text: General Background and Basic Principles of the Law of Armed Conflict
  persons who engage in hostilities risk undermining the protections afforded to civilians. Further, private
  persons who engage in hostilities generally have not been trained in LOAC and are not subject to the same
  disciplinary regime as members of the armed forces.
  Engaging in Hostilities or Direct Part in Hostilities
  1-89. A number of different formulations may be used to describe when a person has engaged in hostilities
  so as to deprive that person of a protection that they might otherwise be afforded by LOAC. For example,
  Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions requires humane treatment for persons no longer taking
  an “active part in the hostilities.” The GPW contemplates interim POW protections for persons “having
  committed a belligerent act” (GPW art. 5). The GWS explains that the protection afforded medical units
  “shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy”
  (GWS art. 21). Additional Protocol I, which is not binding on the United States, provides that civilians forfeit
  their protection from being made the object of attack “for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities”
  (consider AP I art. 51(3)). Although these terms often refer to the same conduct, the context in which each
  term is applied is important, and the scope of each term may depend on the particular legal rule in question.
  In general, this publication uses the phrase engaging in hostilities to describe those actions that deprive a
  person of many of the protections of civilian status under LOAC and reserves the use of the phrase “direct
  part in hostilities” specifically for activity with which civilians forfeit their protection from being made the
  object of attack, in contrast to other protections (see paragraph 2-13, et. seq).
  Activities That Constitute Engaging in Hostilities by Private Persons
  1-90. Certain activities, when done by private persons, constitute engaging in hostilities, and may make those
  who engage in them liable to treatment by the enemy State as unprivileged belligerents.
  Being Part of a Non-State Armed Group
  1-91. Joining a Non-State armed group is a form of engaging in hostilities that makes private persons liable
  to treatment in one or more respects as unprivileged belligerents. Such armed groups may be described as
  insurgents, or terrorist groups. Non-State armed groups exist in both international and non-international
  armed conflicts; in either case they are generally unprivileged belligerents, but in an international armed
  conflict, they might qualify as lawful combatants if they fall into one of the categories discussed above in
  paragraph 1-51.
  1-92. Whether a person has joined a Non-State armed group can be a difficult factual question. Non-State
  armed groups may not use formal indicia of membership (for example, uniforms or identity cards) or
  members of these groups may seek to conceal their affiliation. Circumstantial or functional information may
  be appropriate to use to assess whether a person has joined a private armed group. In addition, these armed
  groups may rely on individuals who are not formally members of the groups but are functionally part of those
  organizations (for more information on insurgents see FM 3-24, Insurgencies and Countering Insurgencies
  (2014)). These individuals may be regarded as part of the group constructively, even if not members in fact.
  Other Hostile Acts
  1-93. In addition to joining Non-State armed groups, other hostile acts can make a person liable to treatment
  in one or more respects as an unprivileged belligerent under LOAC. For example, private persons who bear
  arms against enemy personnel or who attempt to kill or injure enemy personnel may become liable to being
  made the object of attack. Spying, sabotage, and other hostile activities behind enemy lines, may also make
  private persons who perform them liable to prosecution for such conduct.
  MILITARY ATTACHÉS AND DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIVES OF NEUTRAL STATES
  1-94. Military attachés and diplomatic representatives of neutral States who establish their identity as such
  and are accompanying an army in the field, whether within the territory of the enemy or in territory occupied
  by it, are generally not detained provided that they take no part in hostilities or provided that temporary
  detention is not necessary for security reasons or for their own protection. They may be ordered out of the
  theater of military operations and, if necessary, transferred to the custody of representatives of their respective