A cyborg soldier is a soldier like any other regarding the hors de combat protection

This article deals with the question of “enhanced” soldiers, that is to say soldiers whose physical and mental abilities are pushed beyond the statistically normal abilities of any human being. More specifically, this article analyses the case of a soldier able to pilot a drone remotely thanks to an electronic implant placed in the soldier’s brain. The technology needed to achieve this exists on the theoretical level. This article does not deal with the lawfulness or not of the implantation of the device regarding IHL. It postulates this legality and it focuses on the question of the applicability or not, to such a soldier, of the “hors de combat” protection. This article concludes that the “hors de combat” status is applicable to such a soldier if he or she can be identified as such by the enemy armed forces.