CONVENTION (IV) RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION
OF CIVILIAN PERSONS IN TIME OF WAR
Signed at Geneva, 12 August 1949
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Articles
PART I
General Provisions
Respect for the Convention 1
Application of the Convention 2
Conflicts not of an international character 3
Definition of protected persons 4
Derogations 5
Beginning and end of application 6
Special agreements 7
Non-renunciation of rights 8
Protecting Powers 9
Activities of the International Committee
of the Red Cross 10
Substitutes for Protecting Powers 11
Conciliation procedure 12
PART II
General Protection of Populations against certain consequences of war
Field of application of Part II 13
Hospital and safety zones and localities 14
Neutralized zones 15
Wounded and sick: 16
I. General protection
II. Evacuation 17
III. Protection of hospitals 18
IV. Discontinuance of protection of hospitals 19
V. Hospital staff 20
VI. Land and sea transport 21
VII. Air transport 22
Consignments of medical supplies, food and clothing 23
Measures relating to child welfare 24
Family news 25
Dispersed families 26
PART III
Status and Treatment of Protected Persons
Section I. Provisions common to the Territories of the Parties to the
Conflict and to Occupied Territories
Treatment: 27
I. General observations
II. Danger zones 28
III. Responsibilities 29
Applications to Protecting Powers and
relief organizations 30
Prohibition of coercion 31
Prohibition of corporal punishment, torture, etc.
Individual responsibility, collective penalties
pillage, reprisals 33
Hostages 34
Section II. Aliens in the Territory of a Party to the Conflict
Right to leave the territory 35
Method of repatriation 36
Persons in confinement 37
Non-repatriated persons: 38
I. General observations
II. Means of existence 39
III. Employment 40
IV. Assigned residence. Internment 41
V. Grounds for internment or assigned residence.
Voluntary internment 42
VI. Procedure 43
VII. Refugees 44
VIII.Transfer to another Power 45
Cancellation of restrictive measures 46
Section III. Occupied Territories
Inviolability of rights 47
Special cases of repatriation 48
Deportations, transfers, evacuations 49
Children 50
Enlistment. Labour 51
Protection of workers 52
Prohibited destruction 53
Judges and public officials 54
Food and medical supplies for the population 55
Hygiene and public health 56
Requisition of hospitals 57
Spiritual assistance 58
Relief: 59
I. Collective relief
II. Responsibilities of the Occupying Power 60
III. Distribution 61
IV. Individual relief 62
National Red Cross and other relief societies 63
Penal legislation: 64
I. General observations
II. Publication 65
III. Competent courts 66
IV. Applicable provisions 67
V. Penalties. Death penalty 68
VI. Deduction from sentence of period
spent under arrest 69
VII.Offences committed before occupation 70
Penal procedure: 71
I. General observations
II.Right of defence 72
III.Right of appeal 73
IV.Assistance by the Protecting Power 74
V.Death sentence 75
Treatment of detainees 76
Handing over of detainees at the close of
occupation 77
Security measures. Internment and assigned
residence. Right of appeal 78
Section IV. Regulations for the Treatment of Internees
Chapter I. General provisions
Cases of internment and applicable provisions 79
Civil capacity 80
Maintenance 81
Grouping of internees 82
Chapter II. Places of internment
Location of places of internment. Marking of camps 83
Separate internment 84
Accommodation, hygiene 85
Premises for religious services 86
Canteens 87
Air raid shelters. Protective measures 88
Chapter III. Food and clothing
Food 89
Clothing 90
Chapter IV. Hygiene and medical attention
Medical attention 91
Medical inspections 92
Chapter V. Religious, intellectual and physical activities
Religious duties 93
Recreation, study, sports and games 94
Working conditions 95
Labour detachments 96
Chapter VI. Personal property and financial resources
Valuables and personal effects 97
Financial resources and individual accounts 98
Chapter VII. Administration and discipline
Camp administration. Posting of the
Convention and of orders 99
General discipline 100
Complaints and petitions 101
Internee committees: 102
I. Election of members
II. Duties 103
III. Prerogatives 104
Chapter VIII. Relations with the exterior
Notification of measure taken
Internment card 106
Correspondence 107
Relief shipments: 108
I. General principles 108
II. Collective relief 109
III. Exemption from postal and transport charges 110
Special means of transport 111
Censorship and examination 112
Execution and transmission of legal documents 113
Management of property 114
Facilities for preparation and conduct of cases 115
Visits 116
Chapter IX. Penal and disciplinary sanctions
General provisions. Applicable legislation 117
Penalties 118
Disciplinary punishments 119
Escapes 120
Connected offences 121
Investigations. Confinement awaiting hearing 122
Competent authorities. Procedure 123
Premises for disciplinary punishments 124
Essential safeguards 125
Provisions applicable to judicial proceedings 126
Chapter X. Transfers of internees
Conditions 127
Method 128
Chapter XI. Deaths
Wills. Death certificates 129
Burial. Cremation 130
Internees killed or injured in special
circumstances 131
Chapter XII. Release, repatriation and accommodation
in Neutral Countries
During hostilities or occupation 132
After the close of hostilities 133
Repatriation and return to last place of
residence 134
Costs 135
Section V. Information Bureaux and Central Agency
National Bureaux 136
Transmission of information 137
Particulars required 138
Forwarding of personal valuables 139
Central Agency 140
Exemption from charges 141
PART IV
Execution of the Convention
Section 1. General Provisions
Relief societies and other organizations 142
Supervision 143
Dissemination of the Convention 144
Translations. Rules of application 145
Penal sanctions: 146
I. General observations
II. Grave breaches 147
III. Responsibilities of the Contracting
Parties 148
Enquiry procedure 149
Section II. Final Provisions
Languages 150
Signature 151
Ratification 152
Coming into force 153
Relation with The Hague Conventions 154
Accession 155
Notification of accessions 156
Immediate effect 157
Denunciation 158
Registration with the United Nations 159
Annex I
Draft Agreement relating to Hospital and Safety Zones and Localities
Annex II
Draft Regulations concerning Collective Relief
Annex III
Internment Card
Letter
Correspondence Card
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The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of the Governments represented at
the Diplomatic Conference held at Geneva from 21 April to 12 August 1949,
for the purpose of establishing a Convention for the Protection of
Civilians in Time of War, have agreed as follows:
PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure
respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.
Art. 2. In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in
peace-time, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war
or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the
High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one
of them.
The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation
of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation
meets with no armed resistance.
Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the present
Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in
their mutual relations. They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention
in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies the
provisions thereof.
Art. 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character
occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each
Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following
provisions:
(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members
of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors
de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall
in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse
distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or
wealth, or any other similar criteria.
To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any
time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned
persons:
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds,
mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) taking of hostages;
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and
degrading treatment;
(d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions
without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted
court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are
recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
(2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the
Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force,
by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the
present Convention.
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal
status of the Parties to the conflict.
Art. 4. Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given
moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict
or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power
of which they are not nationals.
Nationals of a State which is not bound by the Convention are not protected
by it. Nationals of a neutral State who find themselves in the territory of
a belligerent State, and nationals of a co-belligerent State, shall not be
regarded as protected persons while the State of which they are nationals
has normal diplomatic representation in the State in whose hands they are.
The provisions of Part II are, however, wider in application, as defined in
Article 13.
Persons protected by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August
1949, or by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of
Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of 12 August
1949, or by the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of
War of 12 August 1949, shall not be considered as protected persons within
the meaning of the present Convention.
Art. 5 Where in the territory of a Party to the conflict, the latter is
satisfied that an individual protected person is definitely suspected of or
engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State, such individual
person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the
present Convention as would, if exercised in the favour of such individual
person, be prejudicial to the security of such State.
Where in occupied territory an individual protected person is detained as a
spy or saboteur, or as a person under definite suspicion of activity
hostile to the security of the Occupying Power, such person shall, in those
cases where absolute military security so requires, be regarded as having
forfeited rights of communication under the present Convention.
In each case, such persons shall nevertheless be treated with humanity and,
in case of trial, shall not be deprived of the rights of fair and regular
trial prescribed by the present Convention. They shall also be granted the
full rights and privileges of a protected person under the present
Convention at the earliest date consistent with the security of the State
or Occupying Power, as the case may be.
Art. 6. The present Convention shall apply from the outset of any conflict
or occupation mentioned in Article 2.
In the territory of Parties to the conflict, the application of the
present Convention shall cease on the general close of military operations.
In the case of occupied territory, the application of the present
Convention shall cease one year after the general close of military
operations; however, the Occupying Power shall be bound, for the duration
of the occupation, to the extent that such Power exercises the functions of
government in such territory, by the provisions of the following Articles
of the present Convention: 1 to 12, 27, 29 to 34, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 59,
61 to 77, 143.
Protected persons whose release, repatriation or re-establishment may take
place after such dates shall meanwhile continue to benefit by the present
Convention.
Art. 7. In addition to the agreements expressly provided for in Articles
11, 14, 15, 17, 36, 108, 109, 132, 133 and 149, the High Contracting
Parties may conclude other special agreements for all matters concerning
which they may deem it suitable to make separate provision. No special
agreement shall adversely affect the situation of protected persons, as
defined by the present Convention, not restrict the rights which it confers
upon them.
