How would the Federation have treated Jem'Hadar prisoners of war?

[Sci]

The Dominion is an organization that effectively introduced itself by committing multiple acts of mass murder, and disciplined its "subjects" by infecting them with genetically engineered atrocities. The Federation should not try for reciprocity with it.

Agreed. The Federation should live up to its own values and treat Jem'Hadar prisoners humanely.

The closest thing the Federation could to to allowing Jem'Hadar captives an honorable death is to simply lock them up together and let them snap each other's necks.

Even that is too far. If a captured Jem'Hadar is a danger to himself or others, then he should be restrained from harming himself or others. And if the Federation cannot obtain a supply of Ketracel White, then it should put that captured Jem'Hadar into stasis until he can be repatriated to the Dominion after the war (or given the opportunity to request asylum in the Federation if there's reason to believe he'll be executed after repatriation).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

or given the opportunity to request asylum in the Federation if there's reason to believe he'll be executed after repatriation

No Jem'Hadar would ever do that.

And why would there be "reason to believe" the Dominion would execute any returning Jem'Hadar POWs? Everybody knows that's what they do. Remember what I said about Vorta prisoners...

But now I agree that the Federation itself shouldn't execute Jem'Hadar POWS. Hand them over and let the Dominion do the killing. It's simply not the Federation's problem anymore.

 

[Markonian]

I don't see a reason why Starfleet Medical or another legal organization within the Federation wouldn't try to synthesize Ketracel-white. After all, it is a live-preserving drug. Like how the Kobliad require deuridium to live.

 

[Oddish]

I don't see a reason why Starfleet Medical or another legal organization within the Federation wouldn't try to synthesize Ketracel-white. After all, it is a live-preserving drug.

And it gives the Jem'Hadar some semblance of free will.

 

[at Quark's]

Even that is too far. If a captured Jem'Hadar is a danger to himself or others, then he should be restrained from harming himself or others. And if the Federation cannot obtain a supply of Ketracel White, then it should put that captured Jem'Hadar into stasis until he can be repatriated to the Dominion after the war (or given the opportunity to request asylum in the Federation if there's reason to believe he'll be executed after repatriation).

But what do you do with them when the war is over, and it turns out they will be executed when repatriated, and they will kill themselves when released/given the opportunity because they can't live with the humiliation of defeat and not dying an honorable death?

 

[Sci]

or given the opportunity to request asylum in the Federation if there's reason to believe he'll be executed after repatriation

No Jem'Hadar would ever do that.

We have seen multiple Jem'Hadar rebel against Dominion rule. It is well within the realm of possibilty that a Jem'Hadar might request asylum.

And why would there be "reason to believe" the Dominion would execute any returning Jem'Hadar POWs? Everybody knows that's what they do.

1) We canonically know that Vorta are supposed to kill themselves rather than be captured. We also know that Keevan deliberately arranged for his own capture, so clearly Dominion ideology is not always obeyed in spite of their genetic engineering/brainwashing.

2) We do not know canonically that Jem'Hadar are also expected to kill themselves; it is likely that the same rule applies to them as to the Vorta, but nobody has yet cited an episode in which this was explicitly stated.

3) We do not know canonically that the Dominion would execute repatriated Jem'Hadar prisoners. You can infer that as a reasonable possibility, but it is not a canonical certainty.

But what do you do with them when the war is over, and it turns out they will be executed when repatriated, and they will kill themselves when released/given the opportunity because they can't live with the humiliation of defeat and not dying an honorable death?

At that point, it is clearly the right of those individuals to determine their own fate.

If they wish to be released into their own custody, they have that right -- and if they plan to subsequently kill themselves, that is also their right.

If they chose to be repatriated into Dominion custody, that is their right. And if they do so knowing that they will be executed, that is still their right.

 

[kkt]

No Jem'Hadar would ever do that.

No Jem Hadar ever? How about the renegades in "To the Death"?

The Dominion want other races to think of the Jem Hadar as 100% loyal. And they are more loyal than most soldiers. But not 100%.

