[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 25, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H2301-H2302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    DENOUNCING INHUMANE TREATMENT OF UNITED STATES PRISONERS OF WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to denounce the creation 
and the broadcast of the inhumane treatment of United States prisoners 
of war held by the Iraqi military, photographed by the Iraqi military 
in violation of the Geneva Convention and broadcast worldwide by the 
Qatar government-owned Al Jazeera network.
  For those who have been living somewhere other than in front of 
television the last 48 hours, Mr. Speaker, we all were witness of Iraqi 
forces parading five captured American soldiers, including a woman, 
before television cameras this past weekend. The Iraqi television 
footage, which was replayed

[[Page H2302]]

to the entire Arab world for half a day, to over a billion people by 
the Qatar-based and -operated Al Jazeera network, not only showed these 
American POWs under a state of great indignity and duress, but it also 
showed the bodies of at least four other soldiers, graphically and 
closely portrayed, two of whom appeared to have been shot in the head, 
raising suspicions that they had been executed after being captured.
  Mr. Speaker, the Geneva Convention is quite clear and both Iraq and 
the United States and civilized elements of the media attain to the 
standards of that convention. It provides in part:

       Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. 
     Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, 
     particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and 
     against insults or public curiosity. Measures of reprisal 
     against prisoners of war are prohibited.

  It is quite clear, and I cite now Human Rights Watch International, 
that the humiliating display of prisoners of war is a war crime. The 
leaders of our military who at this very hour, with tens of thousands 
of brave soldiers at their side, labor on behalf of liberty and on 
behalf of our freedoms, have made it quite clear that those who have 
treated American POWs, past, present and future, will be held to an 
account, Mr. Speaker. They will be hunted, and they will be prosecuted 
as war criminals.
  But I rise not only in disgust over the behavior of Iraqi military 
personnel, which comes as no surprise to those of us who are students 
of the inhumanity of the regime of Saddam Hussein, but I rise also to 
condemn the decision by the Al Jazeera network to broadcast these 
materials. Also, as has been observed by military personnel in the 
field, the very broadcast of these materials to over a billion people 
in the world was a violation of the Geneva Convention. I would cite 
Lieutenant General John Abizaid, the deputy commander of Allied forces 
who said that any state-owned media or network that shows these 
materials is also in violation of the Geneva Convention and, quote, 
``will be held to account.'' This behavior to perform it but also to 
broadcast it is, in his words, absolutely unacceptable.
  Today and tomorrow, Members of this body on both sides of the aisle 
as a part of our briefings, Mr. Speaker, in the name of the American 
people and on their behalf, will view these reprehensible 6 minutes 
which were played over and over again to over a billion people in the 
world. I rise today not just to offer warning to the deaf ears of an 
inhumane regime in Baghdad but I rise to offer a warning to the 
government of Qatar that is friendly to the United States, our own 
central command is in part located there at this hour, and say that 
your government-owned media should think very, very carefully about any 
future decisions which portray American POWs in any way that is 
violative of international convention, of the Geneva Convention, or of 
the dignity of those brave men and women who fight on our behalf. The 
Iraqi soldiers are warned, but let our friends in the government of 
Qatar also be warned that those who violate this convention will be 
held to account.

                          ____________________