The Geneva Conventions and the War on Terror

2. The Geneva Convention was a set of standards adopted into international laws, signed in 1949, that protected detainees from torture, disgraces against personal dignity, any degrading or humiliating treatment, and insured humane treatment of combatant forces. As the war in Afghanistan was being waged in 2001, the Defense Department began to question the status of the Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters that where being detained. DOD officials desired to know if the Geneva Convention laws applied to terrorist organizations. The Geneva Convention had significant importance to American forces, since the frequent wide spread mobilization of American forces worldwide elevated the risk of capture of American servicemen, for the reason that laws would insure the protection and humane treatment of Americas fighting forces. John Yoo and Justice Department held the position that Al Qaeda and Taliban had not signed the Geneva Convention agreement and where not fighting a conventional war therefore they were not subject to protection under the Geneva Convention. President George W. Bush decided, in early 2002, to endorse the recommendations of the Justice Department that terrorist groups would not be afforded the protection of the Geneva Convention and classified terrorist group detainees as “unlawful combatants”.