Quote:
Quote by: Arawn-ap-Hywel  I always thought the Genev convention gave no rights to mercenaries! Surely these are those who reside in the Guantánamo complex |
All soldiers get paid...the definition is a bit fuzzy and really would have been a much more logical way to run around the Convention than classing them as enemy combatants when the Convention uses the word combatant so frequently. However, because Al Quaeda seldom pays its troops it would still be a difficult point to make.
Art 47. Mercenaries
1. A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.
2. A mercenary is any person who:
(a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;
(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;
(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party;
(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;
(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and
(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.