Posted on May 19, 2022
EXPLAINER: What might happen to 100s of Ukrainian POWs?
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Breaking its recent silence on prisoners of war, the Red Cross said Thursday it has registered “hundreds” of Ukrainian prisoners of war who left the giant Azovstal steel plant in the southern city of Mariupol after holding out in a weeks-long standoff with besieging Russian forces.
The announcement by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which acts as a guardian of the Geneva Conventions that aim to limit “the barbarity of war,” came shortly after Russia’s military said 1,730 Ukrainian troops at the steel mill have surrendered.
Attention now is turning to how those prisoners of war might be treated and what rights they have. Here’s a look at some key questions about POWs in Russia’s nearly three-month-old war on Ukraine:
WHO IS A PRISONER OF WAR?
Article 4 of the third Geneva Convention, which focuses on POWs, defines them as any member of armed forces or militias — including organized resistance movements — in a conflict who “who have fallen into the power of the enemy.”
The announcement by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which acts as a guardian of the Geneva Conventions that aim to limit “the barbarity of war,” came shortly after Russia’s military said 1,730 Ukrainian troops at the steel mill have surrendered.
Attention now is turning to how those prisoners of war might be treated and what rights they have. Here’s a look at some key questions about POWs in Russia’s nearly three-month-old war on Ukraine:
WHO IS A PRISONER OF WAR?
Article 4 of the third Geneva Convention, which focuses on POWs, defines them as any member of armed forces or militias — including organized resistance movements — in a conflict who “who have fallen into the power of the enemy.”
EXPLAINER: What might happen to 100s of Ukrainian POWs?
Posted from apnews.com
Russia
Ukraine
POW/MIA
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."COULD RUSSIA CLAIM THE FIGHTERS ARE NOT ENTITLED TO POW STATUS?
Some countries have tried to sidestep their Geneva Conventions obligations — or simply argue that they’re not bound by them.
A prominent case was when the United States detained hundreds of fighters allegedly linked to terrorist groups like al-Qaida. They were detained as “enemy combatants” at a U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after the Sept. 11 attacks and the subsequent U.S.-led military operation to topple the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan.
Sassoli said there are “all kinds of reasons” why an individual might lose their prisoner of war status. For example, if the fighter “didn’t distinguish themselves from the civilian population” during combat.
“But here, to the best of my knowledge, no one claims that these people (detainees from the Azov Regiment in Mariupol) didn’t wear a uniform, or if they don’t belong to the Ukrainian armed forces,” Sassoli said. “It’s basically Ukraine who decides who belongs to their armed forces.”...
..."COULD RUSSIA CLAIM THE FIGHTERS ARE NOT ENTITLED TO POW STATUS?
Some countries have tried to sidestep their Geneva Conventions obligations — or simply argue that they’re not bound by them.
A prominent case was when the United States detained hundreds of fighters allegedly linked to terrorist groups like al-Qaida. They were detained as “enemy combatants” at a U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after the Sept. 11 attacks and the subsequent U.S.-led military operation to topple the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan.
Sassoli said there are “all kinds of reasons” why an individual might lose their prisoner of war status. For example, if the fighter “didn’t distinguish themselves from the civilian population” during combat.
“But here, to the best of my knowledge, no one claims that these people (detainees from the Azov Regiment in Mariupol) didn’t wear a uniform, or if they don’t belong to the Ukrainian armed forces,” Sassoli said. “It’s basically Ukraine who decides who belongs to their armed forces.”...
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