A prisoner of war (short form: POW) is a non-combatant who has been captured or surrendered by the forces of the enemy, during an armed conflict. In past centuries, prisoners had no rights. They were usually killed or forced to be slaves.[1] Nowadays prisoners of war have rights that are stated in the Geneva Conventions and other laws of war.
Not all people who are caught while fighting wars are "prisoners of war." The Third Geneva Convention has a strict definition of what a prisoner of war is. For example, it says that to be "prisoners of war," soldiers must:[2]
Wear uniforms or marks on their clothes to make it clear they are soldiers
Have some sign (like a flag) that shows they are soldiers from a distance
Carry their weapons out in the open, where they can be seen
According to the Geneva Conventions, if soldiers do not meet these requirements, they are not "prisoners of war." They are "unlawful combatants" (which means "people who fight in ways that are against the law). This means they do NOT have the rights that are listed in the Geneva Conventions.[2]
This caused controversy in the early 21st century. For example, in June 2002, the United States was fighting the War in Afghanistan. The Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, announced that the people the U.S. had captured were "unlawful combatants [who] do not have any rights under the Geneva Convention[s]."[4] The U.S. said these people were unlawful combatants, not prisoners of war, because:[4]
They did not wear clothing that made them look any different than regular civilians
They did not organize themselves into groups with a chain of command
They did not follow the laws of war (because they gave support to Al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization)
The U.S. brought some of these people to a prison in Guantánamo Bay. Because they were enemy combatants, the inmates at Guantánamo did not get the rights that the Geneva Conventions give to prisoners of war.[5]
When a country, or a group of people, does not give prisoners of war their rights, they are committing a war crime. However, punishing those war crimes has not always been easy.
The Geneva Convention lists the rights that prisoners of war have. However, there is nothing in the Geneva Convention that says how people should be punished when they do not give prisoners of war these rights.[2]
However, at other times, crimes against prisoners of war might be tried in the same country where the crimes happened. This might happen before or after the war ended. Sometimes crimes against prisoners of war were not punished at all.[2]
Treating POWs in cruel ways, not respecting their dignity, or humiliating them
If a country, or a group of people, commit a war crime against prisoners of war, the ICC can put them on trial and punish them if they are found guilty.
↑The telegram says: "Based on information received through the Provost Marshal General records of the War Department have been amended to show your son Private First Class Alton L Hoover a prisoner of war of the German government Any further information received will be furnished by the Provost Marshal General ULIO The Adjutant General 806A." (Telegrams were written without any punctuation.)
↑Levie, Howard S. (1997). "Enforcing the Third Geneva Convention on the Humanitarian Treatment of Prisoners of War" (reprinted from The United States Air Force Academy Journal of Legal Studies, (7) 37)". In Michael N. Schmitt, L.C. Green (ed.). Levie on the Law of War: International Law Studies, Volume 70. United States Naval War College. pp. 459–467. ISBN978-9997904010.
↑Sale, Kirkpatrick (1992). "The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy." Papermac. p. 155. ISBN0-333-57479-6
↑López de Gemara, Francisco (1552). Cortés: The Life of the Conqueror by His Secretary. English translation by Lesley Byrd Simpson (1964). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 207-08. ISBN978-0520004917
↑"Great Escape". Nova (PBS). Season 31. Episode 582. 2004-11-16.
↑Andrews, Allen (1976). Exemplary Justice. Corgi Books. pp. 56–57. ISBN0-552-10800-6.
↑Appleman, Roy E. (1998). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu: United States Army in the Korean War. Department of the Army. p. 349. ISBN978-0-16-001918-0.