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Survey Says Bush Erred in Denying POW Status to Taliban
Thursday, February 21, 2002
(11:20)
Crimes of War Project, American University

Crimes of War Project Survey of Legal Experts Says White House Erred in Denying POW Status to Taliban, Al Qaeda Detainees

To: National and International Desks

Contact: Elisa Munoz
Crimes of War Project
American University
202/885-2051
Web site: http://www.crimesofwar.org/

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Newswire


In its survey of legal experts, "POWs or Illegal Combatants," released today by the Crimes of War Project, some of the world's foremost authorities in international humanitarian law assert that the Bush Administration erred in its reading of the Geneva Conventions when it determined that the detainees being held at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay and at various locations in Afghanistan are ineligible for prisoner of war status.

Most of the experts surveyed by the Crimes of War Project believe that the Taliban should be granted POW status, citing Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention, which defines prisoners of war as "members of armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces." Although there was disagreement about the legal status of members of Al Qaeda who have been captured, most agreed that the Administration had not taken necessary steps under international law to determine their status, a procedure in which a military tribunal rules on whether or not a detainee meets POW criteria on a case by case basis.

"By denying the detainees prisoner of war status, the U.S. finds itself at variance with the International Committee of the Red Cross, with most experts, and with most of our European allies," said Robert Kogod Goldman, a law professor at American University's Washington College of Law, one of several experts interviewed.
(More: U.S. Newswire News Source)
2002 © Crimes of War Project, American University.

Dan