A Study On The Identification Establishment And Treatment Of The Afghanistan Prisoners In Guantanamo Base

Since 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the army of the united states, headed by the U.S., has conducted many military actions to Afghanistan, arresting nearly 600 members of Al-Qaeda and soldiers of Taliban. They were then imprisoned and interrogated in the Guantanamo Bay. Their identity constitutes a greater concern over the world after Obama signed the executive order mandating the shutdown of the Guantanamo Base within a year in early 2009. Some people regard this order as an acknowledgement of their identity of prisoner-of-war (P. O.W.). However, the U.S. government states that they did not qualify for prisoner-of-war status and refers to them as "illegal combatants" rather than "P. O. W.". They are not entitled to any rights listed in Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, according to the U.S. government.Before determination of the identity of POW of the detainees at Guantanamo Base, the U.S. government failed to establish the competent court for investigating their status in accordance with international humanitarian law, while the government kept these captives in Guantanamo, and neither taking the prosecution nor releasing them. Meantime, during detention and trial, Afghan prisoners at Guantanamo Base have not been given proper humane treatment. From the perspective of humanitarian law or human rights law, United States denied the identity of Guantanamo detainees as POW, which is obviously contrary to International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law.The main arguments in this paper are addressed below: First of all, according International Humanitarian Law, the war against Afghanistan is international armed conflict, and "Geneva Conventions" in 1949 applying to all warring parties, therefore, are also applicable to the "base" organization members and Taliban soldiers captured in the Afghan conflict.Secondly, in conformity with the "Third Geneva Convention" and the "Additional Protocol" requirement, "base" organization members and Taliban soldiers on Guantanamo Base in Afghanistan should be treated as prisoners of war and have the corresponding treatment and protection. Detainees who have doubts about the status of POW, should be reviewed by competent tribunal according to the "Third Geneva Convention". Finally, after being clearly conformed as POW, Prisoners of war in Afghanistan in Guantanamo should enjoy the treatment of prisoners of war under the"Third Geneva Convention"and be informed the proposed ways to realize the rational treatment of POW.