Prisoner of war

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A **prisoner of war** (short form: **POW**) is a non-combatant who has been captured or surrendered by the forces of the enemy, during an armed conflict. In past centuries, prisoners had no rights.  They were usually killed or forced to be slaves.  Nowadays prisoners of war have rights that are stated in the Geneva Conventions and other laws of war.

## Rights
The Third Geneva Convention gives prisoners of war many different rights.  Here are some examples:
 parcel from World War II]]
* They must be treated , with 
* They must be allowed to tell their families and the International Committee of the Red Cross that they are a POW
* They have the right to communicate with their families, and get packages 
* They have the right to keep their clothing, eating utensils, and personal things
* They must be given  food, clothing, housing, and medical attention
* If their captors make them work, POWs must be paid for the work they do
* If they are going to be charged with a crime, they must be given a trial

If they are very sick or hurt, prisoners of war have the right to be let go.  After a war ends, all prisoners must be let go quickly. The U.S. said these people were unlawful combatants, not prisoners of war, because:

## War crimes against prisoners of war
When a country, or a group of people, does not give prisoners of war their rights, they are committing a war crime.  However, punishing those war crimes has not always been easy. punished Nazis for starving, torturing, and murdering many Soviet POWs, like these, in concentration camps]]
 as a prisoner of war with American military police during World War II]]

### Punishing crimes
The Geneva Convention lists the rights that prisoners of war have.  However, there is nothing in the Geneva Convention that says how people should be punished when they do not give prisoners of war these rights.

However, at other times, crimes against prisoners of war might be tried in the same country where the crimes happened.  This might happen before or after the war ended.  Sometimes crimes against prisoners of war were not punished at all.

The ICC has a long list of crimes that are  as war crimes.  Some war crimes against prisoners of war are:
* Torture
* Rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse
* Hurting or killing POWs
* Causing severe pain or suffering (this can be mental or physical suffering)
* Forcing POWs to do military work that will hurt their own country
* Using POWs as hostages
* Treating POWs in  ways, not respecting their dignity, or humiliating them

If a country, or a group of people, commit a war crime against prisoners of war, the ICC can put them on trial and punish them if they are found guilty.

## Photo gallery
### Before the 20th century

File:Abu-Simbel temple3.jpg|Engraving of Nubian POWs, done in Ancient Egypt between 1300 BC and 1201 BC
File:Aias Kassandra Louvre G458.jpg|Art of Ajax the Lesser raping a woman POW.  Done in Ancient Greece around 440-430 BC
File:Sarcofago avvocato Valerius Petrnianus-optimized.jpg|Relief of a slave (at left) in Ancient Rome.  The Roman Empire often made POWs into slaves
File:DiezAlbumsPrisoners.jpg|Painting of Mongol riders with prisoners from the 14th century
File:Columbus landing on Hispaniola adj.jpg|When Columbus invaded Haiti in 1492, his soldiers massacred POWs and made others into slaves
File:Codex Magliabechiano (141 cropped).jpg|Drawing from 1535 of Aztecs using POWs for human sacrifices
File:Conquista-de-México-por-Cortés-Tenochtitlan-Painting.png| Spanish *conquistadors* invade the Aztec Empire in 1519.  The Spanish murdered many Aztec POWs and made others into slaves
File:Interior HMS Jersey 1855.jpg|American POWs from the Revolutionary War on a British prison ship
File:Illustration of the Decapitation of Violent Chinese Soldiers by Utagawa Kokunimasa 1894.png|Drawing of Japanese soldiers beheading Chinese POWs during the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)

### 20th century

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1971-085-63, Begrüßungsfeier für heimgekehrte Kriegsgefangene, Berlin.jpg|Celebration for German POWs who returned after WWI (the banner says "Home greets you!") (1920)
File:Katyn massacre 1.jpg|Mass grave from the Katyn massacres of 1940, where the Soviet Red Army killed around 22, 000
File:Pow telegram.jpg|Telegram sent to the family of an American POW captured by Nazi Germany during WWII
File:Ww2 131.jpg|Soldiers carry bodies after the Bataan Death March (1942).  About 20,000 Filipino POWs and 1,600 Americans died 
File:LeonardGSiffleet.jpg|An Australian POW, Sgt Leonard Stiffleet, captured in New Guinea, about to be beheaded by a Japanese soldier with a guntō sword, 1943
File:Sagan harry-2.jpg|In 1944, 76 Allied POWs escaped from a Nazi POW camp through a tunnel.  The Nazis re-captured 73 of them and executed 50.
File:Hill303.png|Bodies of 42 American POWs killed by the North Korean Army during the Korean War (1950)
File:John McCain After Being Released as Prisoner of War.jpg|North Vietnam releases some Vietnam War POWs (including John McCain) in 1973
File:TBO-4-POVs-17061988.jpg|Iranian POWs, including child soldiers, captured during the Iran-Iraq War (1988)
File:JessicaLynch02.jpeg|Video of U.S. Marines and Navy SEALs rescuing American POW Jessica Lynch during the War in Iraq (2003)

## Notes
## References