the.com/human shield
Civilians placed near combatants to use their safety as protection, risking their lives for someone else's war.
means A person or group deliberately placed in harm's way to deter an attacking force that is expected to avoid civilian or protected casualties.
from A 20th-century compound, plain in its parts — 'human' plus 'shield' — built to name a wartime tactic rather than inherited from some older root. The phrase entered wider use through modern conflicts and news reporting, where it described both civilians trapped or positioned in combat zones and, later, volunteers who deliberately placed themselves at risk sites to deter attack through their very presence.
- legal status
- war crime under the Geneva Conventions
- the logic
- your morality becomes their weapon
- grim loophole
- attacker still liable if shields are known
- used by
- militaries, militants, and desperate dictators alike