[Marxism] From the archives - Korea, Geneva Convention . . . Guantanamo

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chicago Daily Tribune, Jan 29, 1951

LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT FATE OF CAPTIVE YANKS
Reds Refuse to Conform to Rules of War
by John H. Thompson

Tokyo, Jan. 28 - With one minor exception, nothing is known
officially by Gen. MacArthur's headquarters regarding the Fate of
American and supporting servicemen captured by the North Koreans and
Chinese Communists. This is contrary to all rules of what is called
civilized warfare.

No one knows how many have been captured, where they are held
prisoner, the condition of the prison camps, or even if they are
surviving their captivity.

In keeping with the 1949 Geneva convention, MacArthur's command has
scrupulously accounted for all enemy nationals captured. Although the
North Korean Red government early informed the U.N. it would abide by
the Geneva convention, it has failed to provide official data on
prisoners as required by that International Red Cross convention.
. . .
MacArthur has received thru neutral channels only two small lists of
prisoners totaling 100. . . The names correspond to military
personnel as missing.
. . .
Under the Geneva convention the holding nation is required to provide
the following information:

A capture card signed by each prisoner, giving data as to his
capture, address, and health; an exchange of letters with relatives
under controlled conditions; the prisoner's full name, rank, serial
number, place and date of birth; the neutral nation upon which he
depends; the first name of his father and the maiden name of his
mother, and the name and address of his nearest of kin.
. . .
At considerable expense in time, money, and man power, MacArthur's
command has supplied all the above information, or as much as could
be obtained from our prisoners, to the ICRC for transmission to the
enemy. this includes fingerprints and photos of all prisoners. [T]he
last informal estimate indicated the U.S. was holding more than 150,000.
. . .
Meanwhile, [the ICRC] has had two authorized delegates accredited and
admitted to [South] Korea. ... [T]hey had visited all the U.S. POW
camps and all temporary prisoner collecting points and had observed
the handling of prisoners immediately after their capture on the
front lie.

The two ICRC delegates were permitted to converse privately with
prisoners and to submit their reports directly to Geneva without
clearance with MacArthur's headquarters.





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