Reading Room Document

Whether Persons Captured and Detained in Afghanistan are "Protected Persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention

This opinion reiterates the conclusion of prior OLC opinions, that although the Gevena Conventions apply to the armed conflict between the United States and the Taliban, persons captured and detained by the U.S. in Afghanistan do not enjoy the status of "protected persons," since no part of Afghanistan is occupied territory or the home territory of the United States. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/docs/aclu-ii-080505.pdf.

August 5, 2005