protected person

Protected persons is a legal term under international humanitarian law and refers to persons who are under specific protection of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols during an armed conflict. They include medical personnel and others carrying out humanitarian work, the sick or wounded, shipwrecked persons not taking part in hostilities, prisoners of war and other detained persons, and civilians, who are all regarded as non-combatants under international humanitarian law. Violating the protection of "protected persons" is a war crime.