Editing Prisoner of war (section)

==Modern times==
[[File:Het dobbelspel om het leven Rijksmuseum SK-A-2675.jpeg|thumb|Casting the dice for life or death, by [[Jan van Huchtenburg]]]]

In Europe the treatment of prisoners of war became increasingly centralised, in the time period between the 16th and late 18th century. Whereas prisoners of war had previously been regarded as the private property of the captor, captured enemy soldiers became increasingly regarded as the property of the state. The European states strove to exert increasing control over all stages of captivity, from the question of who would be attributed the status of prisoner of war to their eventual release. The act of surrender was regulated so that it, ideally, should be legitimised by officers, who negotiated the surrender of their whole unit.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Peter H.|title='Prisoners in early modern warfare' in Prisoners in War|year=2010|publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0199577576}}</ref> Soldiers whose style of fighting did not conform to the battle line tactics of regular European armies, such as [[Cossacks]] and [[Croats (military unit)|Croats]], were often denied the status of prisoners of war.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Batelka|first=Philipp|title=Zwischen Tätern und Opfern: Gewaltbeziehungen und Gewaltgemeinschaften|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|year=2017|isbn=978-3-525-30099-2|pages=107–129}}</ref>

In line with this development the treatment of prisoners of war became increasingly regulated in international treaties, particularly in the form of the so-called cartel system, which regulated how the exchange of prisoners would be carried out between warring states.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hohrath|first=Daniel|title='In Cartellen wird der Werth eines Gefangenen bestimmet', in In der Hand des Feindes: Kriegsgefangenschaft von der Antike bis zum zweiten Weltkrieg|year=1999}}</ref> Another such treaty was the 1648 [[Peace of Westphalia]], which ended the [[Thirty Years' War]]. This treaty established the rule that prisoners of war should be released without ransom at the end of hostilities and that they should be allowed to return to their homelands.<ref>"Prisoner of war", ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref>

There also evolved the [[Prisoners of war parole|right of ''parole'']], French for "discourse", in which a captured officer surrendered his sword and gave his word as a gentleman in exchange for privileges. If he swore not to escape, he could gain better accommodations and the freedom of the prison. If he swore to cease hostilities against the nation who hold him captive, he could be repatriated or exchanged but could not serve against his former captors in a military capacity.

===European settlers captured in North America===
{{further|Prisoners of war in the American Revolutionary War}}
Early historical narratives of captured European settlers, including perspectives of literate women captured by the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous peoples of North America]], exist in some number. The [[A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson | writings]] of [[Mary Rowlandson]], captured in 1676 in the chaotic fighting of [[King Philip's War]], provide an early example. Such narratives enjoyed some popularity, spawning a genre of the [[captivity narrative]], and had lasting influence on the body of early [[American literature]], most notably through the legacy of [[James Fenimore Cooper]]'s ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'' (1826). Some Native Americans continued to capture Europeans and use them both as labourers and as bargaining chips into the 19th century; see for example the case of [[John R. Jewitt]], a sailor who wrote a memoir about his years as a captive of the [[Nuu-chah-nulth people|Nootka]] people on the [[Pacific Northwest]] coast from 1802 to 1805.

=== Great Northern War ===
During the [[Great Northern War]] of 1700 to 1721, Russian authorities sent many Swedish prisoners-of-war, especially those who surrendered after the [[Battle of Poltava]] in 1709, to Siberia.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Haywood
 |first1               = Anthony
 |date                 = 2 May 2012
 |orig-date            = 1981
 |title                = Siberia: A Cultural History
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=2r6_BAAAQBAJ
 |series               = Landscapes of the imagination
 |publisher            = Andrews UK Limited
 |edition              = revised
 |isbn                 = 9781908493378
 |access-date          = 26 January 2025
 |quote                = The Treasury [in Tobolsk] [...] built in 1714-17 [...] is also known as the Swedish Chamber, because it was largely the work of Swedish prisoners of war who had been captured during the Battle of Poltava in 1709, a victory in Russia's war against Sweden (1700–21) that gave Russia dominance of the Baltic Sea. Their arrival had added a new layer to Tobolsk's colourful ethic make-up.
}} 
</ref>

===French Revolutionary wars and Napoleonic wars===
The earliest known purpose-built [[prisoner-of-war camp]] was established at [[Norman Cross Prison|Norman Cross]] in Huntingdonshire, England in 1797 to house the increasing number of prisoners from the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1006782|desc=Site of the Norman Cross Depot for Prisoners of War|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1006782|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405180656/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1006782|url-status=dead|archive-date= 5 April 2023}}</ref> The average prison population was about 5,500 men. The lowest number recorded was 3,300 in October 1804 and 6,272 on 10 April 1810 was the highest number of prisoners recorded in any official document. [[Norman Cross Prison]] was intended to be a model depot providing the most humane treatment of prisoners of war. The British government went to great lengths to provide food of a quality at least equal to that available to locals. The senior officer from each quadrangle was permitted to inspect the food as it was delivered to the prison to ensure it was of sufficient quality. Despite the generous supply and quality of food, some prisoners died of starvation after gambling away their rations. Most of the men held in the prison were low-ranking soldiers and sailors, including midshipmen and junior officers, with a small number of [[privateers]]. About 100 senior officers and some civilians "of good social standing", mainly passengers on captured ships and the wives of some officers, were given ''parole'' outside the prison, mainly in [[Peterborough]] although some further afield. They were afforded the courtesy of their rank within English society.

