Prisoner of War or Unlawful Combatant: An Evolution of International Humanitarian Law

The making of International Humanitarian Law and also the rules concerning safety of prisoners of war have developed as a reaction to the horrors of war. After September 11 and the following fight against terrorism the idea of POWs continues to be extensively discussed. The United States retains prisoners at the navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba without approving them status as POWs; this dissertation is putting the dealing with these detainees within a traditional framework. The standard concerning rights of POWs is nowadays both internationalized and institutionalized, but that’s not necessarily the situation. This report lights up the way the rules have changed during World War I, World War II and Vietnam War; lastly the war against terrorism and the treatment of the prisoners at Guantánamo Bay is examined. The aim of the dissertation is by using a historic review of the evolution of IHL, and the rights of POWs specifically, to formulate a broader premise concerning the implication of IHL in the war against terrorism and the future…

Contents

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 AIM OF THE THESIS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.2 DELIMITATIONS
1.3 STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER
1.4 A CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY OF JUSTICE
1.5 STATE OF THE ART
1.5.1 Empirical literature
1.5.2 Theoretical literature
2. METHODOLOGY AND METHOD
2.1 METHODOLOGY
2.2 DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE METHODS
2.3 WEAKNESSES OF QUALITATIVE METHODS
2.4 METHOD
2.4.1 Literature based research
3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.1 CONSTRUCTIVISM
3.1.1 Constructivism and International Law
3.2 A THEORY OF JUSTICE
3.2.1 The theory of justice, a normative theory
3.2.2 The theory of justice and human rights
3.3 COMBINING CONSTRUCTIVISM AND A THEORY OF JUSTICE
4. THE CONCEPT OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
4.1 THE EVOLUTION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW, A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
4.2 INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
4.3 INTERNATIONAL LAW AND EUROPE’S RELATION TO THE WORLD
5. THE EVOLUTION OF RIGHTS OF PRISONERS OF WAR
5.1 PRISONERS OF WAR, A DEFINITION
5.2 WORLD WAR I
5.2.1 A theoretical reflection
5.3 WORLD WAR II
5.3.1 A theoretical reflection
5.4 THE VIETNAM WAR
5.4.1 A theoretical reflection
5.5 THE WAR ON TERROR AND THE PRISONERS AT GUANTÁNAMO BAY…

Source: Linköping University

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