Prisoner of war

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. Nowadays prisoners of war have rights that are stated in the Geneva Conventions and other laws of war.

Soldiers from India, prisoners of Germany in World War I

Rights

The Third Geneva Convention gives prisoners of war many different rights. Here are some examples:

POWs have the right to get packages, like this British Red Cross parcel from World War II

• They must be treated decently, with respect
• They must be allowed to tell their families and the International Committee of the Red Cross that they are a POW
• They have the right to communicate with their families, and get packages
• They have the right to keep their clothing, eating utensils, and personal things
• They must be given adequate food, clothing, housing, and medical attention
• If their captors make them work, POWs must be paid for the work they do
• If they are going to be charged with a crime, they must be given a trial

If they are very sick or hurt, prisoners of war have the right to be let go. After a war ends, all prisoners must be let go quickly.

Prisoners of war also have the right NOT to:

• Give their captors any information, except for their name, age, rank, and service number (a military identification number)
• Have their money or valuable things stolen
• Do forced labor, military work, or work that is dangerous, unhealthy, or degrading

Not every prisoner gets these rights

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:

• 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
• Follow the laws of war

Because they are not POWs under the Geneva Conventions, inmates at Guantánamo Bay have not gotten the rights POWs would

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.

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]." The U.S. said these people were unlawful combatants, not prisoners of war, because:

• 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.

War crimes against prisoners of war

See the main article: War crime

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 Nuremberg Trials punished Nazis for starving, torturing, and murdering many Soviet POWs, like these, in concentration camps

A German general as a prisoner of war with American military police during World War II

Punishing crimes

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.

In the past, when a country broke the Geneva Convention by not giving prisoners of war their rights, many different things might happen. For example, after World War II ended, the countries that won the war set up military tribunals called the Nuremberg Trials and the Tokyo Trials. At these trials, military leaders from Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan were tried for crimes against prisoners of war (and many other things). Many of them were convicted and sentenced to death or to life in prison.

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.

The International Criminal Court

In 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was created to look into war crimes around the world, and punish people for them, if possible.

The ICC has a long list of crimes that are defined as war crimes. Some war crimes against prisoners of war are:

• Torture
• Rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse
• Hurting or killing POWs
• Causing severe pain or suffering (this can be mental or physical suffering)
• Forcing POWs to do military work that will hurt their own country
• Using POWs as hostages
• 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.

Photo gallery

Before the 20th century

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  Engraving of Nubian POWs, done in Ancient Egypt between 1300 BC and 1201 BC
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  Art of Ajax the Lesser raping a woman POW. Done in Ancient Greece around 440-430 BC
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  Relief of a slave (at left) in Ancient Rome. The Roman Empire often made POWs into slaves
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  Painting of Mongol riders with prisoners from the 14th century
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  When Columbus invaded Haiti in 1492, his soldiers massacred POWs and made others into slaves
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  Drawing from 1535 of Aztecs using POWs for human sacrifices
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  Spanish conquistadors invade the Aztec Empire in 1519. The Spanish murdered many Aztec POWs and made others into slaves
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  American POWs from the Revolutionary War on a British prison ship
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  Drawing of Japanese soldiers behead Chinese POWs during the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)

20th century

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  Celebration for German POWs who returned after WWI (the banner says "Home greets you!") (1920)
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  Mass grave from the Katyn massacres of 1940, where the Soviet Red Army killed around 22, 000
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  Telegram sent to the family of an American POW captured by Nazi Germany during WWII
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  Soldiers carry bodies after the Bataan Death March (1942). About 20,000 Filipino POWs and 1,600 Americans died
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  An Australian POW, Sgt Leonard Stiffleet, captured in New Guinea, about to be beheaded by a Japanese soldier with a guntō sword, 1943
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  In 1944, 76 Allied POWs escaped from a Nazi POW camp through a tunnel. The Nazis re-captured 73 of them and executed 50.
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  Bodies of 42 American POWs killed by the North Korean Army during the Korean War (1950)
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  North Vietnam releases some Vietnam War POWs (including John McCain) in 1973
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  Iranian POWs, including child soldiers, captured during the Iran-Iraq War (1988)
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  Video of U.S. Marines and Navy SEALs rescuing American POW Jessica Lynch during the War in Iraq (2003)