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Originally Posted by Wisha Haddan H3
The point of the Convention is NOT reciprocity. Article 2 states:
"Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the present Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in their mutual relations.
They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies the provisions thereof" (emphasis added).
Thus all signatories are bound by the Convention, under all conditions, regardless of whether the other "Power" has signed. To reiterate this point, the 2nd sentence closes a loophole that might allow a signatory to believe the Convention only applies where both Powers are signatories before the conflict, or where one Power is and the other isn't. (The loophole would exist when a non-signatory signs during the conflict, thus technically releasing the other party from its obligations under the Convention.)
Come on. If we can't figure out how to fight this war with honor and without torture, we aren't as smart as we ought to be. This isn't a playground, and our job isn't to "pay them back" for everything they did since 9/11. Our job is to protect our nation, and hopefully stabilize as much of the region as we can.
This reciprocity bullsh!t doesn't work. It only shows our enemies that we care just as little for human life ... that we have the same disrespect for human rights ... and that we can piss on everything God represents ... just like they do. And that's not going to do us a whole lot of good.
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LOL.
"Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the present Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in their mutual relations.
They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies the provisions thereof" (emphasis added).
In noticed you didn't bold the "in their mutual relations" part--the operative part. You don't understand much do you? What that says is that, if one of many powers to a conflict is not a signatory, all of the remainder of the signatories must still honor the Conventions among themselves--the signatories. Thus, if Russia, France, the U.S., and Al Quaeda are all at war, and the U.S. takes a Russian POW, it must treat the Russian prisoner as a POW under the GC. No one must treat the Al Qaeda terrorist as a POW under the GC.
The Geneva Conventions are not a theme or a poem about goodness. They are treaties, making them contractual provisions with specific obligations by which the parties to the contract, after thoughtful deliberation (in the U.S., a constitutional ratification process), agree to be bound. They are not decrees of general justness according to the fleeting desires of U.S. lefties.
The 3rd Geneva Convention clearly provides for an opt-in regime. It is the ?high contracting parties? to the agreement who are required to honor the terms with respect to the other high contracting parties. Others that have not signed the treaty may qualify for Geneva protections, but only by compliance with the GC's terms for the recognition of non-party rights. Al Qaeda has not done so.
Learn to read.