Dept. of Defense Directive 1300.18 issued December 18, 2000 eliminated the status/designation Prisoner of War (POW) for captured American Service Personnel, replacing it with the "domestic" and ambigious designation Missing/Captured or MIA-C.
Do we need a better source than Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England. In his memo changing the status of Navy Capt. Scott Speicher, from Missing in Action to Missing-Captured, England wrote;
"If the government of Iraq is holding Captain Speicher, he is entitled to Prisoner of War status under international law and the Geneva Convention and would have been entitled to such status from the day he first came under Iraqi control. Although the controlling missing persons statute and directives do not use the term Prisoner of War the facts supporting a change in Captain Speicher's category from Missing in Action to Missing/Captured would also support the conclusion that if alive, he is a Prisoner of War."
Secretary England's statement is clear; "the controlling missing persons statute and directives do not use the term Prisoner of War..." Had the status Prisoner of War been provided for in the "missing persons statute and directives," Scott Speicher would be listed as Prisoner of War.
On April 9th 2004, PFC Keith "Matt" Maupin was captured while serving in Iraq. One week later his captors provided video footage, shown around the world, of the captured serviceman.
Their Own Government Does Not Classify Them As POWs.
PFC Keith "Matt" Maupin
Captured - April 9, 2004 - Remains Recovered March 20, 2008 -- Identification Announced March 30, 2008
Congress and the media are either unaware of this insult to our service personnel or simply don't care. We're asking you to help us make Congress and the media aware of this and force the Dept. of Defense to eliminate the designation Missing/Captured and reinstate the designation Prisoner of War.
A Petition Drive, launched April 9th 2005 as a a joint effort under the banner of Rolling Thunder® Inc., with the full support of the National Alliance of Families and Operation Carry the Flame, call upon the President and Congress to;
"direct the Department of Defense to recognize and designate as "Prisoner of War" (POW) not "Missing/Captured" (MIA-C) any member of the U.S. Armed Forces, paramilitary, militia, U.S. citizens employed by a U.S. agency or under U.S. Government contract who are captured and held against his/her will...." To download the Petition click here We've posted a list of Senators with addresses, fax numbers and email. We've also prepared a form letter for you to use, as is, or as a guideline. We are asking you to fax your Senator's asking why the Senate and the media remain silent with regard to the Defense Departments elimination of the Prisoner of War status for our own service personnel.
Pentagon and DPMO in overdrive saying there never was a "domestic" Prisoner of War status. Yet, last year in interviews with the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Washington Times Pentagon and Army spokespersons said their was a POW status. It just didn't apply to Matt Maupin. Was there or was there not ever a "domestic" POW status? Read our May 7th newsletter and decide for yourself. Click here
Reinstate the Prisoner of War Designation Petition
POW Status Flyer html format
POW Status Flyer pdf format
List of Congressional Representatives
Background Paper from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Office of Legislative Affairs, states POW designation not replaced and then confirms "A prisoner of war, or POW, would be classified domestically as "missing-captured....."
Captured Not Listed As 'POWs' - Atlanta Journal Constitution July 3, 2004
Prisoner-of-war group condemned the Pentagon for classifying the 20-year-old reservist as "missing-captured" as opposed to "Prisoner of War. -- Washington Times July 2004
Press Release Jan. 9, 2004 -- Pentagon Affords Saddam Moral Dignity It Denies Captured U.S. Service Personnel
What An Expert Says – We contacted Professor Michael Noone, the former Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) and current Professor of Law at the Catholic University in Washington DC. We forwarded the full text of our press release and asked him about the status Missing-Captured. Here is his response:
"I share your concern over the status of missing service personnel. My quote was in response to an inquiry regarding the term "enemy prisoner of war" which is not in the Geneva Conventions but is in a DoD Directive. In response to your inquiry, I would make the same response: that "missing/captured" is not a Geneva Convention term. As you know, the Third Convention is intended to protect captives - POWS - , so it's not surprising that it's silent on MIAs. The fact that neither term used by DoD is found in the Convention, doesn't make the term illegal, but does raise the kinds of concerns your organization expresses in the press release."