Well if they didn't return my friendly waves with a hail of bullets I might refrain from shooting them. It's self defence :-p

These prisoners are armed and if you don't attack them they will kill you so we are defending ourselves technically. The real question is what warden worth anything let's the incarcerated populace runaround with fire arms.

i don't think the Geneva convention exists in this distant future, so there is no moral emphasis on war crimes. Besides, if they have a giant ass scorch canon you can bet your ass ill be whooping his ass rules or no rules.

"You now face the trial of skolas" Trial by combat, like in Game of Thrones. And the vex can leave at anytime. Qodron is only there because he knows its an opportunity for the vex to extinguish some of the travelers light. But the hive, we are just torturing them because theyre ugly.

Since war crimes are prosecuted by the UN and I'm pretty sure the UN is no more in Destiny's future I think we're OK.

It's trial by combat.

No it is their trial. If they win they are innocent. If they die they were guilty.

My theory on the prison. The Queen takes a entire battlefield when she captures a high profile target. This would explain the guns and the terrain. It also can't be a crime when there are clearly no laws for guardians. "atleast not when we are out of the tower".

It is frowned upon to toucher (suspected) terrorist for information in prisons [i]in[/i] America. However, what if we could treat (suspected) terrorists as terribly as we want in a prison in another country in... let's say Cuba. If we can't commit war crimes on Earth, can we commit them in a place that allows it, in a place like... lets's say the Reef? Also, history is written by the winners. The U.S.A. got away with war crimes in WWII since we won. Those in the Prison of Elders can't claim war crimes occurred. Why?[spoiler]Since they are all dead. The best crime is a witnessless crime.[/spoiler]

They want our Light. Read Quodron's grimoire card and it's evident that we aren't simply going in and slaughtering helpless prisoners - and he isn't the only one. They're being given the chance to kill us, and if they fail, well, that's their problem.

I really don't think the Geneva Convention laws are still in place at this time period. To start off, the prisoners tried, and almost succeeded at making us extinct. Also, we are in a post-apocalyptic world.

At this point the Prison of Elders is more like Roman Gladiatorial Combat, where Awoken or Guardians go into the prison and fight the different factions, while Variks airs the challenge (overheard a guard mention this in the reef). Each "captured" faction are not necessarily POWs. A POW is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. Grimoire cards used: Prison of Elders; Valus Trau'ug; Qodron, Gate Lord; Wretched Knight; Urrox, Flame Prince. The Fallen: the Fallen are perhaps the only actual prisoners, though, the Fallen began a Civil War against themselves in order for certain members of the House of Wolves to try to take the place of Kell. They used the Queen to try to get an advantage over the others, but she in turn used them to become their Kell. The fallen in the prison are either factions that wouldn't bow or the remnants of the other factions, however, with recent events, they may also be the prisoners from various fights over the course of the DLC. "She'd just used them against each other and won absolute control of the Reef, the Belt, and the House of Wolves. She wasn't about to just toss away her playing pieces. She kept them frozen in her prison, the Prison of Elders, and she gave the keys to that prison to my buddy Variks, a Fallen who showed her loyalty." The Cabal: It is unknown how the Cabal became prisoners, but as it is not on public records, there was no huge battle. It is possible they were lured there, took refuge from the crows there, used the prison as a way to get intel on the other factions or to gain a foothold in the reef, or they simply crashed there (the cabal ship in the arena). "Trau'ug took to massacring his officers, marking himself and his soldiers as traitors of the Empire. Trau'ug then set course for the Reef. How he and his army became denizens of the Prison of Elders[b] is not public record, and Variks tends to skirt the issue when pressed[/b]. What is known, is that Trau'ug's bloodlust and mastery of wartime stratagem is intact within the prison." The Vex: more than likely lured the Vex gate in the prison. However, they are there willingly, though why they don't bring in more Vex to overrun the facility is unknown. "Qodron sees only its own glorious future. It has come to the Prison of Elders, with an army of devout Vex war-machines, to take what it believes to be its first steps toward that future. This machine beast has only one mission. At some point a Light will shine within the walls of this Prison, and for its gloried future to unfold, that Light must die. " The Hive: possibly captured, but, with the arena, challenge and feed off of the light of those who enter. The Light will come to them. "Urrox calls out to all wielders of the Light— to burn away all they are until only the Darkness remains." "The Worm Keepers solidified their hold over the Wretched Knights by promising them the spoils of the Light. After growing weary of the Awoken, the newly arrived Guardians have finally secured their loyalty. "

Actually I see it as the queen housing the other races in her place, and they get to fight guardians and get their revenge at the same time

Apparently it's not considered a war crime in the universe of Destiny.

It's only a war crime if anybody cares.