Protected persons
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Protected persons is a legal term under international humanitarian law and refers to persons who are under specific protection of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, their 1977 Additional Protocols, and customary international humanitarian law during an armed conflict.
Medical personnel during an armed conflict carry out humanitarian work and are "protected persons" under international humanitarian law. Whether military or civilian, they are considered non-combatants and may not be attacked and not be taken as prisoners of war by parties to a conflict. They use a protective sign such as the red cross, red crescent or red crystal.
Prisoner of war
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A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Viet Cong soldiers carry an injured American POW, Captain David Earle Baker, from a hospital tent to a release point for a prisoner exchange. 27 June, 1972
Engraving of Nubian prisoners, Abu Simbel, Egypt, 13th century BC
Mongol riders with prisoners, 14th century
Aztec sacrifices, as depicted in the Codex Mendoza (c. 1541)