Protected persons shall continue to have the benefit of such agreements as
long as the Convention is applicable to them, except where express
provisions to the contrary are contained in the aforesaid or in subsequent
agreements, or where more favourable measures have been taken with regard
to them by one or other of the Parties to the conflict.
Art. 8. Protected persons may in no circumstances renounce in part or in
entirety the rights secured to them by the present Convention, and by the
special agreements referred to in the foregoing Article, if such there be.
Art. 9. The present Convention shall be applied with the cooperation and
under the scrutiny of the Protecting Powers whose duty it is to safeguard
the interests of the Parties to the conflict. For this purpose, the
Protecting Powers may appoint, apart from their diplomatic or consular
staff, delegates from amongst their own nationals or the nationals of other
neutral Powers. The said delegates shall be subject to the approval of the
Power with which they are to carry out their duties.
The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate to the greatest extent
possible the task of the representatives or delegates of the Protecting
Powers.
The representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall not in any
case exceed their mission under the present Convention.
They shall, in particular, take account of the imperative necessities of
security of the State wherein they carry out their duties.
Art. 10. The provisions of the present Convention constitute no obstacle to
the humanitarian activities which the International Committee of the Red
Cross or any other impartial humanitarian organization may, subject to the
consent of the Parties to the conflict concerned, undertake for the
protection of civilian persons and for their relief.
Art. 11. The High Contracting Parties may at any time agree to entrust to
an international organization which offers all guarantees of impartiality
and efficacy the duties incumbent on the Protecting Powers by virtue of the
present Convention.
When persons protected by the present Convention do not benefit or cease to
benefit, no matter for what reason, by the activities of a Protecting Power
or of an organization provided for in the first paragraph above, the
Detaining Power shall request a neutral State, or such an organization, to
undertake the functions performed under the present Convention by a
Protecting Power designated by the Parties to a conflict.
If protection cannot be arranged accordingly, the Detaining Power shall
request or shall accept, subject to the provisions of this Article, the
offer of the services of a humanitarian organization, such as the
International Committee of the Red Cross, to assume the humanitarian
functions performed by Protecting Powers under the present Convention.
Any neutral Power or any organization invited by the Power concerned or
offering itself for these purposes, shall be required to act with a sense
of responsibility towards the Party to the conflict on which persons
protected by the present Convention depend, and shall be required to
furnish sufficient assurances that it is in a position to undertake the
appropriate functions and to discharge them impartially.
No derogation from the preceding provisions shall be made by special
agreements between Powers one of which is restricted, even temporarily, in
its freedom to negotiate with the other Power or its allies by reason of
military events, more particularly where the whole, or a substantial part,
of the territory of the said Power is occupied.
Whenever in the present Convention mention is made of a Protecting Power,
such mention applies to substitute organizations in the sense of the
present Article.
The provisions of this Article shall extend and be adapted to cases of
nationals of a neutral State who are in occupied territory or who find
themselves in the territory of a belligerent State in which the State of
which they are nationals has not normal diplomatic representation.
Art. 12. In cases where they deem it advisable in the interest of protected
persons, particularly in cases of disagreement between the Parties to the
conflict as to the application or interpretation of the provisions of the
present Convention, the Protecting Powers shall lend their good offices
with a view to settling the disagreement.
For this purpose, each of the Protecting Powers may, either at the
invitation of one Party or on its own initiative, propose to the Parties to
the conflict a meeting of their representatives, and in particular of the
authorities responsible for protected persons, possibly on neutral
territory suitably chosen. The Parties to the conflict shall be bound to
give effect to the proposals made to them for this purpose. The Protecting
Powers may, if necessary, propose for approval by the Parties to the
conflict a person belonging to a neutral Power, or delegated by the
International Committee of the Red Cross, who shall be invited to take part
in such a meeting.
PART II
GENERAL PROTECTION OF POPULATIONS
AGAINST CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES OF WAR
Art. 13. The provisions of Part II cover the whole of the populations of
the countries in conflict, without any adverse distinction based, in
particular, on race, nationality, religion or political opinion, and are
intended to alleviate the sufferings caused by war.
Art. 14. In time of peace, the High Contracting Parties and, after the
outbreak of hostilities, the Parties thereto, may establish in their own
territory and, if the need arises, in occupied areas, hospital and safety
zones and localities so organized as to protect from the effects of war,
wounded, sick and aged persons, children under fifteen, expectant mothers
and mothers of children under seven.
Upon the outbreak and during the course of hostilities, the Parties
concerned may conclude agreements on mutual recognition of the zones and
localities they have created. They may for this purpose implement the
provisions of the Draft Agreement annexed to the present Convention, with
such amendments as they may consider necessary.
The Protecting Powers and the International Committee of the Red Cross are
invited to lend their good offices in order to facilitate the institution
and recognition of these hospital and safety zones and localities.
Art. 15. Any Party to the conflict may, either direct or through a neutral
State or some humanitarian organization, propose to the adverse Party to
establish, in the regions where fighting is taking place, neutralized zones
intended to shelter from the effects of war the following persons, without
distinction:
(a) wounded and sick combatants or non-combatants;
(b) civilian persons who take no part in hostilities, and who, while they
reside in the zones, perform no work of a military character.
When the Parties concerned have agreed upon the geographical position,
administration, food supply and supervision of the proposed neutralized
zone, a written agreement shall be concluded and signed by the
representatives of the Parties to the conflict. The agreement shall fix the
beginning and the duration of the neutralization of the zone.
Art. 16. The wounded and sick, as well as the infirm, and expectant
mothers, shall be the object of particular protection and respect.
As far as military considerations allow, each Party to the conflict shall
facilitate the steps taken to search for the killed and wounded, to assist
the shipwrecked and other persons exposed to grave danger, and to protect
them against pillage and ill-treatment.
Art. 17. The Parties to the conflict shall endeavour to conclude local
agreements for the removal from besieged or encircled areas, of wounded,
sick, infirm, and aged persons, children and maternity cases, and for the
passage of ministers of all religions, medical personnel and medical
equipment on their way to such areas.
Art. 18. Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick,
the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of
attack but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to
the conflict.
States which are Parties to a conflict shall provide all civilian hospitals
with certificates showing that they are civilian hospitals and that the
buildings which they occupy are not used for any purpose which would
deprive these hospitals of protection in accordance with Article 19.
Civilian hospitals shall be marked by means of the emblem provided for in
Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition
of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949, but
only if so authorized by the State.
The Parties to the conflict shall, in so far as military considerations
permit, take the necessary steps to make the distinctive emblems indicating
civilian hospitals clearly visible to the enemy land, air and naval forces
in order to obviate the possibility of any hostile action.
In view of the dangers to which hospitals may be exposed by being close to
military objectives, it is recommended that such hospitals be situated as
far as possible from such objectives.
Art. 19. The protection to which civilian hospitals are entitled shall not
cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties,
acts harmful to the enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after due
warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time
limit and after such warning has remained unheeded.
The fact that sick or wounded members of the armed forces are nursed in
these hospitals, or the presence of small arms and ammunition taken from
such combatants which have not yet been handed to the proper service, shall
not be considered to be acts harmful to the enemy.
Art. 20. Persons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and
administration of civilian hospitals, including the personnel engaged in
the search for, removal and transporting of and caring for wounded and sick
civilians, the infirm and maternity cases shall be respected and protected.
In occupied territory and in zones of military operations, the above
personnel shall be recognizable by means of an identity card certifying
their status, bearing the photograph of the holder and embossed with the
stamp of the responsible authority, and also by means of a stamped,
water-resistant armlet which they shall wear on the left arm while carrying
out their duties. This armlet shall be issued by the State and shall bear
the emblem provided for in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the
Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in
the Field of 12 August 1949.
Other personnel who are engaged in the operation and administration of
civilian hospitals shall be entitled to respect and protection and to wear
the armlet, as provided in and under the conditions prescribed in this
Article, while they are employed on such duties. The identity card shall
state the duties on which they are employed.
The management of each hospital shall at all times hold at the disposal of
the competent national or occupying authorities an up-to-date list of such
personnel.
Art. 21. Convoys of vehicles or hospital trains on land or specially
provided vessels on sea, conveying wounded and sick civilians, the infirm
and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected in the same manner as
the hospitals provided for in Article 18, and shall be marked, with the
consent of the State, by the display of the distinctive emblem provided for
in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August
1949.
Art.22. Aircraft exclusively employed for the removal of wounded and sick
civilians, the infirm and maternity cases or for the transport of medical
personnel and equipment, shall not be attacked, but shall be respected
while flying at heights, times and on routes specifically agreed upon
between all the Parties to the conflict concerned.
They may be marked with the distinctive emblem provided for in Article 38
of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the
Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949.
Unless agreed otherwise, flights over enemy or enemy occupied territory are
prohibited.
Such aircraft shall obey every summons to land. In the event of a landing
thus imposed, the aircraft with its occupants may continue its flight after
examination, if any.
Art. 23. Each High Contracting Party shall allow the free passage of all
consignments of medical and hospital stores and objects necessary for
religious worship intended only for civilians of another High Contracting
Party, even if the latter is its adversary. It shall likewise permit the
free passage of all consignments of essential foodstuffs, clothing and
tonics intended for children under fifteen, expectant mothers and maternity
cases.
