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{{Short description|War against a common enemy}}
'''Co-belligerence''' is the waging of a [[war]] in cooperation against a common enemy with or without a formal [[treaty]] of [[military alliance]]. Generally, the term is used for cases where no formal [[international treaty|treaty of alliance]] exists. Likewise, allies may not become co-belligerents in a war if a ''[[casus foederis]]'' invoking the alliance has not arisen. Co-belligerents are defined in the ''Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law'' as "states engaged in a conflict with a common enemy, whether in alliance with each other or not".<ref name="GrantBarker2009">{{cite book|author1=John P Grant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qu7QCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA102|title=Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law|author2=J.Craig Barker|date=2 October 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-987491-0|location=|pages=102}}</ref>
 
== Legality ==
Under the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]], nationals of a co-belligerent state are not regarded as protected persons if their state has normal [[Diplomacy|diplomatic relations]] with an allied nation. Article 4 of the convention states:
 
<blockquote>
[N]ationals of a co-belligerent State, shall not be regarded as protected persons while the State of which they are nationals has normal diplomatic representation in the State in whose hands they are.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-4#:~:text=Nationals%20of%20a%20neutral%20State,in%20whose%20hands%20they%20are.|title=Article 4 - Definition of protected persons|publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]}}</ref>
</blockquote>
 
In other words, it isn't a [[war crime]] under [[international humanitarian law]] for foreign co-belligerent citizens to be subjected to atrocities whether in their own territory or in [[military occupation|occupied territory]] by allied [[belligerent]] troops. Much like in the time of [[peace]], such wartime atrocities would fall under the co-belligerent nation's [[domestic law]] or the allied belligerent's own [[Military justice|military law]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mJErDAAAQBAJ&dq=nationals+of+a+co-belligerent+State+protected+persons+Iraq&pg=PA252|title=The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War|author=[[Gary D. Solis]]|date=April 18, 2016|pages=252–253|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9-7811-0713-5604}}</ref> The [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] (ICRC) commentary of 1958 stated:
 
<blockquote>
The case of nationals of a co-belligerent State is simpler. They are not considered to be protected persons so long as the State whose nationals they are has normal diplomatic representation in the belligerent State or with the Occupying Power. It is assumed in this provision that the nationals of co-belligerent States, that is to say, of allies, do not need protection under the Convention.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-4/commentary/1958?activeTab=undefined|title=Commentary of 1958: Article 4 - Definition of protected persons|publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]}}</ref>
</blockquote>
 
There are certain exceptions to this rule, however. On a judgement issued on July 15, 1999 on ''The Prosecutor v. Duško Tadić'' case, the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY) appeals chamber noted that nationals of a co-belligerent state would be afforded the status of "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention if they "are deprived of or do not enjoy diplomatic protection."<ref>{{cite court|litigants=The Prosecutor v. Duško Tadić|pinpoint=164 and 165|court=[[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]]|date=July 15, 1999|url=https://cld.irmct.org/notions/show/327/exclusion-of-those-nationals-of-co-belligerent-states-with-normal-diplomatic-representation#|quote= In the cases provided for in Article 4(2)[of the Fourth Geneva Convention], in addition to nationality, account was taken of the existence or non-existence of diplomatic protection: nationals of a neutral State or a co-belligerent State are not treated as “protected persons” unless they are deprived of or do not enjoy diplomatic protection. In other words, those nationals are not “protected persons” as long as they benefit from the normal diplomatic protection of their State; when they lose it or in any event do not enjoy it, the Convention automatically grants them the status of “protected persons”.}}</ref>
 
== Historical examples in World War II ==
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Co-belligerence ({{lang-fi|kanssasotija}}, {{lang-sv|medkrigförande}}) was also the term used by the wartime government of [[Finland]] for its military co-operation with Germany (who they called their "brothers-in-arms") during [[World War II]]. During the [[Continuation War]] (1941–1944), both countries had the Soviet Union as a common enemy. Finnish reentry into World War II was described as a direct consequence of Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, [[Operation Barbarossa]].
 
While the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] often referred to Finland as one of the [[Axis Powerpowers]]s, Finland was never a signatory to the German-[[Military history of Italy during World War II|Italia]]n-[[History of Japan#Manchurian_Incident_and_the_Second_SinoManchurian Incident and the Second Sino-Japanese_WarJapanese War|Japan]]ese [[Tripartite Pact]] of September 1940. The Allies, in turn, pointed to the fact that Finland, like (Fascist) Italy and (Militarist) Japan, as well as a number of countries including neutral (Falangist) [[Francoist Spain#EstablishmentOverview|Spain]], belonged to Hitler's [[Anti-Comintern Pact]].
 
