can a private soldier in the ARMY refuse to join in a MILITARY COUP even if his ARMY OFFICERS ordered him?

Question

to do so , during a MILITARY COUP ?

will the private soldier be shot dead for disobeying his ARMY OFFICERS orders n instructions during a MILITARY COUP?

n for refusing to participate in MILITARY COUPS?

do private soldiers in the ARMY have any choice when his ARMY OFFICERS want to overthrow the Government during a MILITARY COUP?


can he go AWOL in such situations?

Answer 1

YES a soldier can refuse an order if it is an unlawful order.
However, their is no real guidelines on what is or isn't an unlawful order (at least not in the US, except for the Geneva Convention).

In the Nuremberg Trials after WW2 it was established that the Concentration Camp guards were just as guilty as the Camp Commanders. The excuse that they were just following orders was not considered enough of an excuse to let them escape blame and or any judgment passed on them.

Of course if those soldiers HAD refused to obey and order then they could have been shot by their officers or sent to the Eastern Front (a virtual death trap).

It is illegal to disobey a lawful order. Soldiers that do so can be disciplined punished and even imprisoned for that crime. In time of war disobeying a lawful order is a serious offence and the person that does so could be shot by their commanders.

Who decides if a law is legal or not depends on who wins the war. If the officer's side wins then the soldiers that tried to disobey him will be wrong, if the officer’s side loses then they could be considered heroes, if they were remembered, and if they survived not obeying the order.

If a group of soldiers refuses to obey their orders it is called a mutiny. In times of war their commander can order the mutineers to be shot, or he can shot them himself.

If a soldier goes AWOL under any conditions then that is illegal. A soldier can't escape the problem of a legal or illegal order that way.

Personally, and as a Soldier in the US Army, I would have obeyed any of the orders give to me by my commanders or the people appointed over me; I took an oath saying I would. I would just have to hope that those orders were legal ones.

If I were in a situation where I was ordered to clearly break an article of the Geneva Convention, like shoot a disarmed prisoner, then I would not obey that order; unless the situation warranted it.

In another words I would obey any order given to me by a person appointed over me unless I really knew directly and personally that the order would be illegal. It would have to be a case where what I was ordered to do was illegal, at that time and place, and I knew (with the knowledge available to me) that it was illegal.

Soldiers HAVE to obey the orders of their superiors. They really don't have any other choice. If the coup succeeds then they would be wrong to have not obeyed the order. If the coup fails, then they will still be wrong if they disobey their orders. If they obey their orders and those orders were unlawful then they would still be wrong for disobeying the orders of their superiors.

In the case of the Military Coup in Thailand I would have followed my orders, and I would leave it up to my superiors to determine if that order was a lawful order or not. A soldier is not supposed to be involved in politics. They can have their opinions, if they keep them to themselves and they can vote, but they are forbidden pretty much any other political activity. This isn’t my opinion it is military law.

It even gets worse in the case of the Military Coup in Thailand since the king can be considered the legal ruler of the nation. The president was accused of corruption so he may have been wrong. As a jay-random-private in the Thai Army I wouldn’t know the exact political situation so I would be required to obey my orders. A soldier has to trust his superiors to obey the law and not give unlawful orders. If I obeyed an order that was unlawful then my only defense would be, “I didn’t know it was an unlawful order, or I wouldn’t have obeyed it.” It's not the best excuse, but it would be the only one I would have. Otherwise it would be wrong to disobey an order.

Answer 2

Yes, it would be considered a unlawful order.

The soldier took a oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States, to obey the President and yes Officers. However the president commands the officers and if the officers rebel they are in turn violating their oath.

However at the moment of the rebellion, the soldier would probably be arrested and court marshaled, however if the rebellion failed, he would be a hero, dead or alive.

Answer 3

I do not think this is about choice, the people that want to get power is pretty desperate and they will not tolerate refusal, and AWOL can put you in a category of not loyal, sometimes and specially in situations like this it is better to go with the flow.

Answer 4

what is COUP? and it's sedition an officer can't order anyone to overthrow the government..

If anyone in the army tells you to do an unlawful order you don't do it.. simple as that.

Answer 5

Depends on whose army.

In the U.S. armed forces, soldiers are expected not to follow illegal orders. Overthrowing the government would certainly fit into that category.

Of course, that wouldn't stop his commanding officer from shooting him.

Answer 6

Of course! What if he asks u to walk in a mine field or torture or shoot some one? Are u gonna just obey orders? Come you're not a dog rite? Army officers are not supposed to be feared. If you fear them then you are not fit to be a soldier. Go be a p.u.s.s.y.

Answer 7

Flat out user-friendly answer do no longer connect the militia in case you do no longer want to be deployed to wrestle. i'm no longer able to recover from the type of those that look to have joined thinking that they are able to easily say " i do no longer care what oaths I took i'm no longer likely" you ought to head at contemporary to penitentiary for it. confident I help the troops and confident i'm interior the means of re-enrolling interior the militia and that i plan on residing as much as the dedication i'm making .

Answer 8

I don't think soldier have any choice, i was a soldier too.
what we can do is just listen to order. unless your officers are good.

Answer 9

No, disobeying your officers is called treason and they will be court marshaled and shot