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Bukhara Publications/Tel: 078 672 7797/Fax: 086 651 2125 Email: islamicfocus@gmail.com/Korsten/Port Elizabeth
America’s ‘war on terror’ has exposed a side of the regime which is a hallmark of the Jewish occupation state in Palestine: disregard for international codes of conduct ratified by them. Here are a few of the glaring examples: 1. Prisoners are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons and th e ir h on ou r : (Geneva Convention III) Any captured combatant is assumed to be a prisoner of war and must be treated accordingly. When the USA denied POW status to captured Taliban combatants in the 2001-2010 war in Afghanistan, it was in violation of the third Geneva Convention. In the course of an armed conflict involving parties to the Geneva Convention, captured combatants are POWs until proven otherwise.
Islamic Focus
Issue 79
Igniting the Spirit of Islam
2. When captured by the enemy, among the people classified as prisoners of war are: Members of the armed forces of a government not recognized by the enemy. This was the case of soldiers serving under the Taliban government in Afghanistan. POWs are protected under the Hague and Geneva laws from any violence or indignity. US President Bush allowed his soldiers to officially violate these rules in the case of militia captured in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries. 3. Interrogation tactics that are common practice of the US are illegal. The third Geneva Convention outlaws everything beyond the simple asking of a question: No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure
Jun 2010
from them information of any kind whatever. POWs who refuse to answer may not be threatened. 4. Confinement is illegal. POWs can't be held in prison cells unless it is for their own protection. Again, the US violates this in its handling of Muslim POWs and gets around it by terming them ‘illegal combatants’ and expects that to make everything right. These are just few of the rules violated by the USA. Considering this, can a Muslim support soccer teams from countries like the USA and England whose armies violate their own rules of war against Muslims? The armies of Italy, South Korea, Spain and Australia support them, while Holland allowed the mass murder of Muslims by Serb soldiers in Bosnia. Can one cheer them on with a heart honestly free of pain?
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