Editing Unlawful combatant (section)

===== Parole violation =====
A combatant who is a POW, and who is subsequently paroled on the condition that he will not take up arms against the belligerent power (or co-belligerent powers) that had held him as a prisoner, is considered a parole violator if he breaks said condition. He is regarded as guilty of a breach of the laws of war, unless there are mitigating circumstances such as coercion by his state to break his parole. As with other combatants, they are still protected by the Third Geneva Convention (GCIII), until a competent tribunal finds them in violation of their parole.

The [[Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (1929)|Geneva Convention (1929)]] made no mention of parole, but as it was supplemental to the Hague conventions, it relied on the wording of Hague to address this issue.<ref>[http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/INTRO/305?OpenDocument Commentary on the Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War]. Geneva, 27 July 1929</ref> The authors of GCIII, 1949, decided to include a reference with some modification to parole, because during the Second World War, some belligerent countries did permit such release to some extent.<ref name=ICRC-GCIII-21>ICRC [http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/COM/375-590027?OpenDocument Commentary on GCIII: Article 21]</ref>

Article 21 of GCIII (1949) reproduces the Articles 10 and 11 of the ''Hague IV: Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land'', 18 October 1907, but did not include Article 12, which provides: "Prisoners of war liberated on parole and recaptured bearing arms against the Government to whom they had pledged their honour, or against the allies of that Government, forfeit their right to be treated as prisoners of war, and can be brought before the courts".<ref>[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague04.htm Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821192933/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague04.htm |date=21 August 2016 }}; 18 October 1907</ref> Nevertheless, contained in the commentary on GCIII: The only safeguard available to a parole violator—who has been coerced into fighting, and who has been recaptured by the Power that detained him previously—is contained in the procedural guarantees to which he is entitled, pursuant to Article 85 of GCIII.<ref name=ICRC-GCIII-21/>

In the opinion of Major Gary D. Brown, [[United States Air Force]] (USAF), this means that "[T]he Hague Convention specified that parole breakers would forfeit their right to be treated as prisoners of war if recaptured. The 1949 Geneva Convention is less direct on the issue. A recaptured parole violator under the Convention would be afforded the opportunity to defend himself against charges of parole breaking. In the interim, the accused violator would be entitled to P[o]W status".
<ref>Brown, Gary D.. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20041020055731/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/law/pow_parole.pdf Prisoner of war parole: Ancient concept, modern utility]'' The Military Law Review, Vol 156 (June 1998) p.13 ( Major Gary D. Brown in June 1998 was Chief, International and Operational Law at Headquarters, United States Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.</ref>