Wing Commander Abhinandan in Pakistan custody should be given Prisoner of War status; cases like pilot Nachiketa's tell us why

Pakistan carrying out air strikes on “military installations” in India and then capturing air force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after an air-to-air engagement in Rajouri has the country hankering for war, but more importantly, his safe return. On Wednesday, India confirmed that one pilot was “missing in action” after he ejected from his MiG-21 Bison and landed beyond the Line of Control, but has not neither confirmed nor denied claims regarding his identity. The Pakistan Army has released videos of a man, believed to be the wing commander, who identifies himself as ‘flying pilot Abhinandan’ a with the Indian Air Force. He says: “My name is Wing Commander Abhinandan. My service number is 27981. I’m a flying pilot. My religion is Hindu.” Reports say he was first caught by the residents of the village where he landed after parachuting, and the Pakistan Army has claimed that its soldiers had “rescued” the pilot from being lynched. [caption id=“attachment_5290121” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In light of these videos, India has made it clear to Pakistan that no harm should be caused to the Indian defence personnel, also strongly objecting to “Pakistan’s vulgar display of an injured personnel of the Indian Air Force in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention”. Mention of the Geneva Conventions brings to focus the rules that protect prisoners of war (POWs) detailed in the 1949 amendment to the Geneva Convention. “POWs are usually members of the armed forces of one of the parties to a conflict who fall into the hands of the adverse party,” it states, adding that the status of POW only applies in international armed conflict, and that they cannot be prosecuted for taking a direct part in hostilities. “Their detention is not a form of punishment, but only aims to prevent further participation in the conflict. They must be released and repatriated without delay after the end of hostilities.” In one of the videos the Pakistan Army released, the man believed to be Wing Commander Abhinandan appears badly injured and bloodied, and in another, his face appears swollen and injured. Unsurprisingly, these videos sparked outrage in India, as well as admiration for the air force pilot and his composure.

Abhinandan’s case has raised the question of whether he can be given the status of a prisoner of war and also brought to light past cases of POWs being returned.

The most recent example that comes to mind is that of Group Captain Kambampati Nachiketa who was held captive by Pakistan during the 1999 Kargil War. He was the flight lieutenant at the time of the India-Pakistan war. On 27 May, 1999, Nachiketa was carrying out air strikes against Pakistani posts in the Batalik sector from his MiG-27 fighter jet when the aircraft experienced engine failure and he was forced to eject. On hitting the ground, he rained bullets on Pakistani forces, after which he was taken to a prison in Rawalpindi, where he is believed to have been brutally beaten, till a senior officer intervened on the realisation that Nachiketa was now a captive and should not be manhandled. Finally, bowing to international pressure, including from the United Nations, Pakistan released Nachiketa on 3 June, 1999, when he was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Pakistan, after which he returned home via the Wagah Border. In 2000, the air force pilot was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for his bravery.

During the 1965 India-Pakistan war,  K Nanda Cariappa, who was 26 years old at the time, was captured by the neighbouring country after his Hawker Hunter aircraft was brought down. He was kept in solitary confinement for eight weeks before being moved to a POW camp in Rawalpindi.

With no social media at that time, the only news about the existence of war prisoners, including Cariappa, now 81, was through parcels from the Red Cross at the POW camps. He returned to India four months after his capture after the two sides agreed on an exchange deal. Then there’s also the case of “ the missing 54” — the soldiers, pilots and officers of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force who were labelled “missing in action” — like Abhinandan — or “killed in action” in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, though many believe that they they are alive and imprisoned in various jails in Pakistan. In contrast, India had released 90,000 Pakistani troopers the by army had captured at the end of the war as part of the Simla Agreement, under which Pakistan had to recognise the Independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of its POWs. While former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto had told visiting Indian officials that the Indian men were in their custody, former president Pervez Musharraf had denied the claim. There is still no clarity on these missing Indian men. Till as recently as 2015, the Government of India was pressured to push Pakistan to release these 54 “prisoners”, and the families have approached both the United Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross for assistance but to no avail.

Like the release of these POWs by India and Pakistan — and the denial of the existence of many — there are examples from across the globe of war prisoners being released after the end of hostilities.

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Scores of US military men were taking hostage as POWs during the 1964-1993 Vietnam War. On 12 February, 1973, Vietnam released the first batch of US POWs as part of “Operation Homecoming”, which ended US military involvement in the South East Asian country. However, the US still lists over a thousand Americans as prisoners of war, or missing in action, in Vietnam. These US prisoners were kept in 13 prisons and prison camps. Vietnam was never charged with the war crimes it is believed to have been committed on the US prisoners. Moreover, Vietnam also maintained that it had not violated the Geneva Conventions, insisting that it was not bound by it as it was not a signatory to the accords. Even during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, there were reports of Iraq abusing Coalition officers it had captured as war prisoners. An Iraqi officer had also raped then flight surgeon Rhonda Cornum after the Black Hawk she was riding in was shot down while it was searching for a downed F-16 pilot of the Coalition. There are no known records of any prisoner swap between Iraq and the Coalition. The concept of a Prisoner of War goes back to pre-World War I days, with its definition changing over the years. While neither India nor Pakistan have identified Wing Commander Abhinandan as a POW, the third of the four Geneva Conventions says: “The convention applies to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict that may arise between two or more of the signatories, even if the state of war is not recognised by one of them.” Going by the examples of POWs released in the past and the state of affairs between India and Pakistan, Abhinandan may, indeed, be considered a POW, making it vital for Pakistan to treat him humanely as per the Geneva Conventions.