A safety net for prisoners of war: five key principles of the Third Geneva Convention

April 27, 2023 11 mins read Detention / GCIII Commentary / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict Yvette Issar

After the Second World War, countries came together to improve the legal protection available to ...

Prisoners of war in contemporary armed conflict: Interpreting the Third Geneva Convention 70+ years after its negotiation

August 11, 2022 18 mins read GCIII Commentary / Law and Conflict Ellen Policinski

Too often the term “prisoner of war” (PoW) conjures up black-and-white images of soldiers detained in the Second World War. Recent events have ...

On trial: the Third Geneva Convention and judicial guarantees for prisoners of war

June 23, 2022 13 mins read Analysis / GCIII Commentary / Generating Respect for IHL / Law and Conflict Yvette Issar

The first prisoners of war (POWs) in the international armed conflict in Ukraine have been ...

In Bruges: the enduring relevance of IHL and the updated Commentaries

February 23, 2022 7 mins read Analysis / GCIII Commentary / Generating Respect for IHL / Law and Conflict Mikhail Orkin

Since its creation in 2000, the Bruges Colloquium on International Humanitarian Law has been jointly ...

GCIII Commentary: Common Article 1 and State responsibility

January 28, 2021 12 mins read Counterterrorism / Religion Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne

The extent to which States have legal responsibilities under international humanitarian law in relation to the conduct of others has long been contested. ...

GCIII Commentary: an Islamic perspective on the treatment of prisoners of war

January 26, 2021 7 mins read Analysis / GCIII Commentary / History / Islamic Law / Law and Conflict / Religion Ahmed Al-Dawoody

While ratification of the Geneva Conventions is a relatively recent phenomenon, warfare has always been ...

GCIII Commentary: a Buddhist perspective on the treatment of prisoners of war

January 19, 2021 7 mins read Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / GCIII Commentary / Generating Respect for IHL / History / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian Principles / Law and Conflict / Religion Asanga Tilakaratne, Peter Harvey, Sunil Kariyakarawana & Andrew Bartles-Smith

While ratification of the Geneva Conventions is a relatively recent phenomenon, warfare has always been ...

GCIII Commentary: I’m a woman and a POW in a pandemic. What does the Third Geneva Convention mean for me?

December 8, 2020 11 mins read Analysis / GCIII Commentary / Gender and conflict / Generating Respect for IHL / Health Care / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Sexual Violence Heleen Hiemstra & Vanessa Murphy

While a woman’s experience in a prisoners of war (POW) camp may not differ drastically ...

GCIII Commentary: removing ambiguity on the treatment of prisoners of war

October 29, 2020 7 mins read Analysis / Detention / GCIII Commentary / Law and Conflict Tim Wood

In an era in which a number of developed nations have been accused of ill-treating or unlawfully killing captured persons or persons under ...

GCIII Commentary: If I can’t feed you, do I have to let you go?

October 22, 2020 11 mins read Analysis / Detention / GCIII Commentary / Law and Conflict Kubo Mačák

The object and purpose of the Third Geneva Convention is to ensure that prisoners of war are humanely treated at all times, while ...

GCIII Commentary: protecting the honour of prisoners of war

September 3, 2020 9 mins read Analysis / GCIII Commentary / Generating Respect for IHL / Law and Conflict / Sexual Violence Jemma Arman

The Third Geneva Convention (GCIII) provides a framework of rules for the protection of prisoners ...

GCIII Commentary: ICRC unveils first update in sixty years

June 18, 2020 10 mins read Analysis / GCIII Commentary / Generating Respect for IHL / ICRC Commentaries / Law and Conflict Jean-Marie Henckaerts

Taking prisoners in international armed conflicts has been a common practice for centuries. The Third ...