Has the us signed the final draft of the genova convention?
 

My girlfriend is telling me that the US only signed early protocals of the Genova Convention but never signed the final draft.

Is this correct? Or something like this?

OK, just found some info on the net. The US has signed all the protocals but Congress has not ratified all of them. Especially the 1977 Protocal was signed but never ratified by Congress. I am still checking it out but it seems that this protocal relates to rules of warefare or something to the like.

I think you mean Geneva Convention, anyway, Guantanamo isn't the first time the US has skirted international law in the treatment of POWs. Eisenhower and Truman did the same thing on a much larger scale to German POWs at the end of WWII. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disarmed_Enemy_Forces

WGAS? Nobody we fight with will really follow it anyways so what good will it do?

The Germans did treat US prisoners according to the convention. They did not extend the same to Soviet prisoners, as the Soviet Union had not signed the convention.

Really? IIRC, conditions at POW camps whichever side you are on is always a problem but from what I understand, the Germans tended to play on the rougher side of the fence when it came to prisoners of war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmedy_massacre

(Not that the Germans had a monopoly on mistreatment of POW's)

Right... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_massacre.

There isn't any question that the incident at Malmedy violated the terms of the Geneva Convention. The Allies however tried to claim that the treatment of German "Disarmed Enemy Forces" in the POW pens of the Rhineland were NOT a violation. That's the distinction.

American POWs typically survived their internment in Germany and were monitored by the Red Cross. Even American-Jewish POWs.

That depended entirely on who the prisoners were. "Western" allied pow's were generally pretty well treated. "Eastern" allied POW's, ie Russians, Poles, not so.

- Peter.

Is this the one you're looking for?

http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/ntquery/D?trtys:8:./temp/~trtysnDDv24::

Treaty Number: 100-20
Transmitted: May 20, 1988
Short Title: CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT
Type: Human Rights
Countries: n/a
Formal Title: The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by unanimous agreement of the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1984, and signed by the United States on April 18, 1988.
Senate Executive Report(s): 101-30
Source: United Nations


Legislative Actions

Floor Action: May 20, 1988 - Received in the Senate.
Floor Action: May 23, 1988 - Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations by unanimous consent.

Committee Action: July 19, 1990 - Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.

Committee Action: January 30, 1990 - Committee on Foreign Relations. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 101-718.
Floor Action: July 19, 1990 - Reported by Mr. Pell, Committee on Foreign Relations, without printed report. With a resolution of advice and consent to ratification with reservations, understandings and declarations.
Floor Action: August 30, 1990 - Printed report filed (Ex. Rept. 101-30_ together with additional views.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - S.AMDT.3200: Proposed by Senator Pell.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - S.AMDT.3200: Amendment SP 3200 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - S.AMDT.3201: Proposed by Senator Pell.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - S.AMDT.3201: Amendment SP 3201 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - S.AMDT.3202: Proposed by Senator Pell.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - S.AMDT.3202: Amendment SP 3202 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - S.AMDT.3203: Proposed by Senator Pell.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - S.AMDT.3203: Amendment SP 3203 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.
Floor Action: October 27, 1990 - Resolution agreed to in Senate with amendments by Division.

Resolution: TEXT OF RESOLUTION OF ADVICE AND CONSENT TO RATIFICATION AS REPORTED BY THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS:

@Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein), #That the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by unanimous agreement of the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1984, and signed by the United States on April 18, 1988,
Provided that:
I. The Senate's advice and consent is subject to the following reservations:
(1) That the United States shall implement the Convention to the extent that the Federal Government exercises legislative and judicial jurisdiction over the matters covered therein; to the extent that constituent units exercise jurisdiction over such matters, the Federal Government shall take appropriate measures, to the end that the competent authorities of the constituent units may take appropriate measures for the fulfillment of this Convention .
(2) That the United States considers itself bound by the obligation under Article 16 to prevent "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," only insofar as the term "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" means the cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and/or Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
(3) That pursuant to Article 30(2) the United States declares that it does not consider itself bound by Article 30(1), but reserves the right specifically to agree to follow this or any other procedure for arbitration in a particular case.
II. The Senate's advice and consent is subject to the following understandings, which shall apply to the obligations of the United States under this Convention :
(1) (a) That with reference to Article 1, the United States understands that, in order to constitute torture, an act must be specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering and that mental pain or suffering refers to prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from: (1) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (2) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (3) the threat of imminent death; or (4) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.
(b) That the United States understands that the definition of torture in Article 1 is intended to apply only to acts directed against persons in the offender's custody or physical control.
(c) That with reference to Article 1 of the Convention , the United States understands that "sanctions" includes judically-imposed sanctions and other enforcement actions authorized by United States law or by judicial interpretation of such law provided that such sanctions or actions are not clearly prohibited under international law.
(d) That with reference to Article 1 of the Convention , the United States understands that the term"acquiescence" requires that the public official, prior to the activity constituting torture, have awareness of such activity and thereafter breach his legal responsibility to intervene to prevent such activity.
(e) That with reference to Article 1 of the Convention , the United States understands that noncompliance with applicable legal procedural standards does no per se constitute torture.
(2) That the United States understands the phrase, "where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture," as used in Article 3 of the Convention , to mean "if it is more likely than not that h e would be tortured."
(3) That it is the understanding of the United States that Article 14 requires a State Party to provide a private right of action for damages only for acts of torture committed in territory under the jurisdiction of that State Party.
(4) That the United States understands that international law does not prohibit the death penalty, and does not consider this Convention to restrict or prohibit the United States from applying the death penalty consistent with the Fifth, Eighth and/or Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, including any constitutional period of confinement prior to the imposition of the death penalty.
III. The Senate's advice and consent is subject to the following declarations:
(1) That the United States declares that the provisions of Articles 1 through 16 of the Convention are not self-executing.
(2) That the United States declares, pursuant to Article 21, paragraph 1, of the Convention , that it recognizes the competence of the Committee against Torture to receive and consider communications to the effect that a State Party claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations under the Convention . It is the understanding of the United States that, pursuant to the above mentioned article, such communications shall be accepted and processed only if they come from a State Party which has made a similar declaration.
Index Terms :
100-20
CRUEL TREATMENT
DEGRADING TREATMENT
INHUMAN TREATMENT
PUNISHMENT
TORTURE
Control Number: 100TD00020

I'm not sure how I would react after fighting a war for years and seeing the horror in Dachau. I think my finger would be very lose around the trigger...but I guess then you become one of them...

Winners try war criminals and determine violations. Losers don't.

That's a different matter and hardly comes as news to me.

To repeat the point, Guantanamo Bay is not the first time that the United States has sought to avoid the conventions of war relative to the treatment of prisoners, by simply calling the "prisoners of war" by another name.

A large number of German prisoners that were transfered to the US and Canada stayed. They were treated very well.

Our pilots were treated very well in Germany mostly because of the fat guy. If he did nothing else good he made sure our captured pilots were treated well.

But you have to remember the Germans were regular people, the people we fight these days are animals and are not like us. They will drag our soilders through the streets if given the chance, like in Africa. Our weak point is we are not willing to kill enough of them so they don't do that.

The Americans treated German captives very well, one even became the head of NASA.