Introduction
For most of Naruto, we are shown that the great nations are constantly involved in conflict. Naruto details that the nations have seen at least three Great Ninja Wars, equivalent to our World Wars, and in the final arc the great nations are embroiled in the Fourth Great Ninja War. Like any nation that fields an army, regardless of size, there will always be some form of medical presence to treat the wounded and dead. In Naruto, this can be found with the presence of the medical corps.
Overtime, medical personnel have developed to become an integral part of any Army and have garnered certain protections as they typically are not involved in fighting. I would say they are fighting adjacent – meaning they can be or are present in the conflict, but are not directly participating in hostilities (DPH). Naruto has shown us that the ninjas in the medical corps can fight just as well or even better than some of the strongest ninjas in other nations.
Throughout this article, the Village Hidden in the Leaves (Hidden Leaf) medical corps will be the subject of comparison to the U.S. Is the U.S. military medical personnel structured differently from Naruto’s Hidden Leaves’ or are the two similar? Also, how we would classify the Hidden Leafs’ medical corps in a conflict? What kinds of protections would they have? If any? Could their actions even be permissible?
Classifying Conflicts and Conflict Participants
Within an armed conflict there are different subsets of populations that have different protections. First, we have combatants which are typically found in international armed conflicts (IAC). Under Common Article 2 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions (GC) IAC occurs when two sovereign states enter an inter-state conflict with one another. An example of this kind of conflict is Russia and Ukraine. To be classified as a combatant, Art. 4 of GCIII states one must: 1) wear arms openly; 2) wear a fixed symbol; 3) adhere to a chain of command; and, 4) adhere to the principles of armed conflict. They get POW status if captured which means they get all the protections the GCs can provide.
A non-international armed conflict (NIAC) occurs when a sovereign state is involved in an armed conflict with a non-state group. Generally, members in a NIAC are unprivileged belligerents and only Common Article 3 (CA3) and Additional Protocol II (AP II) protections will apply. This means the unprivileged belligerents get a much smaller range of protections.
Now, regardless if we have an IAC or NIAC, there are classes of people that must be protected at all times. These are civilians and non-combatants. All the GCs and APs are very clear that civilians are to be protected at all times and that parties to a conflict must ensure that they mitigate harm to them to the best extent possible. Lastly, we have non-combatants e.g. medical and religious personnel. Traditionally, non-combatants receive many protections and if captured they are to perform their specialties without discrimination to those in the detention area. Knowing the different roles will help.
Background of Medical Personnel
Medical personnel are non-combatants and are heavily protected within the GCs. Specifically, medical personnel, performing exclusively medical actions, must be respected and protected at all times. This absolute protection is lost if they engage harmful acts against the enemy. AP I, Art. 15 expands on this protection and applies it to civilian medical personnel. Now, there is no longer a distinction and all are protected. U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Law of War Manual, para. 4.10.1 does allow for medical personnel to engage in hostilities if it is for self-defense from an unlawful attack. Further, according to U.S. DoD Law of War Manual, para. 4.9.2.2, the U.S. combatant must be designated as a medical personnel to receive the protections. Simply having the training or performing medical actions does not grant a combatant protection.
Parties to the conflict must endeavor to have their civilian and military medical personnel clearly identified. States need to do this because in conflict it would be difficult to distinguish between medical and non-medical personnel and the harming of medical personnel could put the harming party in hot water. Medical personnel are distinguished through the use what the GCs call the distinctive emblem – a red cross emblazoned on a white background. When military medical, and now civilian, personnel are in use they have to have this symbol displayed on flags, on armbands, and all equipment they are using. Attacking anyone or object that is using this symbol constitutes a war crime and is a non-starter.
During times of conflict parties can mutually come together to create hospital zones. These zones are mutually agreed upon as a site to keep wounded and sick outside of the combat zone and will be protected at all times. When these are created, the International Committee of the Red Cross and those states protecting the wounded and sick can work together to make these locations well known.
The Medical Corps
The Hidden Leafs’ medical corps are similar to how some modern states structure their military medical personnel. The Hidden Leafs’ military medical personnel are subdivided into two types: the medic corps and medical-nin. The medic corps are composed of ninjas who primarily are removed from combat and work and sustain hospital facilities; however, they do have the capacity to enter combat. Like the emblazoned red cross, the Hidden Leafs’ military medical personnel have a distinct emblem, the Konaha Medical Team Symbol (Konaha Symbol) that helps denote their designation to ensure protection. The medical-nin are medics assigned to squads to provide medical support when needed during missions. This is similar to combat medics in the U.S. military who provide aid to teammates on the front lines. For the medical-nin and medic corps, there are four laws the Hidden Leafs ’ binds them to if they want to serve in that capacity and they are:
- No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end.
- No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines.
- No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon.
- Only those medic ninja who have mastered theStrength of a Hundred Techniqueof the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws.
For most of Naruto, these laws are adhered to. Specifically, the second clause holds strong weight which is why the conflict arcs don’t see many military medical personnel at the front lines. Now, the fourth law negates the second clause and reads “only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique of the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws.” This really only applies to Tsunade, the creator of these laws, and her student Sakura. It seems to be a bit different from the U.S. approach. Here, almost all military medical ninjas are designated as medical personnel and cannot engage in hostilities. The U.S. applies a more flexible approach as it deploys combat medics who perform both medic and combatant functions without official designation. Naturally, the lack of medical designation and therefore emblem use allows for the combat medics to be attacked. This is a risk that only Tsunade and Sakura share in Naruto.
Removal from Combat
When conflicts erupt, states have an inherent obligation to remove people from the battlefield who are hors de combat. What does this phrase mean? It means “out of the fight” and covers individuals who cannot fight back because they are wounded, sick, dead, who’ve surrendered or been captured. This is a foundational rule to international humanitarian law and is enforced in IACs and NIACs. States need to focus on fighting those who fight back and must protect those who cannot fight back. Generally, states endeavor to remove those deemed hors de combat from the battlefield to areas where they can be protected and receive medical attention. The Hidden Leaf follows this approach too. The easiest example is in Naruto’s final arc where Sakura oversees a military field hospital where the wounded and dead from Madara’s and Obito’s attacks are deposited. The field hospital is removed from the battlefield and all the military medical personnel perform lifesaving actions on all ninjas regardless of the Village they are from. This ensures the medic corps maintains their quasi-neutral function. Further, Sakura’s field hospital displays the Konaha Symbol much like U.S. military hospitals display the Red Cross to ensure it is immune from attacks. Lastly, when a white Zetsu attacks the field hospital only Sakura prepares to engage while the other medical ninjas adhere to the second law and stand down. Now, if this was the U.S. Field hospital medical personnel may be able to defend themselves as an attack on a hospital is unlawful and they would be performing a self-defense action.
Conclusion
At first blush, it would seem that the Hidden Leaf and the U.S.’ approach to military medical personnel are radically different. However, upon closer inspection, the Hidden Leaf approach to structuring the medical corps and the rules imposed upon those ninjas mirrors the U.S.’ format. Both the Hidden Leaf and the U.S. recognize the inherent imperative to have these personnel protected because of their specialized role that they play. Neither the Hidden Leaf or the U.S. wants to violate the rules that they use to govern their actions, because if they do it negates the purpose of having them in the first place. Therefore, the continued application of the laws and strict adherence allows for the protected roles to remain and encourages other states or villages to mirror their actions without fear that their military medical personnel will be harmed.
