Missing: A military service member is in a missing (missing) status if not at 
his duty location due to apparent involuntary reasons as a result of a 
non-hostile action and his location is not known.

MIA: A military service member is in a missing (missing in action) status if 
not at his duty location due to apparent involuntary reasons as a result of 
hostile action and his location is not known.

Interned: A person is in a missing (interned) status if that person has been 
taken into custody by a non-belligerent foreign power as the result of and for 
reasons arising out of any armed conflict in which the United States is 
engaged.

Captured: A person is in a missing (captured) status if he has been seized as 
the result of action of an unfriendly military or paramilitary force in a 
foreign country.

Beleaguered: A person is in a missing (beleaguered) status if a member of an 
organized element has been surrounded by a hostile force to prevent escape of 
its members.

Besieged: A person is in a missing (besieged) status if a member of an 
organized element has been surrounded by a hostile force for the purpose of 
compelling it to surrender.

Detained: A person is in a missing (detained) status if prevented from 
proceeding or restrained in custody for alleged violation of international law 
or other reason claimed by the organization or group under which the person is 
being held.


Based on international laws and conventions


Illegal Detainee: A person is an illegal detainee if prevented from proceeding 
or restrained in custody for alleged violation of international law or other 
reason claimed by the organization or group under which the person is being held. 
Detention is illegal if the reason he is being detained is in violation of 
international law or international agreements.

Hostage: A person held as a pledge that certain terms or agreements will be kept. 
(The taking of hostages is forbidden under the Geneva Conventions, 1949.)

Prisoner of War (POW): A detained person as defined in Articles 4 and 5 of the 
Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949. 
In particular, one who, while engaged in combat under orders of his government, is 
captured by the armed forces of the enemy.

War Criminal: A person is determined to be a war criminal if found guilty of 
violating international laws and conventions that make up the law of war.





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