Operation Starfall can hardly be considered a success. I will be the first to admit this. Many lives of those fighting to provide freedom, relief, and sanctuary to the millions on Kahah III were lost at the hands of the Royal Khanid Navy, Royal Khanid and Kahah Militia ground forces and atmospheric craft, CONCORD, and so-called ‘Amarr loyalists’ who took up arms as Khanid capsuleer proxies.
Though our efforts to establish the Khadrea Safe Zone met with failure, the forces I sponsored and supplied held the battlefield in space. While Harkon Thorson of Ushra’Khan bravely led the detachment that dispatched Oveg Drust, three Nestors serving as hospital ships conducted harrowing search and rescue operations amidst the wreckage of battle despite being flagged as ‘legal’ targets by CONCORD.
These Nestor-class hospital ships were returned to my possession along with the survivors of the battle they rescued. Among these survivors were crewmembers of the Khanid capsuleer proxy defense flotilla.
Although Operation Starfall has been labeled as a ‘terrorist attack’ by those most vehemently opposed to alleviating human suffering and providing the means with which innocents can defend themselves from being mercilessly slaughtered, I see no reason to create more tragedy by holding prisoners of war.
Therefore, I am prepared to extend an offer of exchange for those crewmembers willing to return to service with the capsuleer proxies flying in the Amarr flotilla in return for any crewmembers those same proxies rescued belonging to the contractors and sub-contractors whom I sponsored as well as for those crewmembers loyal to Ushra’Khan and other allies who stood with us.
I assure any concerned parties that all prisoners have been treated with respect and have been well-cared for. Any who were beyond the help of the medical staff of the Hospital Ships and were of the Amarrian faith were afforded final blessings in accordance with the rites of the Ammatar Church. Their remains will, of course, be released should the exchange take place.
Finally, to dispense with those of you calling me a ‘traitor’ or a ‘terrorist,’ I have received no official condemnation of my actions from the Office of the Governor of the Ammatar Mandate nor from House Ardishapur. As God judges all of our actions, I will await the word from proper authorities, not those who deign to speak for them.
The Excubitors do not negotiate with terrorist organizations.
Of course, this is moot given that as we had no ships remaining on field we also have no prisoners from the Kahah engagement. I also doubt that you have many PIE prisoners at all, given the sheer volume of firepower involved in the destruction of our ships.
As a position of policy: When we do take U’K, or other Matari Militia, crew as prisoners, we as a matter of course turn them over to the proper Amarr authorities. So if you want to exchange any captives you do have for U’K crew we have captured in the past, I would suggest that you turn those prisoners over to the Matari Republic and allow the exchanges to happen according to the procedures that have been established as part of the EWPA War.
I wasn’t aware there were agreements in place that were established by the CEMWPA, at least between the Empire and the Republic. I was under the impression that most prisoners of war in the Empire’s possession ended up enslaved, being the primary source of new stock aside from criminals. And goodness knows what the Republic does with its prisoners, I’m not exactly versed with their protocols.
I am hoping there is a positive resolution to this situation soon. That said, Captain Darkar, I think we should have a discussion in private.
SFRIM wishes to commend you on such a noble initative, and to state that we would be glad to join with you in this, as this is most consistent with our long held ideals.
As we had two aid stations already active near the location of the battle, and one of our contractors on the field afterwards conducting recovery operations, we also recovered a number of survivors, including a number from the battleships of Ushra’Khan and their allies, as well as recovering bodies of the dead for respectful return to their next of kin.
All survivors have been treated by our medical facilities, and accorded respectful treatment. All remains recovered, as well as the remains of survivors who were beyond medical help, have been treated respectfully, awaiting return to their next of kin.
We will be most pleased to make arrangements for an exchange to happen at the soonest possible time.
I know from experience first-hand that Liberation Force and Matari crewmen are often reluctant to surrender themselves into the custody of Protectorate personnel, let alone that of the Crusaders or Empire. It wasn’t uncommon for us to recover lifeboats from TLF raiders in the Rise only to find the occupants chose to take their own lives rather than risk the potential chance of being enslaved by their ‘saviours’.
