§ Earl Attleeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, if the Geneva Conventions are interpreted so as to restrict the rights of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants to prisoner of war status, members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces would risk being denied their prisoner of war status if they were captured. [HL2363]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)Members of the UK Armed Forces engaged in international armed conflict who are captured by an enemy would be prisoners of war under the terms of the 3rd Geneva Convention 1949 and we would expect them to be treated accordingly. The question of whether or not a person is entitled to prisoner of war status depends on the application of the criteria in Article 4 of that convention to the particular facts and circumstances in the individual case.