"HeyBub" wrote:

No problem there. The Geneva and Hague conventions do not apply to "unlawful
enemy combatants."

Nonsense. How often do we have to go over this? The Fourth Geneva Convention
applies to "those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find
themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the
conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals".

http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9...25641e004aa3c5

It goes on to say:
"Art. 42. The internment or placing in assigned residence of protected persons
may be ordered only if the security of the Detaining Power makes it absolutely
necessary.

[...]

Art. 43. Any protected person who has been interned or placed in assigned
residence shall be entitled to have such action reconsidered as soon as possible
by an appropriate court or administrative board designated by the Detaining
Power for that purpose. If the internment or placing in assigned residence is
maintained, the court or administrative board shall periodically, and at least
twice yearly, give consideration to his or her case, with a view to the
favourable amendment of the initial decision, if circumstances permit."

To the best of my knowledge, no such boards have reviewed the Gitmo cases at
all, much less twice yearly. There have been several attempts to do that, all
shot down by the USSC.

The Fourth Geneva Convention defines a "lawful" enemy combatant as one who:

Actually, it is the Third Geneva Convention that defines who is required to be
provided prisoner of war status. None of them talk about lawful or unlawful
combatants.

So, then, even IF the Taliban were signatories to the protocols and
conventions, the folks we've captured would STILL be outside the protections
of international agreements.

No. The Fourth applies to essentially all persons we've captured because they
are nationals of signatories, such as Afghanistan. Membership in the Italian is
irrelevant.

-- Doug