Abstract
This Article suggests that both the CSRT and the Article 5 tribunals are inadequate to accurately determine the correct status of prisoners captured in the GWOT. Neither the United States implementing regulations under Article 5 nor the CSRT procedures provide the sufficient means for determining status of prisoners. Because of these inadequacies, this Article proposes a modified model that ensures due process is provided to prisoners, particularly when making prisoner status determinations under International Humanitarian Law.
As background, Part II discusses prisoner of war status and the benefits afforded prisoners under the Conventions and Additional Protocols. I also details the process for determining status of captured prisoners under the Conventions. Part III details the process for determining status of captured prisoners under the CSRT. Then Part IV provides a critical analysis of both the Article 5 procedures and CSRT procedures relative to the GWOT. Part IV also offers a modified approach for determining prisoner status in the GWOT. Finally, Part V concludes the Article. At GTMO, Abdul Zahir like everyone else will remain an enemy combatant for as long as the GWOT lasts. This may be a very long time. Determining prisoner status through a process that is far for fair, may just be the catalyst that threatens justice everywhere, including the United States.
Recommended Citation
Bogar, Thomas J.
(2009)
"Unlawful Combatant or Innocent Civilian? A Call to Change the Current Means for Determining Status of Prisoners in the Global War on Terror,"
Florida Journal of International Law: Vol. 21:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/fjil/vol21/iss1/2