively where the shield is not an individual but the whole population. In this case, one party in a conflict intentionally positions its military assets amongst a civilian population or close to civilian facilities such as hospitals or schools in the hope that the other party will be reluctant to attack them. Furthermore, if the other party attacks these targets anyway, the resulting civilian casualties have propaganda value.

Germany

After WWII it was claimed by German SS general, Generalleutnant Gottlob Berger that there was a plan, proposed by the Luftwaffe and approved by Hilter, to set up special POW camps for British and American airmen in the centre of large German cities to act as human shields against Allied bombing raids. Berger realised that this would contravene the Geneva Convention and argued that there was not enough barbed wire - as a result this plan was not implemented.

Iraq

One of the most famous uses of human shields occurred in Iraq in 1990, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that precipitated the first Gulf War. Saddam Hussein's government detained hundreds of citizens of Western countries who were in Iraq for use as human shields in an attempt to deter nations from participating in military operations against the country. A number of these hostages were filmed meeting Saddam, and kept with him to deter any targeted attacks, whilst others were held in or near military and industrial targets. Whilst the UN debated its response to the invasion of Kuwait, several international statesmen and peace campaigners visited Iraq to try to secure the release of the human shields, many returning with around 10 or 12 each time.

Gaza

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that the Israel Defense Forces used Palestinian civilians as human shields during the 2002 Battle of Jenin. The Israeli human-rights group B'Tselem reported that "for a long period of time following the outbreak of the second intifada, particularly during Operation Defensive Shield, in April 2002, the IDF systematically used Palestinian civilians as human shields, forcing them to carry out military actions which threatened their lives". The practice was outlawed by the Supreme Court of Israel in 2005 but human rights groups claim the IDF continues to use it, although the number of instances reportedly has dropped sharply.In February 2007, Associated Press Television News released footage of an incident involving Sameh Amira, a 24-year-old Palestinian. The video appears to show the West Bank resident serving as a human shield for a group of Israeli soldiers. The video can be seen on the AP website The Israeli Army launched a criminal investigation into the incident.

In November 2006, Palestinian women served as human shields to allow the escape of Hamas gunmen from Israeli forces in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip. The armed Palestinians had barricaded themselves in a mosque, which was surrounded by Israeli troops and tanks. According to a Hamas spokeman, a crowd of women gathered outside the mosque in response to an appeal on the local radio station for women to protect the Hamas fighters. The Palestinian gunmen escaped by dressing in women's clothes and hiding in the large group.

That same month, the Israeli Air Force warned Mohammed Weil Baroud, a Palestinian leader said to be responsible for firing Qassam rockets at Israel, to evacuate his home in Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip in advance of an airstrike. Instead, hundreds of Palestinians, including many women and children, gathered outside Baroud's house. Israel suspended the airstrike out of fear that the human shields would be killed or injured. In response to Israel's reaction, another Palestinian leader said: "We have won. From now on we will form human chains around every house that is threatened with demolition.

Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces and Australian journalist Chris Link documented and photographed incidents during the 2006 Lebanon War in which Hezbollah used Lebanese civilians as human shields to prevent the IDF from firing at gunmen and rocket launchers. Human Rights Watch conducted its own investigation and reported that it "found no cases in which Hezbollah deliberately used civilians as shields to protect them from retaliatory IDF attack."

Hezbollah also used Lebanese homes as sites for rocket launchers, usually without the home-owner's knowledge or permission, putting large numbers of civilians at risk. Human Rights Watch wrote that "Hezbollah occasionally did store weapons in or near civilian homes and fighters placed rocket launchers within populated areas or near U.N. observers, which are serious violations of the laws of war because they violate the duty to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties."

On July 25, 2006, Israeli forces attacked and destroyed an U.N. observer post in southern Lebanon, resulting in four deaths. One of the fatalities, Canadian Major Paeta Derek Hess-von Kruedener, had sent an e-mail to his former commander, retired Major-General Lewis MacKenzie, several days before his death in which he described the Israeli bombardment, writing "The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity." MacKenzie interpreted this language for a reporter: "What that means is, in plain English, 'We've got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions, taking our positions here and then using us for shields and then engaging the (Israeli Defence Forces).'

Tactic in peace campaigning

In recent years civilian volunteers have attempted to use themselves as human shields to prevent military conflict. In January 2003, anti-war activists organised Human Shield Action to Iraq in advance of the 2003 invasion. Ultimately, Human Shield Action brought 200 Westerners to Iraq. Many of them left as they ran out of money and the likelihood of war became greater.

Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall, Western International Solidarity Movement volunteers in the Palestinian territories, who died in 2003 and 2004 respectively while trying to disrupt IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, have been described as human shields. Some ISM volunteers strongly object to the use of the term human shield to describe their work.

Other uses

Some lesser used instances of human shields include literally using a human as a physical barrier against bullets. If the shooter values the person used as a human shield, then this also makes the shooter less likely to fire, or it makes the shooter fire later and less often. Human shields have also been used in videogames like Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, and Hitman: Blood Money and Saints Row 2 in which the player is able to grab civilians and enemies from behind and use them as a human shield.