Episode Details

Recent media reports on prisoners of war (POWs) and deceased combatants have raised questions among journalists and the general public about how the Geneva Conventions regulate images and information related to military personnel in armed conflict. In this post, ICRC senior legal adviser Ramin Mahnad offers a brief explanation of the basic tenets of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949 and its prohibition against exposing POWs to ‘public curiosity’. The ICRC calls on media outlets – in fulfilling their essential public service – to apply appropriate professional practices and exercise restraint to help ensure that captured and killed combatants benefit from the protections owed to them under the international law of armed conflict. It also calls on social media companies to take measures to prevent unlawfully disclosed images and information from circulating on their platforms.