Hors de combat (French: [ɔʁ də kɔ̃ba]; lit.
Intentional hostility from assumed persons removes any legal protection on their part.
Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, enemy combatants hors de combat are non-combatants and automatically granted the status of protected persons.
Lawful combatants hors de combat receive prisoner of war (POW) status and cannot be prosecuted for simply partaking in hostilities.
Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions defines a person as hors de combat if:[1] provided that in any of these cases he abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape.