A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoner of war, prisoners of war, spy, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange.

Geneva Conventions

Under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners who ''cannot'' contribute to the war effort because of illness or disability are entitled to be repatriated to their home country. That is regardless of number of prisoners so affected; the detaining power cannot refuse a genuine request. Under the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (1929), Geneva Convention (1929), this is covered by Articles 68 to 74, and the annex. One of the largest exchange programmes was run by the International Committee of the Red Cross, International Red Cross during World War II under these terms. Under the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, that is covered by Articles 109 to 117. The World War II in Yugoslavia, Second World War in Yugoslavia saw a brutal struggle between the armed forces of the Third Reich and the Yugoslav Partisans, communist-led Partisans. Despite that, the two sides negotiated prisoner exchanges virtually from the beginning of the war. Under extraordinary circumstances, these early contacts evolved into a formal exchange agreement, centered on the creation of a neutral zone, possibly the only such in occupied Europe, where prisoners were regularly swapped until late April 1945, saving several thousand lives.Gaj Trifković, ''"Making Deals with the Enemy: Partisan-German Contacts and Prisoner Exchanges in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945"'' in: Global War Studies 01/2013; 10(2):6–37.

References

{{Authority control Peace mechanisms Prisoner exchanges, Prisoners of war, Exchange

Geneva Conventions

See also

References