During the [[Battle of Leipzig]] both sides used the [[Alter Johannisfriedhof|city's cemetery]] as a [[Lazaretto|lazaret]] and prisoner camp for around 6,000 POWs who lived in the [[Burial vault (tomb)|burial vaults]] and used the coffins for firewood. Food was scarce and prisoners resorted to eating horses, cats, dogs or even human flesh. The bad conditions inside the graveyard contributed to a city-wide epidemic after the battle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/goToPage/bsb10604517.html?pageNo=305 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227060150/https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/goToPage/bsb10604517.html?pageNo=305 |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 February 2019 |language=de |author-link=Johann Friedrich Rochlitz |author=Rochlitz |title=Collected Works vol 6 |date=1822 |page=305ff |via=Munich Digitization Center}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.leipzig-lese.de/index.php?article_id=393 |language=de |title=Die Aufzeichnungen des Totengräbers Ahlemann 1813 |website=leipzig-lese.de |access-date=21 April 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407051349/https://www.leipzig-lese.de/streifzuege/geschichte/die-aufzeichnungen-des-totengraebers-ahlemann-1813/|archive-date=7 April 2023}}</ref>

===Prisoner exchanges===
The extensive period of conflict during the [[American Revolutionary War]] and [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1793–1815), followed by the [[United Kingdom – United States relations|Anglo-American]] [[War of 1812]], led to the emergence of a [[Cartel (ship)|cartel]] system for the [[exchange of prisoners]], even while the belligerents were at war. A cartel was usually arranged by the respective armed service for the exchange of like-ranked personnel. The aim was to achieve a reduction in the number of prisoners held, while at the same time alleviating shortages of skilled personnel in the home country.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

===American Civil War===
{{main|American Civil War prison camps}}

[[File:Price Raid (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] prisoners of war on the way to [[Camp Ford]] prison in October 1864]]
[[File:Prisoner of war, from Belle Isle, Richmond, at the U.S. General Hospital, Div. 1, Annapolis.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Union Army]] soldier on his release from a [[Military forces of the Confederate States|Confederate]] POW camp, c. 1865]]
At the start of the American Civil War a system of paroles operated. Captives agreed not to fight until they were officially exchanged. Meanwhile, they were held in camps run by their own army where they were paid but not allowed to perform any military duties.<ref>{{cite book|author=Roger Pickenpaugh|title=Captives in Blue: The Civil War Prisons of the Confederacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pWOfsOceCNUC&pg=PA57|year=2013|publisher=University of Alabama Press|pages=57–73|isbn=978-0817317836}}</ref> The system of exchanges collapsed in 1863 when the Confederacy refused to exchange black prisoners. In the late summer of 1864, a year after the [[Dix–Hill Cartel]] was suspended, Confederate officials approached Union General Benjamin Butler, Union Commissioner of Exchange, about resuming the cartel and including the black prisoners. Butler contacted Grant for guidance on the issue, and Grant responded to Butler on 18 August 1864 with his now famous statement. He rejected the offer, stating in essence, that the Union could afford to leave their men in captivity, the Confederacy could not.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/ande/historyculture/grant-and-the-prisoner-exchange.htm |title=Myth: General Ulysses S. Grant stopped the prisoner exchange, and is thus responsible for all of the suffering in Civil War prisons on both sides – Andersonville National Historic Site |publisher=U.S. National Park Service) |date=18 July 2014 |access-date=28 July 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307202416/https://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/grant-and-the-prisoner-exchange.htm|archive-date= 7 March 2023}}</ref> After that about 56,000 of the 409,000 POWs died in prisons during the [[American Civil War]], accounting for nearly 10% of the conflict's fatalities.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2008/01/national_life_after_death.html |title=National Life After Death |author=Richard Wightman Fox |date=7 January 2008 |magazine=Slate |access-date=10 December 2012 |archive-date=15 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615092827/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2008/01/national_life_after_death.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Of the 45,000 Union prisoners of war confined in [[Camp Sumter]], located near [[Andersonville, Georgia]], 13,000 (28%) died.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/11andersonville/11facts1.htm |title=Andersonville: Prisoner of War Camp-Reading 1 |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |access-date=28 November 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821213258/http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/11andersonville/11facts1.htm|archive-date= 21 August 2013}}</ref> At [[Camp Douglas (Chicago)|Camp Douglas]] in Chicago, Illinois, 10% of its Confederate prisoners died during one cold winter month; and [[Elmira Prison]] in New York state, with a death rate of 25% (2,963), nearly equalled that of Andersonville.<ref>Hall, Yancey (1 July 2003). [https://web.archive.org/web/20030707041320/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/07/0701_030701_civilwarprisons.html "US Civil War Prison Camps Claimed Thousands"]. ''National Geographic News''.</ref>

