Editing Prisoner of war (section)

===Hague and Geneva Conventions===
Chapter II of the Annex to the [[Hague Convention of 1907|1907 Hague Convention]] ''IV – The Laws and Customs of War on Land'' covered the treatment of prisoners of war in detail. These provisions were further expanded in the [[Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (1929)|1929 Geneva Convention on the Prisoners of War]] and were largely revised in the [[Third Geneva Convention]] in 1949.

Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention protects captured military personnel, some [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] fighters, and certain civilians. It applies from the moment a prisoner is captured until his or her release or repatriation. Under the 1949 [[Geneva Conventions]], POWs acquires the status of [[protected persons]], meaning it is a war crime by the detaining power to deprive the rights afforded to them by the Third Convention's provisions.<ref name="JWEFS">{{cite web|url=https://guide-humanitarian-law.org/content/article/3/protected-persons/|title=The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law: Protected Persons|publisher=[[Doctors Without Borders]]}}</ref> Article 17 of the Third Geneva Convention states that POWs can only be required to give their name, date of birth, [[Military rank|rank]] and [[service number]] (if applicable).

The [[ICRC]] has a special role to play, with regards to [[international humanitarian law]], in [[Restoring Family Links|restoring and maintaining family contact in times of war]], in particular concerning the right of prisoners of war and internees to send and receive letters and cards (Geneva Convention (GC) III, art. 71 and GC IV, art. 107).

However, nations vary in their dedication to following these laws, and historically the treatment of POWs has varied greatly. During World War II, [[Imperial Japan]] and [[Nazi Germany]] (towards Soviet POWs and Western Allied commandos) were notorious for atrocities against prisoners of war. The German military used the Soviet Union's refusal to sign the Geneva Convention as a reason for not providing the necessities of life to Soviet POWs; and the Soviets also used Axis prisoners as forced labour. The Germans also routinely executed Allied commandos captured behind German lines per the [[Commando Order]].

====Qualifications====
[[File:Illustration of the Decapitation of Violent Chinese Soldiers by Utagawa Kokunimasa 1894.png|thumb|Japanese illustration depicting the beheading of Chinese captives during the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] of 1894–95]]

To be entitled to prisoner-of-war status, captured persons must be [[lawful combatant]]s entitled to combatant's privilege—which gives them immunity from punishment for crimes constituting lawful acts of war such as killing [[enemy combatant]]s. To qualify under the [[Third Geneva Convention]], a combatant must be part of a chain of command, wear a "fixed distinctive marking, visible from a distance", bear arms openly, and have conducted military operations according to the [[laws and customs of war]]. (The Convention recognises a few other groups as well, such as "Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units".)

Thus, uniforms and badges are important in determining prisoner-of-war status under the Third Geneva Convention. Under [[Additional Protocol I]], the requirement of a distinctive marking is no longer included. ''[[Francs-tireurs]]'', [[militia]]s, [[insurgent]]s, [[terrorists]], saboteurs, [[Mercenary|mercenaries]], and spies generally do not qualify because they do not fulfill the criteria of Additional Protocol I. So they fall under the category of [[unlawful combatant]]s, or more properly they are not combatants. Captured soldiers who do not get prisoner of war status are still protected like civilians under the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]].
[[File:Ernest Grandier, a prisoner of the Zulus, stands naked and t Wellcome V0041878.jpg|thumb|British soldier captured during the [[Anglo-Zulu War]]]]
The criteria are applied primarily to ''international'' armed conflicts. The application of prisoner of war status in non-international armed conflicts like [[civil wars]] is guided by [[Additional Protocol II]], but [[insurgents]] are often treated as traitors, terrorists, or criminals by government forces and are sometimes executed on spot or tortured. However, in the [[American Civil War]], both sides treated captured troops as POWs presumably out of [[Reciprocity (international relations)|reciprocity]], although the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] regarded [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] personnel as separatist rebels. However, guerrillas and other irregular combatants generally cannot expect to receive benefits from both civilian and military status simultaneously.