Reading Room Document

"Protected Person" Status in Occupied Iraq Under the Fourth Geneva Convention

The Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (IV) governs the United States occupation of Iraq. The following persons, if captured in occupied Iraq, are not "protected persons" within the meaning of article 4 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: U.S. nationals, nationals of a State not bound by the Convention, nationals of a co-belligerent State, and operatives of the al Qaeda terrorist organization who are not Iraqi nationals or permanent residents of Iraq. 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 www.justice.gov/file/18871/download.

March 18, 2004