Scantily Clad Saddam: Geneva Conventions Violation?

May 20, 2005 -- -- A British tabloid scored big Friday with yet another scantily clad celebrity gracing its cover. This time, however, the cover girl was a man accused of war crimes, including gassing his own people.

A mustachioed Saddam Hussein, 68, appeared in his underwear with the headline "Tyrant's In His Pants" on the front page of The Sun, one of Britain's best-selling newspapers.

The U.S. military condemned the tabloid for publishing the pictures and expressed disappointment that a prison guard allegedly sold them. A military spokesman said the photographs were a year old and may be a direct violation of the rules governing the protection of prisoners of war.

But experts say the Geneva Conventions have become harder to follow as warfare has evolved and enemies break the rules.

The International Committee for the Red Cross, responsible for monitoring prisoners of war and detainees, said the photographs violated Saddam's rights.

"Taking and using photographs of him is clearly forbidden," ICRC Middle East spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas told The Associated Press.

The Geneva Conventions' guidelines require that POWs "be treated humanely" and must not be killed, seriously endangered, mutilated, or subject to medical or scientific experiments. In addition -- and here's where the photos of Hussein could violate the rules -- POWs must be protected against acts of violence or intimidation, and against "insults and public curiosity."

The rules were drafted and adopted during a convention in Geneva in mid-August 1949.

There were actually four Geneva Conventions. The first was agreed to in 1864 and protected all medical facilities, their personnel and any civilians helping the sick. The first convention, originally signed by 12 nations, didn't include the United States. The United States signed the second convention in 1882, which added wounded combatants at sea and sailors to the first convention.

The third Geneva Convention, gathered in 1929, set out specific protections for POWs. Twenty years later, nations signed the fourth Geneva Convention, which reaffirmed the rules of the first three and added protections for civilians during wartime.