Well, in the Two Towers, after the battle of Helm's Deep, it says specifically what happens to the human prisoners taken - that they get put to work, and are then allowed to go back home (which they are then surprised about, having been hyped up by Sauruman about the supposed cruelty of the men of Rohan.
But Orcs being taken prisoner? No way. In the appendix to the RTK, there is the account of one king of Rohan who hunts orcs for sport. Orcs certainly aren't regarded as being human, or deserving of human rights. I'd expect that any prisoners taken (which wouldn't be many) would just be killed out of hand. Remember, men have their humanity in common - orcs and humans have nothing in common.
Off track, the Geneva convention is meant to ensure that wars are not as brutal as they usually are. It's of course, a bit hopeful to expect nations to fight 'nice' wars, but we can at least hope to cut down on the damage that civilians suffer - and it's civilians who are always the real victims of war.
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What it was could not be seen: it was like a great shadow...
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