Of Course: Iran Likely Violated Geneva Convention by Publishing Propaganda Photos of U.S. Sailors

Katie Pavlich | January 13, 2016 12:45 PM

By now you know the Iranian Revolutionary Guard took 10 U.S. Navy Sailors into captivity yesterday after their boats allegedly drifited into Iranian claimed waters during a mechanical failure. They were released early this morning after 12 hours of being held, stripped of their boots and after the female sailor in the group was forced to cover her head. Doesn't this look like a nice, cordial encounter?

KERRY: I "express my gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation in swiftly resolving this matter" pic.twitter.com/RRtuZfhXeC
— Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) January 13, 2016

To make matters worse, Iran took the opportunity to send out photos of captured U.S. soldiers for propaganda purposes. This is likely a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Photography prisoners and distributing their images for propaganda purposes is a Geneva violation. https://t.co/YdjRipRMVo
— Omri Ceren (@cerenomri) January 13, 2016

First picture of the 10 US sailors released by Iran https://t.co/k9uJn1iSXH pic.twitter.com/NrL9GuCDDZ
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 13, 2016

First pics of US sailors arrested in Iran's waters in Persian Gulf by IRGC pic.twitter.com/7bMMgnmkSs
— Sobhan Hassanvand (@Hassanvand) January 13, 2016

UPDATE: There's much more:

Iranian media — Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Agency and Tasnim News Agency — published roughly two-dozen photos and five videos, two of which feature a male sailor apologizing and praising Iran’s treatment.

“It was a mistake that was our fault, and we apologize for our mistake,” the man says in one video.

“The Iranian behavior was fantastic while we were here and we thank you very much for your hospitality and your assistance,” he says in another. “We had no problems here.”