The obligation of a High Contracting Party to allow the free passage of the
consignments indicated in the preceding paragraph is subject to the
condition that this Party is satisfied that there are no serious reasons
for fearing:
(a) that the consignments may be diverted from their destination,
(b) that the control may not be effective, or
(c) that a definite advantage may accrue to the military efforts or
economy of the enemy through the substitution of the above-mentioned
consignments for goods which would otherwise be provided or produced
by the enemy or through the release of such material, services or
facilities as would otherwise be required for the production of such
goods.
The Power which allows the passage of the consignments indicated in the
first paragraph of this Article may make such permission conditional on the
distribution to the persons benefited thereby being made under the local
supervision of the Protecting Powers.
Such consignments shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible, and the Power
which permits their free passage shall have the right to prescribe the
technical arrangements under which such passage is allowed.
Art.24. The Parties to the conflict shall take the necessary measures to
ensure that children under fifteen, who are orphaned or are separated from
their families as a result of the war, are not left to their own resources,
and that their maintenance, the exercise of their religion and their
education are facilitated in all circumstances. Their education shall, as
far as possible, be entrusted to persons of a similar cultural tradition.
The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate the reception of such children
in a neutral country for the duration of the conflict with the consent of
the Protecting Power, if any, and under due safeguards for the observance
of the principles stated in the first paragraph.
They shall, furthermore, endeavour to arrange for all children under twelve
to be identified by the wearing of identity discs, or by some other means.
Art. 25. All persons in the territory of a Party to the conflict, or in a
territory occupied by it, shall be enabled to give news of a strictly
personal nature to members of their families, wherever they may be, and to
receive news from them. This correspondence shall be forwarded speedily and
without undue delay.
If, as a result of circumstances, it becomes difficult or impossible to
exchange family correspondence by the ordinary post, the Parties to the
conflict concerned shall apply to a neutral intermediary, such as the
Central Agency provided for in Article 140, and shall decide in
consultation with it how to ensure the fulfilment of their obligations
under the best possible conditions, in particular with the cooperation of
the National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societies.
If the Parties to the conflict deem it necessary to restrict family
correspondence, such restrictions shall be confined to the compulsory use
of standard forms containing twenty-five freely chosen words, and to the
limitation of the number of these forms despatched to one each month.
Art. 26. Each Party to the conflict shall facilitate enquiries made by
members of families dispersed owing to the war, with the object of renewing
contact with one another and of meeting, if possible. It shall encourage,
in particular, the work of organizations engaged on this task provided they
are acceptable to it and conform to its security regulations.
PART III
STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS
SECTION I
Provisions Common to the Territories
of the Parties to the Conflict
and to Occupied Territories
Art. 27. Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect
for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious
convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all
times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all
acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public
curiosity.
Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour, in
particular against rape, enforced prostitutiOn, or any form of indecent
assault.
Without prejudice to the provisions relating to their state of health, age
and sex, all protected persons shall be treated with the same consideration
by the Party to the conflict in whose power they are, without any adverse
distinction based, in particular, on race, religion or political opinion.
However, the Parties to the conflict may take such measures of control and
security in regard to protected persons as may be necessary as a result of
the war.
Art. 28. The presence of a protected person may not be used to render
certain points or areas immune from military operations.
Art. 29. The Party to the conflict in whose hands protected persons may be,
is responsible for the treatment accorded to them by its agents,
irrespective of any individual responsibility which may be incurred.
Art. 30. Protected persons shall have every facility for making application
to the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the
National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Society of the country
where they may be, as well as to any organization that might assist them.
These several organizations shall be granted all facilities for that
purpose by the authorities, within the bounds set by military or security
considerations.
Apart from the visits of the delegates of the Protecting Powers and of the
International Committee of the Red Cross, provided for by Article 143, the
Detaining or Occupying Powers shall facilitate, as much as possible, visits
to protected persons by the representatives of other organizations whose
object is to give spiritual aid or material relief to such persons.
Art. 31. No physical or moral coercion shall be exercised against protected
persons, in particular to obtain information from them or from third
parties.
Art. 32. The High Contracting Parties specifically agree that each of them
is prohibited from taking any measure of such a character as to cause the
physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands.
This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishments,
mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not necessitated by the
medical treatment of a protected person, but also to any other measures of
brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents.
Art. 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has
not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of
intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.
Art. 34. The taking of hostages is prohibited.
SECTION II
Aliens in the Territory
of a Party to the Conflict
Art. 35. All protected persons who may desire to leave the territory at the
outset of, or during a conflict, shall be entitled to do so, unless their
departure is contrary to the national interests of the State. The
applications of such persons to leave shall be decided in accordance with
regularly established procedures and the decision shall be taken as rapidly
as possible. Those persons permitted to leave may provide themselves with
the necessary funds for their journey and take with them a reasonable
amount of their effects and articles of personal use.
If any such person is refused permission to leave the territory, he shall
be entitled to have refusal reconsidered, as soon as possible by an
appropriate court or administrative board designated by the Detaining Power
for that purpose.
Upon request, representatives of the Protecting Power shall, unless reasons
of security prevent it, or the persons concerned object, be furnished with
the reasons for refusal of any request for permission to leave the
territory and be given, as expeditiously as possible, the names of all
persons who have been denied permission to leave.
Art. 36. Departures permitted under the foregoing Article shall be carried
out in satisfactory conditions as regards safety, hygiene, sanitation and
food. All costs in connection therewith, from the point of exit in the
territory of the Detaining Power, shall be borne by the country of
destination, or, in the case of accommodation in a neutral country, by the
Power whose nationals are benefited. The practical details of such
movements may, if necessary, be settled by special agreements between the
Powers concerned.
The foregoing shall not prejudice such special agreements as may be
concluded between Parties to the conflict concerning the exchange and
repatriation of their nationals in enemy hands.
Art. 37. Protected persons who are confined pending proceedings or subject
to a sentence involving loss of liberty, shall during their confinement be
humanely treated.
As soon as they are released, they may ask to leave the territory in
conformity with the foregoing Articles.
Art. 38. With the exception of special measures authorized by the present
Convention, in particularly by Article 27 and 41 thereof, the situation of
protected persons shall continue to be regulated, in principle, by the
provisions concerning aliens in time of peace. In any case, the following
rights shall be granted to them:
(1) they shall be enabled to receive the individual or collective relief
that may be sent to them.
(2) they shall, if their state of health so requires, receive medical
attention and hospital treatment to the same extent as the nationals
of the State concerned.
(3) they shall be allowed to practise their religion and to receive
spiritual assistance from ministers of their faith.
(4) if they reside in an area particularly exposed to the dangers of war,
they shall be authorized to move from that area to the same extent as
the nationals of the State concerned.
(5) children under fifteen years, pregnant women and mothers of children
under seven years shall benefit by any preferential treatment to the
same extent as the nationals of the State concerned.
Art. 39. Protected persons who, as a result of the war, have lost their
gainful employment, shall be granted the opportunity to find paid
employment. That opportunity shall, subject to security considerations and
to the provisions of Article 40, be equal to that enjoyed by the nationals
of the Power in whose territory they are.
Where a Party to the conflict applies to a protected person methods of
control which result in his being unable to support himself, and especially
if such a person is prevented for reasons of security from finding paid
employment on reasonable conditions, the said Party shall ensure his
support and that of his dependents.
Protected persons may in any case receive allowances from their home
country, the Protecting Power, or the relief societies referred to in
Article 30.
Art. 40. Protected persons may be compelled to work only to the same extent
as nationals of the Party to the conflict in whose territory they are.
If protected persons are of enemy nationality, they may only be compelled
to do work which is normally necessary to ensure the feeding, sheltering,
clothing, transport and health of human beings and which is not directly
related to the conduct of military operations.
In the cases mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs, protected persons
compelled to work shall have the benefit of the same working conditions and
of the same safeguards as national workers in particular as regards wages,
hours of labour, clothing and equipment, previous training and compensation
for occupational accidents and diseases.
If the above provisions are infringed, protected persons shall be allowed
to exercise their right of complaint in accordance with Article 30.
Art. 41. Should the Power, in whose hands protected persons may be,
consider the measures of control mentioned in the present Convention to be
inadequate, it may not have recourse to any other measure of control more
severe than that of assigned residence or internment, in accordance with
the provisions of Articles 42 and 43.
In applying the provisions of Article 39, second paragraph, to the cases of
persons required to leave their usual places of residence by virtue of a
decision placing them in assigned residence, by virtue of a decision
placing them in assigned residence, elsewhere, the Detaining Power shall be
guided as closely as possible by the standards of welfare set forth in Part
III, Section IV of this Convention.
Art. 42. The internment or placing in assigned residence of protected
persons may be ordered only if the security of the Detaining Power makes it
absolutely necessary.
If any person, acting through the representatives of the Protecting Power,
voluntarily demands internment, and if his situation renders this step
necessary, he shall be interned by the Power in whose hands he may be.
Art. 43. Any protected person who has been interned or placed in assigned
residence shall be entitled to have such action reconsidered as soon as
possible by an appropriate court or administrative board designated by the
Detaining Power for that purpose. If the internment or placing in assigned
residence is maintained, the court or administrative board shall
periodically, and at least twice yearly, give consideration to his or her
case, with a view to the favourable amendment of the initial decision, if
circumstances permit.
Unless the protected persons concerned object, the Detaining Power shall,
as rapidly as possible, give the Protecting Power the names of any
protected persons who have been interned or subjected to assigned
residence, or who have been released from internment or assigned residence.
The decisions of the courts or boards mentioned in the first paragraph of
the present Article shall also, subject to the same conditions, be notified
as rapidly as possible to the Protecting Power.
Art. 44. In applying the measures of control mentioned in the present
Convention, the Detaining Power shall not treat as enemy aliens exclusively
on the basis of their nationality de jure of an enemy State, refugees who
do not, in fact, enjoy the protection of any government.
Art. 45. Protected persons shall not be transferred to a Power which is not
a party to the Convention.
This provision shall in no way constitute an obstacle to the repatriation
of protected persons, or to their return to their country of residence
after the cessation of hostilities.
Protected persons may be transferred by the Detaining Power only to a Power
which is a party to the present Convention and after the Detaining Power
has satisfied itself of the willingness and ability of such transferee
Power to apply the present Convention. If protected persons are transferred
under such circumstances, responsibility for the application of the present
Convention rests on the Power accepting them, while they are in its
custody. Nevertheless, if that Power fails to carry out the provisions of
the present Convention in any important respect, the Power by which the
protected persons were transferred shall, upon being so notified by the
Protecting Power, take effective measures to correct the situation or shall
request the return of the protected persons. Such request must be complied
with.
In no circumstances shall a protected person be transferred to a country
where he or she may have reason to fear persecution for his or her
political opinions or religious beliefs.
The provisions of this Article do not constitute an obstacle to the
extradition, in pursuance of extradition treaties concluded before the
outbreak of hostilities, of protected persons accused of offences against
ordinary criminal law.
Art. 46. In so far as they have not been previously withdrawn, restrictive
measures taken regarding protected persons shall be cancelled as soon as
possible after the close of hostilities.
Restrictive measures affecting their property shall be cancelled, in
accordance with the law of the Detaining Power, as soon as possible after
the close of hostilities.
SECTION III
Occupied Territories
Art. 47. Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be
deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the
present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the
occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said
territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the
occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the
latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory.
Art. 48. Protected persons who are not nationals of the Power whose
territory is occupied, may avail themselves of the right to leave the
territory subject to the provisions of Article 35, and decisions thereon
shall be taken in accordance with the procedure which the Occupying Power
shall establish in accordance with the said Article.
Art. 49. Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of
protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying
Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited,
regardless of their motive.
Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation
of a given area if the security of the population or imperative military
reasons so demand. Such evacuations may not involve the displacement of
protected persons outside the bounds of the occupied territory except when
for material reasons it is impossible to avoid such displacement. Persons
thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as
hostilities in the area in question have ceased.
The Occupying Power undertaking such transfers or evacuations shall ensure,
to the greatest practicable extent, that proper accommodation is provided
to receive the protected persons, that the removals are effected in
satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety and nutrition, and that
members of the same family are not separated.
The Protecting Power shall be informed of any transfers and evacuations as
soon as they have taken place.
The Occupying Power shall not detain protected persons in an area
particularly exposed to the dangers of war unless the security of the
population or imperative military reasons so demand.
The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies.
Art. 50. The Occupying Power shall, with the cooperation of the national
and local authorities, facilitate the proper working of all institutions
devoted to the care and education of children.
The Occupying Power shall take all necessary steps to facilitate the
identification of children and the registration of their parentage. It may
not, in any case, change their personal status, nor enlist them in
formations or organizations subordinate to it.
Should the local institutions be inadequate for the purpose, the Occupying
Power shall make arrangements for the maintenance and education, if
possible by persons of their own nationality, language and religion, of
children who are orphaned or separated from their parents as a result of
the war and who cannot be adequately cared for by a near relative or
friend.
A special section of the Bureau set up in accordance with Article 136 shall
be responsible for taking all necessary steps to identify children whose
identity is in doubt. Particulars of their parents or other near relatives
should always be recorded if available.
The Occupying Power shall not hinder the application of any preferential
measures in regard to food, medical care and protection against the effects
of war which may have been adopted prior to the occupation in favour of
children under fifteen years, expectant mothers, and mothers of children
under seven years.
Art. 51. The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to serve in
its armed or auxiliary forces. No pressure or propaganda which aims at
securing voluntary enlistment is permitted.
The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to work unless they
are over eighteen years of age, and then only on work which is necessary
either for the needs of the army of occupation, or for the public utility
services, or for the feeding, sheltering, clothing, transportation or
health of the population of the occupied country. Protected persons may not
be compelled to undertake any work which would involve them in the
obligation of taking part in military operations. The Occupying Power may
not compel protected persons to employ forcible means to ensure the
security of the installations where they are performing compulsory labour.
The work shall be carried out only in the occupied territory where the
persons whose services have been requisitioned are. Every such person
shall, so far as possible, be kept in his usual place of employment.
Workers shall be paid a fair wage and the work shall be proportionate to
their physical and intellectual capacities. The legislation in force in the
occupied country concerning working conditions, and safeguards as regards,
in particular, such matters as wages, hours of work, equipment, preliminary
training and compensation for occupational accidents and diseases, shall be
applicable to the protected persons assigned to the work referred to in
this Article.
In no case shall requisition of labour lead to a mobilization of workers in
an organization of a military or semi-military character.
Art. 52. No contract, agreement or regulation shall impair the right of any
worker, whether voluntary or not and wherever he may be, to apply to the
representatives of the Protecting Power in order to request the said
Power's intervention.
All measures aiming at creating unemployment or at restricting the
opportunities offered to workers in an occupied territory, in order to
induce them to work for the Occupying Power, are prohibited.
Art. 53. Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal
property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to
the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative
organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered
absolutely necessary by military operations.
Art. 54. The Occupying Power may not alter the status of public officials
or judges in the occupied territories, or in any way apply sanctions to or
take any measures of coercion or discrimination against them, should they
abstain from fulfilling their functions for reasons of conscience.
This prohibition does not prejudice the application of the second paragraph
of Article 51. It does not affect the right of the Occupying Power to
remove public officials from their posts.
Art. 55. To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying
Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the
population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs,
medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied
territory are inadequate.
The Occupying Power may not requisition foodstuffs, articles or medical
supplies available in the occupied territory, except for use by the
occupation forces and administration personnel, and then only if the
requirements of the civilian population have been taken into account.
Subject to the provisions of other international Conventions, the Occupying
Power shall make arrangements to ensure that fair value is paid for any
requisitioned goods.
The Protecting Power shall, at any time, be at liberty to verify the state
of the food and medical supplies in occupied territories, except where
temporary restrictions are made necessary by imperative military
requirements.
Art. 56. To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the public
Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the
cooperation of national and local authorities, the medical and hospital
establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied
territory, with particular reference to the adoption and application of the
prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of
contagious diseases and epidemics. Medical personnel of all categories
shall be allowed to carry out their duties.
If new hospitals are set up in occupied territory and if the competent
organs of the occupied State are not operating there, the occupying
authorities shall, if necessary, grant them the recognition provided for in
Article 18. In similar circumstances, the occupying authorities shall also
grant recognition to hospital personnel and transport vehicles under the
provisions of Articles 20 and 21.
In adopting measures of health and hygiene and in their implementation, the
Occupying Power shall take into consideration the moral and ethical
susceptibilities of the population of the occupied territory.
Art. 57. The Occupying Power may requisition civilian hospitals of
hospitals only temporarily and only in cases of urgent necessity for the
care of military wounded and sick, and then on condition that suitable
arrangements are made in due time for the care and treatment of the
patients and for the needs of the civilian population for hospital
accommodation.
The material and stores of civilian hospitals cannot be requisitioned so
long as they are necessary for the needs of the civilian population.
Art. 58. The Occupying Power shall permit ministers of religion to give
spiritual assistance to the members of their religious communities.
The Occupying Power shall also accept consignments of books and articles
required for religious needs and shall facilitate their distribution in
occupied territory.
Art. 59. If the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory is
inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to relief schemes on
behalf of the said population, and shall facilitate them by all the means
at its disposal.
Such schemes, which may be undertaken either by States or by impartial
humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red
Cross, shall consist, in particular, of the provision of consignments of
foodstuffs, medical supplies and clothing.
All Contracting Parties shall permit the free passage of these consignments
and shall guarantee their protection.
A Power granting free passage to consignments on their way to territory
occupied by an adverse Party to the conflict shall, however, have the right
to search the consignments, to regulate their passage according to
prescribed times and routes, and to be reasonably satisfied through the
Protecting Power that these consignments are to be used for the relief of
the needy population and are not to be used for the benefit of the
Occupying Power.
Art. 60. Relief consignments shall in no way relieve the Occupying Power of
any of its responsibilities under Articles 55, 56 and 59. The Occupying
Power shall in no way whatsoever divert relief consignments from the
purpose for which they are intended, except in cases of urgent necessity,
in the interests of the population of the occupied territory and with the
consent of the Protecting Power.
Art. 61. The distribution of the relief consignments referred to in the
foregoing Articles shall be carried out with the cooperation and under the
supervision of the Protecting Power. This duty may also be delegated, by
agreement between the Occupying Power and the Protecting Power, to a
neutral Power, to the International Committee of the Red Cross or to any
other impartial humanitarian body.
Such consignments shall be exempt in occupied territory from all charges,
taxes or customs duties unless these are necessary in the interests of the
economy of the territory. The Occupying Power shall facilitate the rapid
distribution of these consignments.
All Contracting Parties shall endeavour to permit the transit and
transport, free of charge, of such relief consignments on their way to
occupied territories.
Art. 62. Subject to imperative reasons of security, protected persons in
occupied territories shall be permitted to receive the individual relief
consignments sent to them.
Art. 63. Subject to temporary and exceptional measures imposed for urgent
reasons of security by the Occupying Power:
(a) recognized National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun)
Societies shall be able to pursue their activities in accordance with
Red Cross principles, as defined by the International Red Cross
Conferences. Other relief societies shall be permitted to continue
their humanitarian activities under similar conditions;
(b) the Occupying Power may not require any changes in the personnel or
structure of these societies, which would prejudice the aforesaid
activities.
The same principles shall apply to the activities and personnel of special
organizations of a non-military character, which already exist or which may
be established, for the purpose of ensuring the living conditions of the
civilian population by the maintenance of the essential public utility
services, by the distribution of relief and by the organization of rescues.
Art. 64. The penal laws of the occupied territory shall remain in force,
with the exception that they may be repealed or suspended by the Occupying
Power in cases where they constitute a threat to its security or an
obstacle to the application of the present Convention.
Subject to the latter consideration and to the necessity for ensuring the
effective administration of justice, the tribunals of the occupied
territory shall continue to function in respect of all offences covered by
the said laws.
The Occupying Power may, however, subject the population of the occupied
territory to provisions which are essential to enable the Occupying Power
to fulfil its obligations under the present Convention, to maintain the
orderly government of the territory, and to ensure the security of the
Occupying Power, of the members and property of the occupying forces or
administration, and likewise of the establishments and lines of
communication used by them.
Art. 65. The penal provisions enacted by the Occupying Power shall not come
into force before they have been published and brought to the knowledge of
the inhabitants in their own language. The effect of these penal provisions
shall not be retroactive.
Art. 66. In case of a breach of the penal provisions promulgated by it by
virtue of the second paragraph of Article 64 the Occupying Power may hand
over the accused to its properly constituted, non-political military
courts, on condition that the said courts sit in the occupied country.
Courts of appeal shall preferably sit in the occupied country.
Art. 67. The courts shall apply only those provisions of law which were
applicable prior to the offence, and which are in accordance with general
principles of law, in particular the principle that the penalty shall be
proportionate to the offence. They shall take into consideration the fact
the accused is not a national of the Occupying Power.
Art. 68. Protected persons who commit an offence which is solely intended
to harm the Occupying Power, but which does not constitute an attempt on
the life or limb of members of the occupying forces or administration, nor
a grave collective danger, nor seriously damage the property of the
occupying forces or administration or the installations used by them, shall
be liable to internment or simple imprisonment, provided the duration of
such internment or imprisonment is proportionate to the offence committed.
Furthermore, internment or imprisonment shall, for such offences, be the
only measure adopted for depriving protected persons of liberty. The courts
provided for under Article 66 of the present Convention may at their
discretion convert a sentence of imprisonment to one of internment for the
same period.
The penal provisions promulgated by the Occupying Power in accordance with
Articles 64 and 65 may impose the death penalty on a protected person only
in cases where the person is guilty of espionage, of serious acts of
sabotage against the military installations of the Occupying Power or of
intentional offences which have caused the death of one or more persons,
provided that such offences were punishable by death under the law of the
occupied territory in force before the occupation began.
The death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected person unless the
attention of the court has been particularly called to the fact that since
the accused is not a national of the Occupying Power, he is not bound to it
by any duty of allegiance.
In any case, the death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected person
who was under eighteen years of age at the time of the offence.
Art. 69. In all cases the duration of the period during which a protected
person accused of an offence is under arrest awaiting trial or punishment
shall be deducted from any period of imprisonment of awarded.
Art. 70. Protected persons shall not be arrested, prosecuted or convicted
by the Occupying Power for acts committed or for opinions expressed before
the occupation, or during a temporary interruption thereof, with the
exception of breaches of the laws and customs of war.
Nationals of the occupying Power who, before the outbreak of hostilities,
have sought refuge in the territory of the occupied State, shall not be
arrested, prosecuted, convicted or deported from the occupied territory,
except for offences committed after the outbreak of hostilities, or for
offences under common law committed before the outbreak of hostilities
which, according to the law of the occupied State, would have justified
extradition in time of peace.
Art. 71. No sentence shall be pronounced by the competent courts of the
Occupying Power except after a regular trial.
Accused persons who are prosecuted by the Occupying Power shall be promptly
informed, in writing, in a language which they understand, of the
particulars of the charges preferred against them, and shall be brought to
trial as rapidly as possible. The Protecting Power shall be informed of all
proceedings instituted by the Occupying Power against protected persons in
respect of charges involving the death penalty or imprisonment for two
years or more; it shall be enabled, at any time, to obtain information
regarding the state of such proceedings. Furthermore, the Protecting Power
shall be entitled, on request, to be furnished with all particulars of
these and of any other proceedings instituted by the Occupying Power
against protected persons.
The notification to the Protecting Power, as provided for in the second
paragraph above, shall be sent immediately, and shall in any case reach the
Protecting Power three weeks before the date of the first hearing. Unless,
at the opening of the trial, evidence is submitted that the provisions of
this Article are fully complied with, the trial shall not proceed. The
notification shall include the following particulars:
(a) description of the accused;
(b) place of residence or detention;
(c) specification of the charge or charges (with mention of the penal
provisions under which it is brought);
(d) designation of the court which will hear the case;
(e) place and date of the first hearing.
Art. 72. Accused persons shall have the right to present evidence necessary
to their defence and may, in particular, call witnesses. They shall have
the right to be assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel of their own
choice, who shall be able to visit them freely and shall enjoy the
necessary facilities for preparing the defence.
Failing a choice by the accused, the Protecting Power may provide him with
an advocate or counsel. When an accused person has to meet a serious charge
and the Protecting Power is not functioning, the Occupying Power, subject
to the consent of the accused, shall provide an advocate or counsel.
Accused persons shall, unless they freely waive such assistance, be aided
by an interpreter, both during preliminary investigation and during the
hearing in court. They shall have at any time the right to object to the
interpreter and to ask for his replacement.
Art.73. A convicted person shall have the right of appeal provided for by
the laws applied by the court. He shall be fully informed of his right to
appeal or petition and of the time limit within which he may do so.
The penal procedure provided in the present Section shall apply, as far as
it is applicable, to appeals. Where the laws applied by the Court make no
provision for appeals, the convicted person shall have the right to
petition against the finding and sentence to the competent authority of the
Occupying Power.
Art. 74. Representatives of the Protecting Power shall have the right to
attend the trial of any protected person, unless the hearing has, as an
exceptional measure, to be held in camera in the interests of the security
of the Occupying Power, which shall then notify the Protecting Power. A
notification in respect of the date and place of trial shall be sent to the
Protecting Power.
Any judgement involving a sentence of death, or imprisonment for two years
or more, shall be communicated, with the relevant grounds, as rapidly as
possible to the Protecting Power. The notification shall contain a
reference to the notification made under Article 71 and, in the case of
sentences of imprisonment, the name of the place where the sentence is to
be served. A record of judgements other than those referred to above shall
be kept by the court and shall be open to inspection by representatives of
the Protecting Power. Any period allowed for appeal in the case of
sentences involving the death penalty, or imprisonment of two years or
more, shall not run until notification of judgement has been received by
the Protecting Power.
Art. 75. In no case shall persons condemned to death be deprived of the
right of petition for pardon or reprieve.
No death sentence shall be carried out before the expiration of a period of
a least six months from the date of receipt by the Protecting Power of the
notification of the final judgment confirming such death sentence, or of an
order denying pardon or reprieve.
The six months period of suspension of the death sentence herein prescribed
may be reduced in individual cases in circumstances of grave emergency
involving an organized threat to the security of the Occupying Power or its
forces, provided always that the Protecting Power is notified of such
reduction and is given reasonable time and opportunity to make
representations to the competent occupying authorities in respect of such
death sentences.
Art. 76. Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the
occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences
therein. They shall, if possible, be separated from other detainees and
shall enjoy conditions of food and hygiene which will be sufficient to keep
them in good health, and which will be at least equal to those obtaining in
prisons in the occupied country.
They shall receive the medical attention required by their state of health.
They shall also have the right to receive any spiritual assistance which
they may require.
Women shall be confined in separate quarters and shall be under the direct
supervision of women.
Proper regard shall be paid to the special treatment due to minors.
Protected persons who are detained shall have the right to be visited by
delegates of the Protecting Power and of the International Committee of the
Red Cross, in accordance with the provisions of Article 143.
