# Right of Conquest/War is Murder - Double Standard?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-of-conquest-war-is-murder-double-standard/246487>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 22, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-of-conquest-war-is-murder-double-standard/246487 "2004-05-22T05:13:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-of-conquest-war-is-murder-double-standard/246487/21 "2004-05-23T02:09:23Z")

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This seems most applicable. Its from [Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War](http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm) . I’m still at work, so I don’t have time to more than skim the document (its quite large)…I may have missed some relevant sections.

> [@](#):
>
> Article 5  
> Where, in the territory of a Party to the conflict, the latter is satisfied that an **individual protected person is definitely suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State, such individual person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the present Convention as would, if exercised in the favour of such individual person, be prejudicial to the security of such State.**
> 
> Where in occupied territory an individual protected person is detained as a **spy or saboteur** , or as a **person under definite suspicion of activity hostile to the security of the Occupying Power** , such person shall, in those cases where absolute military security so requires, **be regarded as having forfeited rights of communication under the present Convention**.

However, this doesn’t preclude the person under question being ‘treated with humanity’, and ‘shall not be deprived of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed by the present Convention’. However, they definitely forfeit their rights under the current convention (appearently I was wrong…there have been several iterations of the convention, so it HAS kept up with modern times).

Anyway, there is a bunch more…I encourage everyone to read through it for this discussion. I only skimmed it, as I’m getting ready to bolt for home after a day at work.

Hopefully this will move things along in this thread.

-XT

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**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-of-conquest-war-is-murder-double-standard/246487/22 "2004-05-23T08:19:47Z")

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Thanks, xtisme. I really wasn’t looking forward to the long search to find the correct information (I seem to have a knack for using key words that don’t narrow the search down very much :rolleyes: )

–SSgtBaloo

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