Yahoo! News - Taliban to Get Geneva Protections

The AP had to go to Guantanamo to get this story? That was Ari Fleischer announcing it, and I think he was in Washington, D.C.?
Can someone tell me what this decision means? What benefits do the Geneva conventions confer on these people that we weren't already giving them? The only thing mentioned so far is that if they were pow's, they would only have to give their name, rank, serial no. and date of birth. It seems to me that the Geneva Conventions only benefit people who are captured by armies who otherwise would have no qualms about using torture. Since we don't do that anyway, and the people we capture generally get better treatment than they had on their own side, what's the big deal?