Such persons shall have the right to receive at least one relief parcel
monthly.
Art. 77. Protected persons who have been accused of offences or convicted
by the courts in occupied territory, shall be handed over at the close of
occupation, with the relevant records, to the authorities of the liberated
territory.
Art. 78. If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative
reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning protected persons,
it may, at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment.
Decisions regarding such assigned residence or internment shall be made
according to a regular procedure to be prescribed by the Occupying Power in
accordance with the provisions of the present Convention. This procedure
shall include the right of appeal for the parties concerned. Appeals shall
be decided with the least possible delay. In the event of the decision
being upheld, it shall be subject to periodical review, if possible every
six months, by a competent body set up by the said Power.
Protected persons made subject to assigned residence and thus required to
leave their homes shall enjoy the full benefit of Article 39 of the present
Convention.
SECTION IV
Regulations for the Treatment
of Internees
CHAPTER I
General Provisions
Art. 79. The Parties to the conflict shall not intern protected persons,
except in accordance with the provisions of Articles 41, 42, 43, 68 and 78.
Art. 80. Internees shall retain their full civil capacity and shall
exercise such attendant rights as may be compatible with their status.
Art. 81. Parties to the conflict who intern protected persons shall be
bound to provide free of charge for their maintenance, and to grant them
also the medical attention required by their state of health.
No deduction from the allowances, salaries or credits due to the internees
shall be made for the repayment of these costs.
The Detaining Power shall provide for the support of those dependent on the
internees, if such dependents are without adequate means of support or are
unable to earn a living.
Art.82. The Detaining Power shall, as far as possible, accommodate the
internees according to their nationality, language and customs. Internees
who are nationals of the same country shall not be separated merely because
they have different languages.
Throughout the duration of their internment, members of the same family,
and in particular parents and children, shall be lodged together in the
same place of internment, except when separation of a temporary nature is
necessitated for reasons of employment or health or for the purposes of
enforcement of the provisions of Chapter IX of the present Section.
Internees may request that their children who are left at liberty without
parental care shall be interned with them.
Wherever possible, interned members of the same family shall be housed in
the same premises and given separate accommodation from other internees,
together with facilities for leading a proper family life.
CHAPTER II
Places of Internment
Art. 83. The Detaining Power shall not set up places of internment in areas
particularly exposed to the dangers of war.
The Detaining Power shall give the enemy Powers, through the intermediary
of the Protecting Powers, all useful information regarding the geographical
location of places of internment.
Whenever military considerations permit, internment camps shall be
indicated by the letters IC, placed so as to be clearly visible in the
daytime from the air. The Powers concerned may, however, agree upon any
other system of marking. No place other than an internment camp shall be
marked as such.
Art.84. Internees shall be accommodated and administered separately from
prisoners of war and from persons deprived of liberty for any other reason.
Art. 85. The Detaining Power is bound to take all necessary and possible
measures to ensure that protected persons shall, from the outset of their
internment, be accommodated in buildings or quarters which afford every
possible safeguard as regards hygiene and health, and provide efficient
protection against the rigours of the climate and the effects of the war.
In no case shall permanent places of internment be situated in unhealthy
areas or in districts, the climate of which is injurious to the internees.
In all cases where the district, in which a protected person is temporarily
interned, is an unhealthy area or has a climate which is harmful to his
health, he shall be removed to a more suitable place of internment as
rapidly as circumstances permit.
The premises shall be fully protected from dampness, adequately heated and
lighted, in particular between dusk and lights out. The sleeping quarters
shall be sufficiently spacious and well ventilated, and the internees shall
have suitable bedding and sufficient blankets, account being taken of the
climate, and the age, sex, and state of health of the internees.
Internees shall have for their use, day and night, sanitary conveniences
which conform to the rules of hygiene, and are constantly maintained in a
state of cleanliness. They shall be provided with sufficient water and soap
for their daily personal toilet and for washing their personal laundry;
installations and facilities necessary for this purpose shall be granted to
them. Showers or baths shall also be available. The necessary time shall be
set aside for washing and for cleaning.
Whenever it is necessary, as an exceptional and temporary measure, to
accommodate women internees who are not members of a family unit in the
same place of internment as men, the provision of separate sleeping
quarters and sanitary conveniences for the use of such women internees
shall be obligatory.
Art. 86. The Detaining Power shall place at the disposal of interned
persons, of whatever denomination, premises suitable for the holding of
their religious services.
Art. 87. Canteens shall be installed in every place of internment, except
where other suitable facilities are available. Their purpose shall be to
enable internees to make purchases, at prices not higher than local market
prices, of foodstuffs and articles of everyday use, including soap and
tobacco, such as would increase their personal well-being and comfort.
Profits made by canteens shall be credited to a welfare fund to be set up
for each place of internment, and administered for the benefit of the
internees attached to such place of internment. The Internee Committee
provided for in Article 102 shall have the right to check the management of
the canteen and of the said fund.
When a place of internment is closed down, the balance of the welfare fund
shall be transferred to the welfare fund of a place of internment for
internees of the same nationality, or, if such a place does not exist, to a
central welfare fund which shall be administered for the benefit of all
internees remaining in the custody of the Detaining Power. In case of a
general release, the said profits shall be kept by the Detaining Power,
subject to any agreement to the contrary between the Powers concerned.
Art. 88. In all places of internment exposed to air raids and other hazards
of war, shelters adequate in number and structure to ensure the necessary
protection shall be installed. In case of alarms, the measures internees
shall be free to enter such shelters as quickly as possible, excepting
those who remain for the protection of their quarters against the aforesaid
hazards. Any protective measures taken in favour of the population shall
also apply to them.
All due precautions must be taken in places of internment against the
danger of fire.
CHAPTER III
Food and Clothing
Art. 89. Daily food rations for internees shall be sufficient in quantity,
quality and variety to keep internees in a good state of health and prevent
the development of nutritional deficiencies. Account shall also be taken of
the customary diet of the internees.
Internees shall also be given the means by which they can prepare for
themselves any additional food in their possession.
Sufficient drinking water shall be supplied to internees. The use of
tobacco shall be permitted.
Internees who work shall receive additional rations in proportion to the
kind of labour which they perform.
Expectant and nursing mothers and children under fifteen years of age,
shall be given additional food, in proportion to their physiological needs.
Art. 90. When taken into custody, internees shall be given all facilities
to provide themselves with the necessary clothing, footwear and change of
underwear, and later on, to procure further supplies if required. Should
any internees not have sufficient clothing, account being taken of the
climate, and be unable to procure any, it shall be provided free of charge
to them by the Detaining Power.
The clothing supplied by the Detaining Power to internees and the outward
markings placed on their own clothes shall not be ignominious nor expose
them to ridicule.
Workers shall receive suitable working outfits, including protective
clothing, whenever the nature of their work so requires.
CHAPTER IV
Hygiene and Medical Attention
Art. 91. Every place of internment shall have an adequate infirmary, under
the direction of a qualified doctor, where internees may have the attention
they require, as well as appropriate diet. Isolation wards shall be set
aside for cases of contagious or mental diseases.
Maternity cases and internees suffering from serious diseases, or whose
condition requires special treatment, a surgical operation or hospital
care, must be admitted to any institution where adequate treatment can be
given and shall receive care not inferior to that provided for the general
population.
Internees shall, for preference, have the attention of medical personnel of
their own nationality.
Internees may not be prevented from presenting themselves to the medical
authorities for examination. The medical authorities of the Detaining Power
shall, upon request, issue to every internee who has undergone treatment an
official certificate showing the nature of his illness or injury, and the
duration and nature of the treatment given. A duplicate of this certificate
shall be forwarded to the Central Agency provided for in Article 140.
Treatment, including the provision of any apparatus necessary for the
maintenance of internees in good health, particularly dentures and other
artificial appliances and spectacles, shall be free of charge to the
internee.
Art. 92. Medical inspections of internees shall be made at least once a
month. Their purpose shall be, in particular, to supervise the general
state of health, nutrition and cleanliness of internees, and to detect
contagious diseases, especially tuberculosis, malaria, and venereal
diseases. Such inspections shall include, in particular, the checking of
weight of each internee and, at least once a year, radioscopic examination.
CHAPTER V
Religious, Intellectual and Physical
Activities
Art. 93. Internees shall enjoy complete latitude in the exercise of their
religious duties, including attendance at the services of their faith, on
condition that they comply with the disciplinary routine prescribed by the
detaining authorities.
Ministers of religion who are interned shall be allowed to minister freely
to the members of their community. For this purpose the Detaining Power
shall ensure their equitable allocation amongst the various places of
internment in which there are internees speaking the same language and
belonging to the same religion. Should such ministers be too few in number,
the Detaining Power shall provide them with the necessary facilities,
including means of transport, for moving from one place to another, and
they shall be authorized to visit any internees who are in hospital.
Ministers of religion shall be at liberty to correspond on matters
concerning their ministry with the religious authorities in the country of
detention and, as far as possible, with the international religious
organizations of their faith. Such correspondence shall not be considered
as forming a part of the quota mentioned in Article 107. It shall, however,
be subject to the provisions of Article 112.
