Judge Declares Noriega a POW, Protected Under Rules of War

A judge on Tuesday declared Manuel A. Noriega to be a prisoner of war and said the ousted Panamanian leader can be sent to a civilian prison only if he receives full protection under the Geneva Convention.

U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler ordered Noriega held in Florida until the government chooses a prison and defense attorneys can demand a hearing to ensure that his rights as a POW are protected.

The decision marks the first time a U.S. judge has declared that a convicted criminal was protected by the rules of war, a constitutional expert said.

The judge warned the federal government to “keep in mind the importance to our own troops of faithful and, indeed, liberal adherence to the mandates of Geneva III.”

All POWs are entitled to wide protections under the convention, guarantees that may be impossible to provide in a maximum-security penitentiary, he said.

Paul Rothstein, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University Law School, said the decision was “the first time someone convicted in the ordinary process of the criminal law has had the Geneva Convention applied to them.”

Noriega was convicted in April of eight drug and racketeering counts charging that he took bribes from Colombia’s Medellin cartel to turn Panama into a way station for U.S.-bound cocaine shipments.

In July, Hoeveler sentenced him to 40 years in prison, but delayed handing him over to the Bureau of Prisons because of the POW issue.