Libraries

WIU Logo

POW/MIA

A Guide to Selected Government Information Available at WIU's Government Publications Library

Web version of this guide includes links to web resources.

Federal Government Information
Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office

DPMO oversees the Department of Defense efforts to account for comrades lost while serving their Nation. This booklet offers detailed information about the DPMO and the services it offers, as well as POW/MIA accounting by war, future recovery efforts, and family resources. 2004
D 1.2:P 93/6/2004

The Long Road Home: U.S. Prisoner of War Policy and Planning in Southeast Asia

A history of the United States' role in shaping prisoner of war policy during the Vietnam War. 2000
D 1.2:P 93/5

The Gulag Study

The most recent in a series of updates on the work being done to verify reports alleging that American servicemen were taken into the Soviet prison camp system during World War II and the Cold War period.
GOVWEB.D 1.2:G 95/2005

The Road to Abu Ghraib:U.S. Army Detainee Doctrine and Experience

This study examines the relationship over time between doctrine in two branches of the Army -- Military Police and Military Intelligence -- and the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. 2005
GOVWEB.D 110.2:AB 9

Investigation of Intelligence Activities at Abu Ghraib/Abu Ghraib Prison & 205th Military Intelligence Brigade

This investigative military report charts all allegations considered concerning the detainee abuse that occurred in Iraq at Abu Ghraib prison and lists findings and recommendations. 2004
GOVWEB.D 101.2:AB 9

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Status: Uniforms, Distinctions, and Special Operations in International Armed Conflict

This article addresses some important law of war (LOW) considerations for U.S. forces; namely, that since the LOW outlines criteria that soldiers must meet to gain prisoner of war status and it obligates combatants to distinguish themselves from civilians, combatants may lose POW status based on the clothing worn and the limited conduct engaged in at the time of capture.
Military Law Review. Vol. 178 Winter 2003 pp.94-140.
D 101.22:27-100-178

Civilian Prisoners of War: A Proposed Citizen Code of Conduct

This article identifies the typical civilians on the battlefield, defines their legal status upon capture, and advocates the need for civilian-specific POW policies to be enacted.
Military Law Review. Vol. 182 Winter 2004 pp.106-151.

Afghanistan, Quirin, and Uchiyama: Does the Sauce Suit the Gander?

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President Bush issued a military order providing for trials of captured al-Qaeda and Taliban members by military tribunals under evidentiary and appellate rules similar to those used in military commissions during and after World War II. This article argues that these rules violate the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War because they do not provide an accused with the same rights accorded a U.S. service member charged with a similar offense.
Army Lawyer. November 2003 pp.18-47.

Al-Qaeda & Taliban Unlawful Combatant Detainees, Unlawful Belligerency, and the International Laws of Armed Conflict

This article concludes that, ultimately, the United States has an obligation to the international community and the Rule of Law not to afford POW status to captured unlawful combatants such as the al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees in furtherance of both domestic and international security.
Air Force Law Review. Vol. 55 Fall 2004 pp.1-85.

The Department of Defense DNA Registry

An Armed Forces Institute of Pathology department which provides worldwide scientific consultation, research, and education services in the field of forensic DNA analysis to the Department of Defense (DoD) and other agencies and also provides DNA reference specimen collection, accession, and storage of United States military and other authorized personnel.

Army Mortuary Affairs History Page

This web site contains a wealth of information and photos on such topics as the National Cemetery System, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and graves and personnel recovery.

Illinois Government Information
Rock Island Prison, 1863-1865: Andersonville of the North Dispelled

By the time the last prisoners were released in July of 1865, more than 12,000 Confederate soldiers had been incarcerated at Rock Island's Civil War prison. This article examines the overcrowding, rampant illness, and mismanagement there.
Journal of Illinois History. Winter 2001 pp.291-306.
ILLINOIS 977.305 I29ja2 Vol. 4 No.4

Legal Information
The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib

The memos and reports in this volume document the systematic attempt of the U.S. Government to document coercive interrogation and torture in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib.
LEGL REF DS79.76 .T676 2005

Crisis in the Gulf: Enforcing the Rule of Law

This book studies the Persian Gulf War and the rule of law issues surrounding it, including prisoner of war treatment.
LEGL REF DS79.72 .M66 1992

Congressional Quarterly's American Treaties and Alliances

A compilation of historical documents grouped according to subject and including the Conventions Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
LEGL REF KZ236 2000c.2 pp.183-184, 188

Losing Geneva in Guantanamo Bay

This article examines the question "Does the U.S. have an obligation to treat the Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees as prisoners of war in accordance with the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War? "
Iowa Law Review. Vol. 89 No. 1 pp.195-233 October 2003

Acree v. Republic of Iraq

271 F.Supp.2d 179. The Iraqi government is ordered to pay both compensatory and punitive damages to Gulf war POWs.

Acree v. Snow

276 F.Supp.2d 31. Court upheld the U.S. government's decision to block the above-ordered payments to POWs.

Hill v. Republic of Iraq

175 F. Supp.2d 36. Lawsuit filed by former civilian hostages who were used as "human shields ".

http://wiu.edu/libraries/govpubs/guides/powMia.php

Subject Guides