===Amelioration===
During the 19th century there were increased efforts to improve the treatment and processing of prisoners. As a result of these emerging conventions, a number of international conferences were held, starting with the Brussels Conference of 1874, with nations agreeing that it was necessary to prevent inhumane treatment of prisoners and the use of weapons causing unnecessary harm. Although no agreements were immediately ratified by the participating nations, work was continued that resulted in new conventions being adopted and becoming recognised as [[international law]] that specified that prisoners of war be treated humanely and diplomatically.

===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.

===Rights===
Under the [[Third Geneva Convention]], prisoners of war (POW) must be:
* Treated humanely with respect for their persons and their honour
* Able to inform their next of kin and the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] of their capture
* Allowed to communicate regularly with relatives and receive packages
* Given adequate food, clothing, housing, and medical attention
* Paid for work done and not forced to do work that is dangerous, unhealthy, or degrading
* Released quickly after conflicts end
* Not compelled to give any information except for name, age, rank, and service number<ref>{{cite web|title=Geneva Convention|url=http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/texts/doc_geneva_con.html|publisher=Peace Pledge Union|access-date=6 April 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821130538/http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/texts/doc_geneva_con.html|archive-date= 21 August 2007}}</ref>

In addition, if wounded or sick on the battlefield, the prisoner will receive help from the International Committee of the Red Cross.<ref>{{cite web|title=Story of an idea- the Film| date=5 May 2008 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIwB-Y6FUjY| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/oIwB-Y6FUjY| archive-date=29 October 2021|publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross|access-date=6 April 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

When a country is responsible for breaches of prisoner of war rights, those accountable will be punished accordingly. An example of this is the [[Nuremberg Trials|Nuremberg]] and [[Tokyo Trials]]. German and Japanese military commanders were prosecuted for preparing and initiating a [[war of aggression]], murder, ill treatment, and deportation of individuals, and [[genocide]] during World War II.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Penrose|first=Mary Margaret|title=War Crime|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/635621/war-crime/224687/The-Nurnberg-and-Tokyo-trials|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=6 April 2014}}</ref> Most were executed or sentenced to life in prison for their crimes.

===U.S. Code of Conduct and terminology===

[[The United States Military Code of Conduct]] was promulgated in 1955 via [[s:Executive Order 10631|Executive Order 10631]] under [[U.S. President|President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] to serve as a moral code for United States service members who have been taken prisoner. It was created primarily in response to the breakdown of leadership and organisation, specifically when U.S. forces were POWs during the [[Korean War]].

When a military member is taken prisoner, the Code of Conduct reminds them that the chain of command is still in effect (the highest ranking service member eligible for command, regardless of service branch, is in command), and requires them to support their leadership. The Code of Conduct also requires service members to resist giving information to the enemy (beyond identifying themselves, that is, "name, rank, serial number"), receiving special favours or parole, or otherwise providing their enemy captors aid and comfort.

Since the [[Vietnam War]], the official U.S. military term for enemy POWs is EPW (Enemy Prisoner of War). This name change was introduced to distinguish between enemy and U.S. captives.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DE1239F93AA25751C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | title=War in the Gulf: P.O.W.'s; U.S. Says Prisoners Seem War-Weary | first=Eric | last=Schmitt | date=19 February 1991|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407051341/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/19/world/war-in-the-gulf-pow-s-us-says-prisoners-seem-war-weary.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|archive-date=7 April 2023}}</ref>

In 2000 the U.S. military replaced the designation "Prisoner of War" for captured American personnel with "Missing-Captured". A January 2008 directive states that the reasoning behind this is since "Prisoner of War" is the international legal recognised status for such people there is no need for any individual country to follow suit. This change remains relatively unknown even among experts in the field and "Prisoner of War" remains widely used in the Pentagon which has a "POW/Missing Personnel Office" and awards the [[Prisoner of War Medal]].<ref name="Missing-Captured">{{cite magazine|last=Thompson |first=Mark |url=https://nation.time.com/2012/05/17/pentagon-we-dont-call-them-pows-anymore/ |title=Pentagon: We Don't Call Them POWs Anymore |magazine=Time |date=17 May 2012 |access-date=28 July 2014|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408085511/https://nation.time.com/2012/05/17/pentagon-we-dont-call-them-pows-anymore/|archive-date=8 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/130018p.pdf |title=Department of Defense Instruction January 8, 2008 Incorporating Change 1, August 14, 2009 |access-date=28 July 2014 |archive-date=4 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104014239/http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/130018p.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>