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Images Of Us Troops Abusing Iraqis Constitute War Crimes, Tom Clonan

Articles

Article three of the Geneva Convention in relation to the treatment of Prisoners of War is explicit and unequivocal. It prohibits ‘violence to life, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture’. It also outlaws ‘outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment’. Accordingly, photographs of bound and hooded Iraqi prisoners, recently published by the print and electronic media, if genuine, represent crime scenes. Article four of the Geneva Convention defines in detail those categories of individuals who qualify as Prisoners of War including ‘members of armed forces’, ‘members of organised resistance groups’ and ‘members …