When I said "covered" by Geneva Conventions, I meant they are not contracting parties. A convention is a treaty, and a treaty is a contract between nations. They aren't parties to the contract, so they have no rights under the contract.
The traditional sense of "unlawful combatant" is someone who is fighting for one side in a real war against another side, but isn't playing by the rules. They don't wear uniforms, they pretend to be civilians, they even pretend to be citizens of the country they're fighting. Spies or saboteurs, Fifth Columns, resistance, stuff like that.
That's why I keep saying that the detainees at Guantanamo are entitled to rights, not because of international law, but because of US law.
Rehnquist wrote a book about this concept a few years back, "All The Laws But One." In time of war, all the laws can be suspended except for habeas corpus (the "Great Writ," dating back to 1305).
We can't just throw people in the clink forever without the right to a habeas corpus proceeding. |
