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Ancient timesFor most of human history, depending on the temperament of the victors, combatants of the losing side in a battle could expect to be either slaughtered, to eliminate them as a future threat, or enslaved, bringing economic and social benefits to the victorious side and its soldiers. Typically, little distinction was made between combatants and civilians, although women and children were certainly more likely to be spared, if only to be raped or captured for sale as slaves. Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, religious wars were particularly ferocious. Extermination of the heretics or "non-believers" was considered desirable. Examples are the Crusades against the Cathars and the Baltic people in the 13th century[1]. Likewise the inhabitants of conquered cities were frequently massacred during the Crusades against the Turks in the 11th and 12th centuries, or during the Muslim and Ottoman Turkish incursions in Europe throughout the period. Rulers and army commanders were frequently used to extract tribute by granting their freedom in exchange for a significant ransom in treasury or land. The Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, which ended the Thirty Years War, is considered the first to establish the rule of releasing prisoners at the end of hostilities and allowing them to return to their homelands[2]. Modern times
Later, as 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 recognized as international law, that specified that prisoners of war are required to be treated humanely and diplomatically. Hague and Geneva ConventionsSpecifically, Chapter II of the Annex to the 1907 Hague Convention covered the treatment of prisoners of war in detail. These were further expanded in the Third Geneva Convention of 1929, and its revision of 1949. Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention protects captured military personnel, some guerrilla fighters and certain civilians. It applies from the moment a prisoner is captured until he or she is released or repatriated. One of the main provisions of the convention makes it illegal to torture prisoners and states that a prisoner can only be required to give his or her name, date of birth, rank and service number (if applicable). However, nations vary in their dedication to following these laws, and historically the treatment of POWs has varied greatly. During the Twentieth Century, Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were notorious for atrocities against prisoners during World War II. Torture of prisoners was routine in conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. More recently, the United States has been sharply criticized by the international community for its mistreatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Abu Ghraib, Iraq. QualificationsTo be entitled to prisoner of war status, the captured service member must have conducted operations according to the laws and customs of war: be part of a chain of command and wear a uniform and bear arms openly. Thus, franc-tireurs, terrorists and spies may be excluded. In practice, these criteria are not always interpreted strictly. Guerrillas, for example, may not wear a uniform or carry arms openly yet are typically granted POW status if captured. However, guerrillas or any other combatant may not be granted the status if they try to use both the civilian and the military status. Thus, the importance of uniforms — or as in the guerrilla case, a badge — to keep this important rule of warfare. Alternative definitionsSome groups define Prisoner of War in accordance with their internal politics and world view. Since the special rights of a prisoner of war, granted by governments, are the result of multilateral treaties, these definitions have no legal effect and those claiming rights under these definitions would legally be considered common criminals under an arresting jurisdiction's laws. However, in most cases these groups do not demand such rights. The United States Army only uses the term Prisoner of War to describe friendly soldiers who have been captured. The proper term for enemy prisoners captured by friendly forces is Enemy Prisoner of War or EPW[citation needed]. World War IImage:US pow.jpg American prisoners of war in Germany in 1917. About 8 million men surrendered and were held in POW camps until the war ended. All nations pledged to follow the Hague rules on fair treatment of prisoners of war, and in general the POW's had a much higher survival rate than their peers who were not captured.[3] Individual surrenders were uncommon; usually a large unit surrendered all its men. At Tannenberg 92,000 Russians surrendered during the battle. When the besieged garrison of Kaunas surrendered in 1915, 20,000 Russians became prisoners. Over half the Russian losses were prisoners (as a proportion of those captured, wounded or killed); for Austria 32%, for Italy 26%, for France 12%, for Germany 9%; for Britain 7%. Prisoners from the Allied armies totaled about 1.4 million (not including Russia, which lost between 2.5 and 3.5 million men as prisoners.) From the Central Powers about 3.3 million men became prisoners.[4] Germany held 2.5 million prisoners; Russia held 2.9 million, and Britain and France held about 720,000, mostly gained in the period just before the Armistice in 1918. The US held 48,000. The most dangerous moment was the act of surrender, when helpless soldiers were sometimes gunned down. Once prisoners reached a camp in general conditions were satisfactory (and much better than in World War II), thanks in part to the efforts of the International Red Cross and inspections by neutral nations. Conditions were terrible in Russia, starvation was common for prisoners and civilians alike; about 15-20% of the prisoners in Russia died. In Germany food was short but only 5% died. [5] The Ottoman Empire often treated prisoners of war poorly. Some 11,800 British Empire soldiers, most of them Indians became prisoners after the five-month Siege of Kut, in Mesopotamia, in April 1916. Many wery weak and starved when they surrendered and 4,250 died in captivity.