Since the very formation of the Galactic Empire there were pockets of resistance across the
galaxy opposing the new Imperial regime.
Although initially they posed very little threat and were swiftly swept away in battle,
overtime they grew stronger to the point where they began to win against Imperial forces.
So whenever these rebel cells, and the later unified Rebel Alliance, won against the Empire
in battle, what did they do with the stormtroopers and Imperial officers that they captured?
The fates of the surrendering stormtroopers and officers differed depending on who captured
them.
If they were caught by a fringe, extremist rebel group, they were almost certainly going
to be executed regardless if they posed a threat or not.
One of these extremist groups was the Free Ryloth movement, which consisted of many Twi’leks
that held pure hatred toward Imperials, to the point where they viewed them as absolute
filth that needed to be eradicated from their planet at any cost.
They were known to kill unarmed Imperials without hesitation, even killing those within
technical and support roles who rarely ever held combat training.
In many of these cases they had the opportunity to easily subdue and capture these unarmed
Imperials, but chose to execute them on the spot instead.
When the Free Ryloth movement brought down a Star Destroyer, they sent out starfighters
to destroy the virtually defenseless escape pods without giving them any chance to surrender.
Some members of this rebel cell were known to hunt down off duty Imperials, who were
almost never armed, and kill them without mercy.
So it’s pretty clear that in the early years of the Free Ryloth movement they were not
interested in capturing any stormtroopers or Imperial officers, and preferred to just
kill them on the spot.
Other extreme rebel cells, like Saw Gerrera’s Partisans, were known to take prisoners after
operations, but mainly for interrogations which typically involved torture.
Once the interrogations were over, the Imperial prisoner was likely to be killed by them.
When it came to far more principled and moderate rebel cells, like the Ghost Crew, the fates
of surrendering stormtroopers and officers was less harsh.
Most of the time the Ghost Crew didn’t take prisoners, as they usually just let them escape
after they were defeated.
The few stormtroopers that they did capture were likely stripped of their armor and weapons
and then just left stranded someplace afterwards where they’d be able to make their way back
to an Imperial base.
Once the Ghost Crew joined the larger Rebel network and eventual Rebel Alliance, it’s
likely they just sent the captured Imperials to whatever prisons the Alliance had.
Though it’s important to note that when it came to isolated Rebel cells, most of them
probably didn’t take any prisoners after battle, mainly because they didn’t have
the resources to house them.
Whether they killed the surrendering Imperials or let them escape after battle depended on
the Rebel cell, but it’s likely most of them killed the Imperials seeing how the Ghost
Crew was noted for its very principled way of doing things and for their very low casualty
rate when it came to their operations.
Once the Rebel Alliance was formed and began to gain traction in their war against the
Empire, they held many facilities that acted as prisons for captured Imperials.
One of the biggest and most secretive prisons the Alliance had was called the Sunspot Prison.
It housed multiple Imperial prisoners, ranging from spies to even a few Moffs.
Most of them held here were awaiting trials that the Alliance wanted to publically display
as a means to show the galaxy that they were fair and just with the way they dealt with
prisoners unlike the Empire, but not all the rebels felt that way.
As one of them infiltrated the prison and had his droids start executing the Imperial
prisoners from within their cells.
He believed that all the Imperials locked up at the prison were beyond salvation and
that it was a complete waste of time trying to give them a fair trial for their crimes,
and that all they deserved was death.
The rogue rebel was eventually stopped, but nonetheless he was able to kill many of the
prisoners from within the Sunspot prison.
Once the war was over and the New Republic was formed, the public trails began to take
place.
Many high ranking Imperial war criminals were ordered to execution for the atrocities they
committed during the reign of the empire, while other Imperials were just given lengthy
prison sentences.
Many that held very low positions within the Imperial hierarchy were likely to have been
pardoned and released.