Editing Espionage (section)

=== Military intelligence and military justice ===
[[File:L'espion - Alphonse de Neuville - 1880.jpg|thumb|Painting of French spy captured during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] by [[Alphonse de Neuville]], 1880]]

In war, espionage is considered permissible as many nations recognize the inevitability of opposing sides seeking intelligence each about the dispositions of the other. To make the mission easier and successful, [[combatant]]s wear [[disguise]]s to conceal their true identity from the enemy while penetrating enemy lines for intelligence gathering. However, if they are caught behind enemy lines in disguises, they are not entitled to [[prisoner-of-war]] status and subject to [[prosecution]] and punishment—including [[execution]].

The [[Hague Convention of 1907]] addresses the status of wartime spies, specifically within "Laws and Customs of War on Land" (Hague IV); October 18, 1907: Chapter II Spies".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/ihl/385ec082b509e76c41256739003e636d/1d1726425f6955aec125641e0038bfd6?OpenDocument |title=Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Hague, 18 October 1907. |publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]}}</ref> Article 29 states that a person is considered a spy who, acts clandestinely or on false pretences, infiltrates enemy lines with the intention of acquiring intelligence about the enemy and communicate it to the [[belligerent]] during times of war. Soldiers who penetrate enemy lines in proper uniforms for the purpose of acquiring intelligence are not considered spies but are [[Combatant#Privileged combatants|lawful combatants]] entitled to be treated as prisoners of war upon capture by the enemy. Article 30 states that a spy captured behind enemy lines may only be punished following a trial. However, Article 31 provides that if a spy successfully rejoined his own military and is then captured by the enemy as a lawful combatant, he cannot be punished for his previous acts of espionage and must be treated as a prisoner of war. This provision does not apply to citizens who committed [[treason]] against their own country or co-belligerents of that country and may be captured and prosecuted at any place or any time regardless whether he rejoined the military to which he belongs or not or during or after the war.<ref>{{cite book |title=Crime Wars: The Global Intersection of Crime, Political Violence, and International Law |author1=Paul Battersby |author2=Joseph M. Siracusa |author3=Sasho Ripiloski |year=2011 |page=125 |publisher=[[Praeger Publishers|Greenwood Publishing Group]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=2 SAS Regiment, War Crimes Investigations, and British Intelligence: Intelligence Officials and the ''Natzweiler Trial'' |first=Lorie |last=Charlesworth |journal=The Journal of Intelligence History |volume=6 |issue=2 |date=2006 |page=41 |doi=10.1080/16161262.2006.10555131 |s2cid=156655154 }}</ref>

The ones that are excluded from being treated as spies while behind enemy lines are escaping prisoners of war and downed [[airmen]] as [[international law]] distinguishes between a disguised spy and a disguised escaper.<ref name="PROTOCOL">{{cite book |title=New Rules for Victims of Armed Conflicts: Commentary on the Two 1977 Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (Nijhoff Classics in International Law) |date=August 15, 2013 |author=Igor Primoratz |page=214 |publisher=[[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]]}}</ref> It is permissible for these groups to wear enemy uniforms or civilian clothes in order to facilitate their escape back to friendly lines so long as they do not attack enemy forces, collect military intelligence, or engage in similar military operations while so disguised.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_cou_us_rule62 |title=United States of America, Practice Relating to Rule 62. Improper Use of Flags or Military Emblems, Insignia or Uniforms of the Adversary |publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBTul-duLEYC&q=escaping%20POWs%20civilian%20clothes%20enemy%20uniforms&pg=PA24|title=2006 Operational Law Handbook|isbn=9781428910676|year=2010|publisher=DIANE }}</ref> Soldiers who are wearing enemy uniforms or civilian clothes simply for the sake of warmth along with other purposes rather than engaging in espionage or similar military operations while so attired are also excluded from being treated as unlawful combatants.<ref name="PROTOCOL" />

[[Sabotage|Saboteurs]] are treated as spies as they too wear disguises behind enemy lines for the purpose of waging destruction on an enemy's vital targets in addition to intelligence gathering.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Contemporary Law Of Armed Conflict 2nd Edition |author=Leslie C. Green |date=2000 |page=142 |publisher=Juris Publishing, Inc. |isbn=978-1-929446-03-2 }}<!--|access-date=25 July 2013--></ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Romantics at War: Glory and Guilt in the Age of Terrorism |url=https://archive.org/details/romanticsatwar00geor |url-access=registration |author=George P. Fletcher |page=[https://archive.org/details/romanticsatwar00geor/page/106 106] |date=September 16, 2002 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=9780691006512 }}</ref> For example, during [[World War II]], eight German agents entered the U.S. in June 1942 as part of [[Operation Pastorius]], a sabotage mission against U.S. economic targets. Two weeks later, all were arrested in civilian clothes by the [[FBI]] thanks to two German agents betraying the mission to the U.S. Under the Hague Convention of 1907, these Germans were classified as spies and tried by a [[Military justice|military tribunal]] in [[Washington D.C.]]<ref>{{cite book |title=International Law in Historical Perspective: The laws of war. Part IX-A |author= J. H. W. Verziji |year=1978 |page=143 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |isbn=978-90-286-0148-2}}</ref> On August 3, 1942, all eight were found guilty and sentenced to death. Five days later, six were executed by [[electric chair]] at the District of Columbia jail. Two who had given evidence against the others had their sentences reduced by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] to prison terms. In 1948, they were released by President [[Harry S. Truman]] and deported to the [[American Zone of Occupation#American Zone of Occupation|American Zone of occupied Germany]].

The U.S. codification of enemy spies is Article 106 of the [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]]. This provides a mandatory death sentence if a person captured in the act is proven to be "lurking as a spy or acting as a spy in or about any place, vessel, or aircraft, within the control or jurisdiction of any of the armed forces, or in or about any shipyard, any manufacturing or industrial plant, or any other place or institution engaged in work in aid of the prosecution of the war by the United States, or elsewhere".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/mcm/bl106.htm|title=UCMJ – Article 106 – Spies|work=About.com US Military|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515214735/http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/mcm/bl106.htm|archive-date=2013-05-15}}</ref>