[6] The most curious case came in Russia where the Czech Legion of Czech prisoners (from the Austro-Hungarian army), were released in 1917, armed themselves, and briefly became a military and diplomatic force during the Russian Civil War. Release of prisonersAt the end of the war there were believed to be 140,000 British Prisoners of war in Germany, including 3,000 held in Switzerland. The first British prisoners were released and reached Calais on 15 November. Plans were made for them to be sent via Dunkirk to Dover and a large reception camp was established at Dover capable of housing 40,000 men, which could later be used for demobilisation. On 13 December 1918 the armistice was extended and the Allies reported that by 9 December 264,000 prisoners had been repatriated. A very large number of these has been released en masse and sent across allied lines without any food or shelter. This had created difficulties for the receiving Allies and many had died from exhaustion. The released POWs were met by cavalry troops and sent back through the lines in lorries to reception centres where they were refitted with boots and clothing and dispatched to the ports in trains. Upon arrival at the receiving camp the POWs were registered and “boarded” before being dispatched to their own homes. All officers had to write a report on the circumstances of their capture and to ensure that they had done all they could to avoid capture. On a more enlightened note, each returning officer and man was given a message from King George V, written in his own hand and reproduced on a lithograph. It read as follows: The Queen joins me in welcoming you on your release from the miseries & hardships, which you have endured with so much patience and courage. During these many months of trial, the early rescue of our gallant Officers & Men from the cruelties of their captivity has been uppermost in our thoughts. We are thankful that this longed for day has arrived, & that back in the old Country you will be able once more to enjoy the happiness of a home & to see good days among those who anxiously look for your return. George R.I. World War IIImage:Paquete Cruz Roja.JPG Red Cross parcel sent to British POW in Germany Image:Podhalan POWs.jpg German soldiers taken POW by the Polish Independent Highland Brigade during the Battle of Narvik of 1940 Germany and Italy generally treated prisoners from the British Commonwealth, France, the U.S. and other western allies, in accordance with the Third Geneva Convention (1929) which had been signed by these countries [2]. Nazi Germany did not extend this level of treatment to non-Western prisoners, who suffered harsh captivities and died in large numbers while in captivity. The Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan also did not treat prisoners of war in accordance with the Geneva Convention. When soldiers of lower rank were made to work, they were compensated, and officers (e.g. in Colditz Castle) were not forced to work. The main complaint of prisoners of war in German Army camps, especially during the last two years of the war, was the poor quality and miserly quantities of food provided, a fate German soldiers and civilians were also suffering due to the blockade conditions. Fortunately for the prisoners, food packages provided by the International Red Cross supplemented the food rations, until the last few months when allied air raids prevented shipments from arriving. The other main complaint was the harsh treatment during forced marches in the last months resulting from German attempts to keep prisoners away from the advancing allied forces. In contrast Germany treated the Soviet Red Army troops that had been taken prisoner with neglect and deliberate, organized brutality. Soviet POWs were held under conditions that resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands from starvation and disease. Most prisoners were also subjected to forced labour under conditions that resulted in further deaths. An official justification used by the Germans for this policy was that the Soviet Union had not signed the Geneva Convention; this was not legally justifiable however as under article 82 of the Third Geneva Convention of 1929; signatory countries had to give POWs of all signatory and non-signatory countries the rights assigned by the convention. German POWs were used for forced labour under conditions that resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands. One specific example of the Soviets cruelty towards the German POWs was after the Battle of Stalingrad during which the Soviets had captured 91,000 German troops. The prisoners, already starved and ill, were marched to war camps in Siberia to face the freezing bitter cold. Of the troops captured in Stalingrad, only 5,000 survived. The last German POWs were released only in 1955, after Stalin had died. In quantifiable terms, between 1941 and 1945 the Axis powers took around 5.7 million Russian prisoners. Approximately 1 million were released during the war, in that their status changed but they remained under German authority. A little over 500,000 either escaped or were liberated by the Red Army, 930,000 more were found alive in camps after the war. The remaining 3.3 million prisoners (57.5% of the total captured) died during their captivity. The Soviets captured 3.155 million German soldiers, of which 1.185 million (37.5%) died. In comparison, 8,348 British or American prisoners died in German camps in 1939-45 (3.5% of the 232,000 total). By contrast, allied nations such the U.S., UK, Australia and Canada, tried to treat Axis prisoners strictly in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. This sometimes created conditions for POWs better than those their fellow soldiers enjoyed at home. The lower rank prisoners were used for work on farms and road maintenance and were compensated for their work as required by the Geneva Convention. In addition, as word spread among the enemy about the conditions of Allied POW camps, it encouraged surrenders, which helped further Allied military goals. It may have raised morale among the Allied personnel when the usefulness of this approach was accepted by reinforcing the idea that this humane treatment of prisoners showed that their side was morally superior to the enemy. At the end of the war in Europe, the victorious allied nations were not able to treat all prisoners in accordance with the Geneva Conventions - something which had been expected from Germany during the war, though, even with the millions of POWs captured. Image:KoreanWar NKPA POW.jpg Korean POWs being guarded by a U.S. Marine during the Korean War In the Pacific War, the Empire of Japan did neither sign nor follow the Third Geneva Convention of 1929. Prisoners of war from China, America, Australia, Britain, Canada, Netherlands and New Zealand held by the Japanese armed forces were subject to brutal treatment, including forced labor, medical experimentation, starvation rations, and poor medical treatment. No access was provided to the International Red Cross. This treatment resulted in the very high death rate of 37% in Japanese prisoner of war camps. Escapes were almost impossible because of the difficulty of men of European descent hiding in Asiatic societies.[7] Post World War II
Numbers of POWsThis is a list of nations with the highest number of POWs during World War II, listed in descending order. These are also the highest numbers in any war since the Geneva Convention, Relative to the treatment of prisoners of war (1929) entered into force 19 June, 1931. The USSR had not signed the Geneva convention. [8]
List of notable POWsList of POWs that attracted notable attention or influence by this status: Image:PakistanPoW.jpg A Pakistan stamp shows the 90,000 POWs in Indian camps following its surrender in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. This stamp, released with the aim of raising the POW issue at a global level in securing their release, is one of the very few stamps issued by a nation about its POWs.
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