 

[Tosk]

"Sisko "...From what I know, the Jem'Hadar have been genetically conditioned to obey them."
Weyoun "The Founders' ability to control the Jem'Hadar has been somewhat overstated."

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

No Jem Hadar ever? How about the renegades in "To the Death"?

If Omet’iklan had wanted asylum, he would have asked O'Brien and Bashir about it.

 

[at Quark's]

I have the impression those renegade Jem'Hadar (also those in Hippocratic Oath) want to be free but still view humans (and other species) as weak. They probably would prefer being left to their own devices.

 

[Farscape One]

There have been captured Jem'Hadar in DS9 and they were taken to a POW camp. In "ONE LITTLE SHIP", Sisko mentions this in his final log entry of the episode.

It has also been established that Bashir had great difficulty in creating a substitute for Ketracel White, in "THE ABANDONED".

I'm thinking that Starfleet might have some supplies of it from captured ships or territory, but because it's so rare and difficult to reproduce, any Jem'Hadar prisoners are likely put in stasis. It's better to keep them in stasis because...

1. They can't plot together to escape if they aren't awake.

2. Need less personnel for guarding. (Though they would need a fair amount of medical/technical people to maintain their stasis, so this might actually cancel out the fewer security people.)

3. Ketracel White is rare and too difficult to reproduce on a regular basis.

 

[at Quark's]

3. Ketracel White is rare and too difficult to reproduce on a regular basis.

Well, naturally. If I were the Dominion, I wouldn't want it to be a substance any enthusiast could whip up in a few minutes (like the Jem' Hadar themselves, or Bashir), or even something that an average starfaring species can produce within its most advanced laboratories. Otherwise you'd run the risk of such species offering the Jem' Hadar free supplies of the stuff to throw the Dominion yoke off.

Even for the the Dominion it seems the stuff is anything but easy to produce, and their biochemical capabilities seem to be significantly advanced beyond the Federation's. In Statistical probabilities, it seems they need access to some very specific 'trinucleic' fungus to produce a ketracel white base ingredient, and apparently, it's not something they can easily grow /produce themselves or even replicate (or they would have done that already rather than sacrifice that much territory just to obtain the Kabrel system).

 

[Lynx]

But what do you do with them when the war is over, and it turns out they will be executed when repatriated, and they will kill themselves when released/given the opportunity because they can't live with the humiliation of defeat and not dying an honorable death?

That's the question. They were simply breed to be killing-machines who totally obeyed the Founders and the Vorta.

As we could se, not ven bashir could come up with something which could make then non-dependent of Ketracel-White and during the whole series there were no indications that any Federation lab could do it either.

Not to mention that even if they weren't dependent of Ketracel-White anymore, they will still be killing machines whose only purpose was to fight and kill.

Another question is: What would the Founders do with the Jem' Hadar after the war?

Would the Founders become peaceful during Odo's guidance and would they in that case have any use for the Jem' Hadar?

Or would theyy continue to expand their empire in the Gamma Quadrant in other directions than towards the Alpha and Beta Quadrants? Would they keep their enslaved worlds, including that one where Bashir and jadzia were trying to cure the people from the deadly disease which The Dominion had punished them with?

And will The Founders sit on their homeworld, ruling their empire , continue to breed jem' hadar and plan for a new attack against the empires in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants in some near future?

Get back to DS9 Odo! You're not safe in the gamma Quadrant!

 

[Shat Happens]

it depends on who, of the Federation, would be the jailkeepers. Humans would be humane.

But I was rewatching TNG Season 1 (because I hate myself) and I am under the impression Klings are in it. An Kirk said they don't take prisioners.

There are also guys like this:

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Rondon

 

[Oddish]

And will The Founders sit on their homeworld, ruling their empire , continue to breed jem' hadar and plan for a new attack against the empires in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants in some near future?

If the Founders choose to take the Dominion in a new direction, they could easily tweak the Jem'Hadar's genome to reflect their new mission.

 

[Lynx]

If the Founders choose to take the Dominion in a new direction, they could easily tweak the Jem'Hadar's genome to reflect their new mission.

