Surrendered Enemy Personnel

Surrendered Enemy Personnel (SEP) is a designation for captive enemy soldiers (similar to Disarmed Enemy Forces). It was most commonly used by British forces towards German forces in Europe, and towards Japanese and associated forces in Asia after the end of World War II.

On March 1, 1947, the U.S. stated that the SEPs should be regarded as POWs and be treated in accordance with the Geneva conventions.[1]

The designation of SEP allowed the Royal Navy to use the German command structure to facilitate the disbandment of the Kriegsmarine.[2]

In the Malayan Emergency the UK also used the definition SEP, alongside Captured Enemy Personnel (CEP). The distinction made was that SEP were insurgents who surrendered to the British,[3] while Captured Enemy Personnel were not. Both[verification needed] designations were treated as prisoners of war.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hanrei Taimuzu (The Law Times Report) No. 703, 63. X1, X2, X3 et al. v. The State of Japan Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine (Tokyo District Court, judgment, 1989, Case No. wa-4024, wa-8983 (1981), wa-731 (1982), wa-12166 (1985)). pp. 7,8
  2. ^ Madsen, Chris. The Royal Navy and German Naval Disarmament, 1942-1947, Routledge, 1998 ISBN 0-7146-4823-X. p. 90
  3. ^ Nagl John A. Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam: Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002 ISBN 0-275-97695-5. p. 92
  4. ^ Ingrid Detter Delupis, "The Law of War" (google books p.328)

Further reading

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