I’m certain that the same fear and apprehension exists with Imperial crewmen that are unfortunate enough to have to take to the boats.
They simply rot in a military prison, much like what I understand the Caldari do to federal pows. I believe I would have a better understanding of my peoples’ pow protocols than our, sighcolleague… I really hate saying that. Still better treatment than your fair weather friend’s people’s system.
Lord Lok’ri is right. Between capsule-crew protection laws (AD&D and so on), and EMWPA and YA laws, the handling of those few crew that survive ship loss is most typically done by empire or corporate authorities (or SOE and other search-and-rescue groups) and do not always involve simple “maximum punishment”. Amarr is legally (by CONCORD law) able to enslave prisoners of war, sure, but that does not mean it always actually does. Many do get traded.
That doesn’t mean PoW camps necessarily always handle their prisoners justly, of course.
You know the rules stipulated by the Conglomerate’s obligations to convention on that regard, in both search and rescue and codes of conduct for detainees and prisoners of war. I wasn’t certain as to the standards applied by entities such as the Republic Fleet, given the historic enmity between your nation and the Empire.
Those I’m familiar with, wasn’t sure if the state itself differed from our regulations. The republic officially has similar, though standards are a guideline, not the rule there. I won’t talk about it but everyone has their own secondary guidelines, myself included (only one I’ll mention is while I was in blackrise enlisted in the TLF I disarmed them and followed civilian standards not combatant standards as I was there for training for fighting pirates, not as a military op against the state).
I’m sure Aldrith can inform you on extermination camps, his groups been supporting a few planets’ full of them.
Whilst there are certain provisions that the AD&D and YC detail that offer certain protections to lawful combatants, particularly those recovered from lifeboats having escaped their ships, as you have said the Imperial authorities are not prevented by custom nor prohibited by legislation from enslaving prisoners of war and criminals.
I have noted that a great many of your countrymen and women have expressed opinions that equate those combatants recovered from the wreckage of starships formerly operated by TLF/RF/Matari-aligned entities as terrorists in some circumstances. As terrorism is a crime in itself, and there being past precedent for the enslavement of criminals and prisoners of war throughout the Empire’s history, the Vindication Wars being a contemporary example for this practice.
I am also on the understanding that as slave-taking from traditional means has been outlawed by edict of the late Emperor Heideran VII, this method is one of the few remaining legitimate means of acquiring fresh stock. Whilst I am certain that exchanges have occurred, I am also not convinced that many do not take advantage of the opportunity to procure more slaves in a legal manner.
After a thorough consultation with a trusted veteran of the Battle of Kahah on the matter, I have decided to abide by your request, Lord Lok’ri. Those crewmembers who wish to return to service with your organization will be transported to the Minmatar Republic at an unspecified time through the Ammatar Mandate.
I would be happy to meet with you or have a discussion through encrypted fluid router network at your convenience, Captain Adams. I presume this would be for those survivors of Caldari militia-affiliated crew involved in the Khanid proxy defense flotilla?
I thank you for your reply and will be in contact with you.
I was fighting in Kahah.
My crewmembers were fighting in Kahah.
Our Marines squads were transferred to help RKN in Kahah.
And we are Caldari, we don’t call ourselves ‘Amarr loyalists’.
We fought to help our allies in the Empire and the Kingdom to repel invaders and bandits, to kill these aggressors, who crossed Khanid borders to bring death and destruction.
Despite flying to support our allies in a time they were attacked by the foreign aggressors, I don’t know about exact processing of the prisoners, however, I would like to make a certain correction in your estimation that lead to your offer.
First of all, crewmembers loyal to Ushra’Khan are most likely treated now not as PoWs, but as criminals (or, correctly (before the tribunal) - suspects) - including by CONCORD standards. If you fly under a pirate captain, you’re a pirate, you know.
And second, Amarr and Caldari captives can not be considered in this situation as Prisoners of War either. Being captured by criminals, they’re hostages.