Partisan
member of a guerrilla movement / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A partisan is an armed fighter, who is not part of the regular troops of a country or state. The term comes from Italian, where it meant member of a political party. There is no separate legal status for partisans in international law. The law of war uses four criteria to legally define someone as a prisoner of war, if the person is captured:
- There is someone at the head of the organisation, who assumes liability
- They can be identified by a sign or mark, which is visible from far away
- They carry their weapons openly
- They adhere to the customs and laws of war, during their operation.[1][2]
In 1977, there were two additional protocols: They clarified that it is sufficient to carry the weapons openly only on some occasions, to be titled armed combatant.[3][4]