Prisoner of war is a captured member of a warring country’s armed forces. In most cases, prisoners of war have surrendered to their enemy. But sometimes they have been taken by force. Prisoners of war are often called POW’s.
In 1785, the United States and Prussia signed the world’s first treaty calling for fair treatment for prisoners of war. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the Geneva Conventions of 1929 and 1949 established international rules dealing with the treatment of prisoners of war. Nearly all nations have agreed to follow these rules.
The Hague and Geneva conventions require that nations keep their prisoners of war in safe, sanitary camps. Representatives of nonfighting countries must be allowed to inspect the camps. These inspectors make certain that prisoners of war receive food, medical care, and payment for work. The conventions also rule that nations must permit their prisoners to send and receive mail. Another regulation requires that countries return captured military doctors and chaplains to their own forces. The conventions provide that a prisoner need not give the enemy any information except the prisoner’s name, rank, military serial number, and age.
In spite of the Geneva and Hague regulations, much mistreatment of prisoners of war has occurred. During World War II (1939-1945), Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union treated their prisoners harshly. Millions of them died of cold, starvation, or mistreatment. During the Korean War (1950-1953), United Nations (UN) forces accused the Chinese and the North Koreans of brainwashing their prisoners (see Brainwashing ). By the end of the Vietnam War (1957-1975), 651 American and thousands of North Vietnamese prisoners of war returned to their own countries.
During the Iraq War (2003-2011), the U.S. government learned that U.S. soldiers had abused Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, a U.S.-run prison outside Baghdad, Iraq’s capital. Photographs taken at the prison showed prisoners being threatened, beaten, and humiliated by U.S. soldiers. The reports and pictures sparked widespread outrage and led to investigations of prisoner treatment at other facilities operated by the United States. A number of U.S. soldiers were convicted for their roles in the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