When internees do not have at their disposal the assistance of ministers of
their faith, or should these latter be too few in number, the local
religious authorities of the same faith may appoint, in agreement with the
Detaining Power, a minister of the internees' faith or, if such a course is
feasible from a denominational point of view, a minister of similar
religion or a qualified layman. The latter shall enjoy the facilities
granted to the ministry he has assumed. Persons so appointed shall comply
with all regulations laid down by the Detaining Power in the interests of
discipline and security.
Art. 94. The Detaining Power shall encourage intellectual, educational and
recreational pursuits, sports and games amongst internees, whilst leaving
them free to take part in them or not. It shall take all practicable
measures to ensure the exercice thereof, in particular by providing
suitable premises.
All possible facilities shall be granted to internees to continue their
studies or to take up new subjects. The education of children and young
people shall be ensured; they shall be allowed to attend schools either
within the place of internment or outside.
Internees shall be given opportunities for physical exercise, sports and
outdoor games. For this purpose, sufficient open spaces shall be set aside
in all places of internment. Special playgrounds shall be reserved for
children and young people.
Art. 95. The Detaining Power shall not employ internees as workers, unless
they so desire. Employment which, if undertaken under compulsion by a
protected person not in internment, would involve a breach of Articles 40
or 51 of the present Convention, and employment on work which is of a
degrading or humiliating character are in any case prohibited.
After a working period of six weeks, internees shall be free to give up
work at any moment, subject to eight days' notice.
These provisions constitute no obstacle to the right of the Detaining Power
to employ interned doctors, dentists and other medical personnel in their
professional capacity on behalf of their fellow internees, or to employ
internees for administrative and maintenance work in places of internment
and to detail such persons for work in the kitchens or for other domestic
tasks, or to require such persons to undertake duties connected with the
protection of internees against aerial bombardment or other war risks. No
internee may, however, be required to perform tasks for which he is, in the
opinion of a medical officer, physically unsuited.
The Detaining Power shall take entire responsibility for all working
conditions, for medical attention, for the payment of wages, and for
ensuring that all employed internees receive compensation for occupational
accidents and diseases. The standards prescribed for the said working
conditions and for compensation shall be in accordance with the national
laws and regulations, and with the existing practice; they shall in no case
be inferior to those obtaining for work of the same nature in the same
district. Wages for work done shall be determined on an equitable basis by
special agreements between the internees, the Detaining Power, and, if the
case arises, employers other than the Detaining Power to provide for free
maintenance of internees and for the medical attention which their state of
health may require. Internees permanently detailed for categories of work
mentioned in the third paragraph of this Article, shall be paid fair wages
by the Detaining Power. The working conditions and the scale of
compensation for occupational accidents and diseases to internees, thus
detailed, shall not be inferior to those applicable to work of the same
nature in the same district.
Art.96. All labour detachments shall remain part of and dependent upon a
place of internment. The competent authorities of the Detaining Power and
the commandant of a place of internment shall be responsible for the
observance in a labour detachment of the provisions of the present
Convention. The commandant shall keep an up-to-date list of the labour
detachments subordinate to him and shall communicate it to the delegates of
the Protecting Power, of the International Committee of the Red Cross and
of other humanitarian organizations who may visit the places of internment.
CHAPTER VI
Personal Property and Financial Resources
Art. 97. Internees shall be permitted to retain articles of personal use.
Monies, cheques, bonds, etc., and valuables in their possession may not be
taken from them except in accordance with established procedure. Detailed
receipts shall be given therefor.
The amounts shall be paid into the account of every internee as provided
for in Article 98. Such amounts may not be converted into any other
currency unless legislation in force in the territory in which the owner is
interned so requires or the internee gives his consent.
Articles which have above all a personal or sentimental value may not be
taken away.
A woman internee shall not be searched except by a woman.
On release or repatriation, internees shall be given all articles, monies
or other valuables taken from them during internment and shall receive in
currency the balance of any credit to their accounts kept in accordance
with Article 98, with the exception of any articles or amounts withheld by
the Detaining Power by virtue of its legislation in force. If the property
of an internee is so withheld, the owner shall receive a detailed receipt.
Family or identity documents in the possession of internees may not be
taken away without a receipt being given. At no time shall internees be
left without identity documents. If they have none, they shall be issued
with special documents drawn up by the detaining authorities, which will
serve as their identity papers until the end of their internment.
Internees may keep on their persons a certain amount of money, in cash or
in the shape of purchase coupons, to enable them to make purchases.
Art. 98. All internees shall receive regular allowances, sufficient to
enable them to purchase goods and articles, such as tobacco, toilet
requisites, etc. Such allowances may take the form of credits or purchase
coupons.
Furthermore, internees may receive allowances from the Power to which they
owe allegiance, the Protecting Powers, the organizations which may assist
them, or their families, as well as the income on their property in
accordance with the law of the Detaining Power. The amount of allowances
granted by the Power to which they o~e allegiance shall be the same for
each category of internees (infirm, sick, pregnant women, etc.) but may not
be allocated by that Power or distributed by the Detaining Power on the
basis of discriminations between internees which are prohibited by Article
27 of the present Convention.
The Detaining Power shall open a regular account for every internee, to
which shall be credited the allowances named in the present Article, the
wages earned and the remittances received, together with such sums taken
from him as may be available under the legislation in force in the
territory in which he is interned. Internees shall be granted all
facilities consistent with the legislation in force in such territory to
make remittances to their families and to other dependants. They may draw
from their accounts the amounts necessary for their personal expenses,
within the limits fixed by the Detaining Power. They shall at all times be
afforded reasonable facilities for consulting and obtaining copies of their
accounts. A statement of accounts shall be furnished to the Protecting
Power, on request, and shall accompany the internee in case of transfer.
CHAPTER VII
Administration and Discipline
Art. 99. Every place of internment shall be put under the authority of a
responsible officer, chosen from the regular military forces or the regular
civil administration of the Detaining Power. The officer in charge of the
place of internment must have in his possession a copy of the present
Convention in the official language, or one of the official languages, of
his country and shall be responsible for its application. The staff in
control of internees shall be instructed in the provisions of the present
Convention and of the administrative measures adopted to ensure its
application.
The text of the present Convention and the texts of special agreements
concluded under the said Convention shall be posted inside the place of
internment, in a language which the internees understand, or shall be in
the possession of the Internee Committee.
Regulations, orders, notices and publications of every kind shall be
communicated to the internees and posted inside the places of internment,
in a language which they understand.
Every order and command addressed to internees individually must, likewise,
be given in a language which they understand.
Art. 100. The disciplinary regime in places of internment shall be
consistent with humanitarian principles, and shall in no circumstances
include regulations imposing on internees any physical exertion dangerous
to their health or involving physical or moral victimization.
Identification by tattooing or imprinting signs or markings on the body, is
prohibited.
In particular, prolonged standing and roll-calls, punishment drill,
military drill and manoeuvres, or the reduction of food rations, are
prohibited.
Art. 101. Internees shall have the right to present to the authorities in
whose power they are, any petition with regard to the conditions of
internment to which they are subjected.
They shall also have the right to apply without restriction through the
Internee Committee or, if they consider it necessary, direct to the
representatives of the Protecting Power, in order to indicate to them any
points on which they may have complaints to make with regard to the
conditions of internment.
Such petitions and complaints shall be transmitted forthwith and without
alteration, and even if the latter are recognized to be unfounded, they may
not occasion any punishment.
Periodic reports on the situation in places of internment and as to the
needs of the internees may be sent by the Internee Committees to the
representatives of the Protecting Powers.
Art. 102. In every place of internment, the internees shall freely elect by
secret ballot every six months, the members of a Committee empowered to
represent them before the Detaining and the Protecting Powers, the
International Committee of the Red Cross and any other organization which
may assist them. The members of the Committee shall be eligible for
re-election.
Internees so elected shall enter upon their duties after their election has
been approved by the detaining authorities. The reasons for any refusals or
dismissals shall be communicated to the Protecting Powers concerned.
Art. 103. The Internee Committees shall further the physical, spiritual and
intellectual well-being of the internees.
In case the internees decide, in particular, to organize a system of mutual
assistance amongst themselves, this organization would be within the
competence of the Committees in addition to the special duties entrusted to
them under other provisions of the present Convention.
Art. 104. Members of Internee Committees shall not be required to perform
any other work, if the accomplishment of their duties is rendered more
difficult thereby.
Members of Internee Committees may appoint from amongst the internees such
assistants as they may require. All material facilities shall be granted to
them, particularly a certain freedom of movement necessary for the
accomplishment of their duties (visits to labour detachments, receipt of
supplies, etc.).
All facilities shall likewise be accorded to members of Internee Committees
for communication by post and telegraph with the detaining authorities, the
Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross and their
delegates, and with the organizations which give assistance to internees.
Committee members in labour detachments shall enjoy similar facilities for
communication with their Internee Committee in the principal place of
internment. Such communications shall not be limited, nor considered as
forming a part of the quota mentioned in Article 107.
Members of Internee Committees who are transferred shall be allowed a
reasonable time to acquaint their successors with current affairs.
