Human shield

A person or group positioned or retained to deter attacks on another person, place, or military objective. Using civilians as shields is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Human shielding: Using people’s presence or threatened harm to deter attacks against a person, place, or military objective. Names the deliberate tactic that gives a human shield its deterrent function.
International humanitarian law: The body of law governing conduct during armed conflict and protecting people not participating in hostilities. Provides the principal legal framework for evaluating human shields and attacks that endanger them.
Fourth Geneva Convention: The 1949 Geneva Convention establishing protections for civilians during war and occupation. Its Article 28 expressly bars using protected persons to shield military operations or points.
Hostage: A person detained or threatened to compel another party to act or refrain from acting. Hostage-taking uses coercion for leverage, while shielding uses a person’s presence to deter attack.
Voluntary human shields: People who knowingly place themselves near a target to deter attacks, without being forcibly held there. Separates self-directed protest or protection from coercive use.
Civilian: A person who is not a member of a party’s armed forces or otherwise a combatant under applicable law. Civilian status remains distinct from the unlawful act of using someone as a shield.
Additional Protocol I: The 1977 treaty supplementing the Geneva Conventions with rules for international armed conflicts. Article 51(7) prohibits using civilian presence to shield military objectives or operations.
Collateral damage: Incidental civilian death, injury, or damage to civilian objects during an attack on a military target. Civilian harm near a target is not by itself evidence that people were used as shields.
Involuntary human shields: People compelled or kept near a target to deter attacks against it. Captures the coercive form of shielding, especially relevant to civilian protection.
Combatant: A member of armed forces entitled to participate directly in hostilities under the law of international armed conflict. Contrasting combatants with civilians helps identify who may be unlawfully exposed to attack.

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