I doubt that they want to do that.

 

[at Quark's]

Another question is: What would the Founders do with the Jem' Hadar after the war?

Would the Founders become peaceful during Odo's guidance and would they in that case have any use for the Jem' Hadar?

Or would theyy continue to expand their empire in the Gamma Quadrant in other directions than towards the Alpha and Beta Quadrants? Would they keep their enslaved worlds, including that one where Bashir and jadzia were trying to cure the people from the deadly disease which The Dominion had punished them with?

And will The Founders sit on their homeworld, ruling their empire , continue to breed jem' hadar and plan for a new attack against the empires in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants in some near future?

Get back to DS9 Odo! You're not safe in the gamma Quadrant!

Well, let's see.

1. The Federation/Klingon/Romulan alliance never actually defeated the Dominion. They defeated a mere Dominion outpost. It may even have been a fairly minor one, in Dominion terms. So there's no compelling reason for the Dominion to embark on less aggressive policies.
2. The Founders might not have forgotten about that tiny detail of Section 31 trying to exterminate them, and actually nearly achieving that. And not just by a quick death, but in one of the nastiest ways possible too - by a slow, lingering, degenerative disease. Even if it was only Section 31 rather than humanity as a whole, given the resentful nature of the Founders and the way they already distrust Solids, that nuance might be lost on them;
3. Founders regard Odo as a child, still very young, too young to comprehend many things;
4. Odo's voice will be one against probably millions, possibly billions.

Well, erm, good luck, Odo. I guess you'll need it. Badly.

Though, given that changelings don't kill one another and the return of one of them means more to them than an entire Quadrant, I don't think there's any danger to his life. Just that he will be, erm, re-educated.

 

[kkt]

Well, let's see.

2. The Founders might not have forgotten about that tiny detail of Section 31 trying to exterminate them, and actually nearly achieving that. And not just by a quick death, but in one of the nastiest ways possible too - by a slow, lingering, degenerative disease. Even if it was only Section 31 rather than humanity as a whole, given the resentful nature of the Founders and the way they already distrust Solids, that nuance might be lost on them;

And don't forget that Starfleet and probably the Federation president and civilian leadership reacted to the news of Section 31's attempted genocide was not to prosecute Section 31, not to attempt to put the cure into Dominion hands, but rather to hope the disease worked and cheer Section 31 on.

 

[Lynx]

Well, let's see.

1. The Federation/Klingon/Romulan alliance never actually defeated the Dominion. They defeated a mere Dominion outpost. It may even have been a fairly minor one, in Dominion terms. So there's no compelling reason for the Dominion to embark on less aggressive policies.
2. The Founders might not have forgotten about that tiny detail of Section 31 trying to exterminate them, and actually nearly achieving that. And not just by a quick death, but in one of the nastiest ways possible too - by a slow, lingering, degenerative disease. Even if it was only Section 31 rather than humanity as a whole, given the resentful nature of the Founders and the way they already distrust Solids, that nuance might be lost on them;
3. Founders regard Odo as a child, still very young, too young to comprehend many things;
4. Odo's voice will be one against probably millions, possibly billions.

Well, erm, good luck, Odo. I guess you'll need it. Badly.

Though, given that changelings don't kill one another and the return of one of them means more to them than an entire Quadrant, I don't think there's any danger to his life. Just that he will be, erm, re-educated.

I hope that Odo was smart enough to realize that.

Are there any books in which Odo rfeturns to Deep Space Nine?
It should be.

The only thing I didn't like with the series was how they broke up the good, old gang in the last episode. Thy should all have remained on the station for further adventures in books and possible movies.

 

[Farscape One]

I hope that Odo was smart enough to realize that.

Are there any books in which Odo rfeturns to Deep Space Nine?
It should be.

The only thing I didn't like with the series was how they broke up the good, old gang in the last episode. Thy should all have remained on the station for further adventures in books and possible movies.

I actually think that added to the realism and made sense... some people staying, others moving on to other assignments. In real life, people come and go... even people who've been around for years. Life continues.