[[Adolf Hitler]] declared Germany to be ''im Bunde'' (in league) with the Finns, but Finland's government declared their intention to remain first a [[non-belligerent]] country, then co-belligerent after the Soviets started bombing Finnish cities all over the country, not the least due to a remaining [[neutralist]] public opinion. The truth was somewhere in-between:
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# [[United Kingdom|Britain]] declared war on Finland on 6 December 1941.
# Germany supplied Finland with military equipment of all kinds, ranging from weapons, uniforms and helmets to tanks and assault guns. Finland in exchange delivered rare resources like nickel.
# Finland also extradited eight [[Jew]]s (on orders from the then head of the [[State Police (Finland)|State Police]] [[Arno Anthoni]], who was deeply [[antisemitism|antisemiteantisemitic]] – the [[Prime Minister of Finland]], [[Paavo Lipponen]] issued an official apology for deportations in 2000), 76 political prisoners with non-Finnish citizenship and 2,600–2,800 prisoners of war to Germany in exchange for 2,100 [[FinnsKarelians|FennicKarelian]]/ and other ethnically [[KareliansBaltic Finnic peoples|KarelianFinnic]] prisoners of war from Germany. Some of the extradited had Finnish nationality but had moved to Soviet Union before the war, received Soviet citizenship and returned to Finland in secret.
# Jews were not discriminated against. A number of them served in the Finnish Army (204 during the [[Winter War]], and about 300 during the [[Continuation War]]){{citation needed|date=May 2015}}. When [[Himmler]] tried to persuade Finnish leaders to deport the Jews to [[Nazi concentration camps]], the [[Commander-in-chief#Finland|Commander-in-chief of Finland]] [[Gustaf Mannerheim]] is said to have replied: "While Jews serve in my army I will not allow their deportation"{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}. [[Yad Vashem]] records that 22 [[Finnish Jews]] were murdered in the [[Holocaust]], all fighting for the [[Finnish Defence Forces|Finnish armed forces]]. Two Jewish officers of the Finnish army and one Jewish member of the [[Lotta Svärd]] women's paramilitary organisation were awarded the German [[Iron Cross]], but they refused to accept them.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Reime|first1=Hannu|title=Un-Finnish Business|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/un-finnish-business-1.317886|accessdate=30 August 2017|work=Haaretz|date=8 October 2010|language=en}}</ref>
 
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=== The Allies as co-belligerents with former enemies ===
 
The term was used in 1943–45 during the latter stages of World War II to define the status of former allies and associates of Germany ([[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] from 1943, [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]{{dubious|date=February 2021}}, [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]]{{dubious|date=February 2021}} and [[Finland]]{{dubious|date=February 2021}} from 1944), after they joined the Allies' war against Germany.
 
== Recent usage ==
 
In the post-9/11 era, the United States government has used the term "co-belligerent" to apply to certain groups connected to [[Al-Qaeda|al Qaeda]].<ref>Rebecca Ingber, [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2837152 Co-Belligerency, 42 Yale J. Int'l Law 67 (2017)]</ref> It has done so largely as a means of tying authority to use force against those groups to a 2001 congressional statute, the [[Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001|2001 Authorization to Use Military Force]], which Congress passed in the aftermath of 9/11 to authorize the President to use force against the group that had attacked the United States and those who harbored them, understood to be al Qaeda and the [[Taliban]].<ref>Ingber, Rebecca, Co-Belligerency (2017). 42 Yale J. Int'l Law 67 (2017), Boston Univ. School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 16-37, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2837152</ref>
 
Since February 2022 [[Belarus]] is described as co-belligerent of Russia in the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]].<ref>{{cite web |title=RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, DECEMBER 11 |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-december-11 |website=[[Institute for the Study of War]] |date=11 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, OCTOBER 11 |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-11 |website=Institute for the Study of War |date=11 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Belarus to keep helping Russia but unlikely to send its troops to join Russia’s fighting in Ukraine |url=https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/12/12/belarus-to-keep-helping-russia-but-unlikely-to-send-its-troops-to-join-russias-fighting-in-ukraine-isw/ |website=Euromaidan Press |date=12 December 2022}}</ref>
 
== See also ==
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<references />
 
[[Category:Law of warBelligerency|.]]▼
 
▲[[Category:Law of war]]
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