Military occupation
Effective provisional control of one sovereign power over another sovereign's territory / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Occupation zones?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the temporary control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of the ruling power's own sovereign territory.[1][2][3][4] The controlled territory is then known as the occupied territory, with the ruling power being the occupant.[5] Occupation is distinguished from annexation and colonialism on the basis that it is a power structure that the ruling power intends to keep in place only temporarily.[4][6] In many cases, an occupant may establish a military government to facilitate the administration of the occupied territory, though this is not a necessary precondition for occupation to take place.[7]
The rules of occupation are delineated in various international agreements—primarily the Hague Convention of 1907, the Geneva Conventions, and by long-established state practice. The relevant international conventions, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and various treaties by military scholars provide guidelines on such topics as rights and duties of the occupying power, protection of civilians, treatment of prisoners of war, coordination of relief efforts, issuance of travel documents, property rights of the populace, handling of cultural and art objects, management of refugees, and other concerns that are highest in importance both before and after the cessation of hostilities in an armed conflict. A country that engages in a military occupation and violates internationally agreed-upon norms runs the risk of censure, criticism, or condemnation. In the contemporary era, the practices of occupations have largely become a part of customary international law, and form a part of the law of war.
Since World War II and the establishment of the United Nations, it has been common practice in international law for occupied territory to continue to be widely recognized as occupied in cases where the occupant attempts to alter—with or without support or recognition from other powers—the expected temporary duration of the territory's established power structure, namely by making it permanent through annexation (formal or otherwise) and not recognizing itself as an occupant. Additionally, the question of whether a territory is occupied or not becomes especially controversial if two or more powers disagree with each other on that territory's status; such disputes often serve as the basis for armed conflicts in and of themselves.