§ Mr. Stanbrookasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government intend to ratify the Geneva Convention extending prisoner-of-war status to terrorists.
§ Mr. LuardThere is no Geneva Convention extending prisoner-of-war status to terrorists. The First Additional Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which was adopted by consensus at the end of the Fourh Session of the Diplomatic Conference on the ReafBrmation and Development of Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict at Geneva, contains a provision—Article 44—which would extend prisoner-of-war status to guerrilla or resistance fighters who are members of organised armed forces taking part in armed conflicts of an international character. As I stated in my reply to the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Biggs-Davison) on 3rd May, the protocol in which this provision is included does not apply to terrorist activities in peacetime. The question of signature and eventual ratification of the protocol is under consideration.