Talk:Executive Order 13493

Latest comment: 10 years ago by Geo Swan in topic explanation

explanation edit

In this edit another contributor changed "captive" to "detainee". "Detainee" is the term the DoD uses. Writing in a neutral voice means we don't take sides. Prior to the opening of the Guantanamo camp prisoners or captives were very rarely called "detainees". Independent commentators, like Andy Worthington, challenge the neutrality of this term. They speculated that the DoD decision to refer to these men as detainees was calculated to give an air of normalcy and routine to the Bush administration's extraordinary decision to ignore its obligations as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions.

Some people would assert that the captives should be referred to as kidnap victims, as some were snatched without warning from countries thousands of miles from a genuine war zone, They are not being held as POWs, which would give the USA an excuse for not laying charges against them. Only 2 percent of the men have had charges laid against them. Captives is a term that does not imply normalcy and unmerited routine legitimacy -- and on the other hand, does not imply illegitimacy.

So I reverted back to "captive". Geo Swan (talk) 05:36, 5 July 2013 (UTC)Reply