Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Partisan So how do we feel about torture?
Let's test it, here is a quick scenario.
A soldier from your country has been captured by the enemy, they believe that he has vital operational information, so they use torture to extract the information.
My questions are:
1. How do you react?
2. How should your govt react?
3. Does this fall within the Geneva & Hague Conventions? |
1- i would be outraged
2- it would depend on context- a one off event by people on the spot should probably be ignored but i think a deliberate and continuous policy of torture should merit some form of retaliation.
3- the St Petersburg (1868) and Hague (1899 & 1907 & 1923) Conventions and the Geneva Protocol (1925) were superseded by the 1949 Geneva Conventions (4 Conventions (plus 2 Protocols from 1977) of which Convention 3 (Treatment of POWs) is of concern here;
the following can be considered War Crimes against POWs..." wilfull killing, torture or inhumane treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly."
Article 48 defines those protected under Convention 3 as 'members of Armed Forces of parties to the conflict', and to 'members of militias and volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.'