On Tue, Jan 15, 2002 at 10:32:05PM -0500, John Garcia wrote: > "Article 4 > > "A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons > belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the > power of the enemy:
"...one of the following categories...." > "1. Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as > members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces. > This one is pretty vague. Who are the parties to the conflict? Al Queda certainly seems like a Party to the conflict. And their militias are armed. It seems that AQ prisoners fall into the first category. > "2. Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, > including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to > the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this > territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, > including such organized resistance movements, fulfil the following > conditions: > > "(a) That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; > > "(b) That of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance; > > "(c) That of carrying arms openly; > > "(d) That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and > customs of war. " > > None of the Al Queda fighters meet this criteria. That is not to say that > the United States may choose to apply the protections of the 1949 Geneva > Convention to them, the operative word being choose. > > john > -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.com/
