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A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
The laws apply from the moment a prisoner is captured until he 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 name, date of birth, rank and service number (if applicable).
Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention protects captured military personnel, guerrilla fighters and certain civilians.
In principle, to be entitled to prisoner of war status, the captured soldier must have conducted operations according to the laws and customs of war, e.g. be part of a chain of command, wear a uniform and bear arms openly. Thus, franc-tireurs, terrorists and spies may be excluded. In practise 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.
The status of POW does not include unarmed non-combatants who are captured in time of war; they are protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention rather than the Third Geneva Convention.
The treatment of prisoners of war can depend on the resources, social attitudes and policies of the governments and militaries in question. For instance, in World War II, Soviet Union prisoners of Nazi Germany were often treated with neglect and brutality on account that the government considered them to be inferior races not entitled to fair treatment while western POWs of the western nation of the Allies like the USA and United Kingdom had treatment closer to the Geneva Conventions.
By contrast, POW facilities held by Allied nations like the USA, United Kingdom and Canada usually complied strictly to the Geneva Conventions, which sometimes created conditions POWs found were more comfortable than their own side's barracks. This approach was decided based on the idea that having POWs well treated meant a ready supply of healthy and cooperative laborers for farmwork and the like, as allowed by the Geneva Conventions, which eased personnel shortages. There were also the benefits of a lower chance of having to deal with escapes or prisoners causing camp disruptions. The comparatively favourable conditions also made interrogations of enemy personnel easier and more productive. In addition, as word spread among the enemy about the conditions of North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean POW camps, it encouraged surrenders which helped further Allied military goals efficiently without the expense of combat. Furthermore, while there were initially complaints of coddling the enemy, the Allied population largely grew to support this approach which may have raised morale amoung the Allied personnel when by reinforcing the idea that this humane treatment of prisoners showed that their side was morally superior to the enemy. The fact that the above nations never suffered invasion by their enemies helped avoid the kind of enmity towards their prisoners that the Soviet Union had.
The United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in uses the term enemy prisoner of war (EPW) for hostile forces, reserving the term prisoner of war for its own or Allied forces.