detainee

a special category of captured enemy combatants, detainees are neither prisoners of war nor suspects in criminal cases. The Geneva Conventions protect "prisoners of war" but say nothing about "detainees," and suspects in criminal cases go to trial. By using the term "detainee," the U.S. government has been able to keep detainees from being tried and has excluded them from the protections of the Geneva Conventions. Because the very same individuals may be enemy combatants, detainees, prisoners of war, criminals, or unlawful enemy combatants (and their fate depends on what they are called), ascertain their exact status instead of using the information-poor "detainee."