CHAPTER VIII
Relations with the Exterior
Art. 105. Immediately upon interning protected persons, the Detaining
Powers shall inform them, the Power to which they owe allegiance and their
Protecting Power of the measures taken for executing the provisions of the
present Chapter. The Detaining Powers shall likewise inform the Parties
concerned of any subsequent modifications of such measures.
Art. 106. As soon as he is interned, or at the latest not more than one
week after his arrival in a place of internment, and likewise in cases of
sickness or transfer to another place of internment or to a hospital, every
internee shall be enabled to send direct to his family, on the one hand,
and to the Central Agency provided for by Article 140, on the other, an
internment card similar, if possible, to the model annexed to the present
Convention, informing his relatives of his detention, address and state of
health. The said cards shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible and may
not be delayed in any way.
Art. 107. Internees shall be allowed to send and receive letters and cards.
If the Detaining Power deems it necessary to limit the number of letters
and cards sent by each internee, the said number shall not be less than two
letters and four cards monthly; these shall be drawn up so as to conform as
closely as possible to the models annexed to the present Convention. If
limitations must be placed on the correspondence addressed to internees,
they may be ordered only by the Power to which such internees owe
allegiance, possibly at the request of the Detaining Power. Such letters
and cards must be conveyed with reasonable despatch; they may not be
delayed or retained for disciplinary reasons.
Internees who have been a long time without news, or who find it impossible
to receive news from their relatives, or to give them news by the ordinary
postal route, as well as those who are at a considerable distance from
their homes, shall be allowed to send telegrams, the charges being paid by
them in the currency at their disposal. They shall likewise benefit by this
provision in cases which are recognized to be urgent.
As a rule, internees' mail shall be written in their own language. The
Parties to the conflict may authorize correspondence in other languages.
Art. 108. Internees shall be allowed to receive, by post or by any other
means, individual parcels or collective shipments containing in particular
foodstuffs, clothing, medical supplies, as well as books and objects of a
devotional, educational or recreational character which may meet their
needs. Such shipments shall in no way free the Detaining Power from the
obligations imposed upon it by virtue of the present Convention.
Should military necessity require the quantity of such shipments to be
limited, due notice thereof shall be given to the Protecting Power and to
the International Committee of the Red Cross, or to any other organization
giving assistance to the internees and responsible for the forwarding of
such shipments.
The conditions for the sending of individual parcels and collective
shipments shall, if necessary, be the subject of special agreements between
the Powers concerned, which may in no case delay the receipt by the
internees of relief supplies. Parcels of clothing and foodstuffs may not
include books. Medical relief supplies shall, as a rule, be sent in
collective parcels.
Art. 109. In the absence of special agreements between Parties to the
conflict regarding the conditions for the receipt and distribution of
collective relief shipments, the regulations concerning collective relief
which are annexed to the present Convention shall be applied.
The special agreements provided for above shall in no case restrict the
right of Internee Committees to take possession of collective relief
shipments intended for internees, to undertake their distribution and to
dispose of them in the interests of the recipients. Nor shall such
agreements restrict the right of representatives of the Protecting Powers,
the International Committee of the Red Cross, or any other organization
giving assistance to internees and responsible for the forwarding of
collective shipments, to supervise their distribution to the recipients.
Art. 110. An relief shipments for internees shall be exempt from import,
customs and other dues.
All matter sent by mail, including relief parcels sent by parcel post and
remittances of money, addressed from other countries to internees or
despatched by them through the post office, either direct or through the
Information Bureaux provided for in Article 136 and the Central Information
Agency provided for in Article 140, shall be exempt from all postal dues
both in the countries of origin and destination and in intermediate
countries. To this effect, in particular, the exemption provided by the
Universal Postal Convention of 1947 and by the agreements of the Universal
Postal Union in favour of civilians of enemy nationality detained in camps
or civilian prisons, shall be extended to the other interned persons
protected by the present Convention. The countries not signatory to the
above-mentioned agreements shall be bound to grant freedom from charges in
the same circumstances.
The cost of transporting relief shipments which are intended for internees
and which, by reason of their weight or any other cause, cannot be sent
through the post office, shall be borne by the Detaining Power in all the
territories under its control. Other Powers which are Parties to the
present Convention shall bear the cost of transport in their respective
territories.
Costs connected with the transport of such shipments, which are not covered
by the above paragraphs, shall be charged to the senders.
The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to reduce, so far as possible,
the charges for telegrams sent by internees, or addressed to them.
Art. 111. Should military operations prevent the Powers concerned from
fulfilling their obligation to ensure the conveyance of the mail and relief
shipments provided for in Articles 106, 107, 108 and 113, the Protecting
Powers concerned, the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other
organization duly approved by the Parties to the conflict may undertake to
ensure the conveyance of such shipments by suitable means (rail, motor
vehicles, vessels or aircraft, etc.). For this purpose, the High
Contracting Parties shall endeavour to supply them with such transport, and
to allow its circulation, especially by granting the necessary
safe-conducts.
Such transport may also be used to convey:
(a) correspondence, lists and reports exchanged between the Central
Information Agency referred to in Article 140 and the National
Bureaux referred to in Article 136;
(b) correspondence and reports relating to internees which the Protecting
Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other
organization assisting the internees exchange either with their own
delegates or with the Parties to the conflict.
These provisions in no way detract from the right of any Party to the
conflict to arrange other means of transport if it should so prefer, nor
preclude the granting of safe-conducts, under mutually agreed conditions,
to such means of transport.
The costs occasioned by the use of such means of transport shall be borne,
in proportion to the importance of the shipments, by the Parties to the
conflict whose nationals are benefited thereby.
Art. 112. The censoring of correspondence addressed to internees or
despatched by them shall be done as quickly as possible.
The examination of consignments intended for internees shall not be carried
out under conditions that will expose the goods contained in them to
deterioration. It shall be done in the presence of the addressee, or of a
fellow-internee duly delegated by him. The delivery to internees of
individual or collective consignments shall not be delayed under the
pretext of difficulties of censorship.
Any prohibition of correspondence ordered by the Parties to the conflict
either for military or political reasons, shall be only temporary and its
duration shall be as short as possible.
Art. 113. The Detaining Powers shall provide all reasonable execution
facilities for the transmission, through the Protecting Power or the
Central Agency provided for in Article 140, or as otherwise required, of
wills, powers of attorney, letters of authority, or any other documents
intended for internees or despatched by them.
In all cases the Detaining Powers shall facilitate the execution and
authentication in due legal form of such documents on behalf of internees,
in particular by allowing them to consult a lawyer.
Art. 114. The Detaining Power shall afford internees all facilities to
enable them to manage their property, provided this is not incompatible
with the conditions of internment and the law which is applicable. For this
purpose, the said Power may give them permission to leave the place of
internment in urgent cases and if circumstances allow.
Art. 115. In all cases where an internee is a party to proceedings in any
court, the Detaining Power shall, if he so requests, cause the court to be
informed of his detention and shall, within legal limits, ensure that all
necessary steps are taken to prevent him from being in any way prejudiced,
by reason of his internment, as regards the preparation and conduct of his
case or as regards the execution of any judgment of the court.
Art.116. Every internee shall be allowed to receive visitors, especially
near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as possible.
As far as is possible, internees shall be permitted to visit their homes in
urgent cases, particularly in cases of death or serious illness of
relatives.
CHAPTER IX
Penal and Disciplinary Sanctions
Art. 117. Subject to the provisions of the present Chapter, the laws in
force in the territory in which they are detained will continue to apply to
internees who commit offences during internment.
If general laws, regulations or orders declare acts committed by internees
to be punishable, whereas the same acts are not punishable when committed
by persons who are not internees, such acts shall entail disciplinary
punishments only.
No internee may be punished more than once for the same act, or on the same
count.
Art. 118. The courts or authorities shall in passing sentence take as far
as possible into account the fact that the defendant is not a national of
the Detaining Power. They shall be free to reduce the penalty prescribed
for the offence with which the internee is charged and shall not be
obliged, to this end, to apply the minimum sentence prescribed.
Imprisonment in premises without daylight, and, in general, all forms of
cruelty without exception are forbidden.
Internees who have served disciplinary or judicial sentences shall not be
treated differently from other internees.
The duration of preventive detention undergone by an internee shall be
deducted from any disciplinary or judicial penalty involving confinement to
which he may be sentenced.
Internee Committees shall be informed of all judicial proceedings
instituted against internees whom they represent, and of their result.
Art. 119. The disciplinary punishments applicable to internees shall be the
following:
(1) a fine which shall not exceed 50 per cent of the wages which the
internee would otherwise receive under the provisions of Article 95
during a period of not more than thirty days.
(2) discontinuance of privileges granted over and above the treatment
provided for by the present Convention
(3) fatigue duties, not exceeding two hours daily, in connection with the
maintenance of the place of internment.
(4) confinement.
In no case shall disciplinary penalties be inhuman, brutal or dangerous for
the health of internees. Account shall be taken of the internee's age, sex
and state of health.
The duration of any single punishment shall in no case exceed a maximum of
thirty consecutive days, even if the internee is answerable for several
breaches of discipline when his case is dealt with, whether such breaches
are connected or not.
Art. 120. Internees who are recaptured after having escaped or when
attempting to escape, shall be liable only to disciplinary punishment in
respect of this act, even if it is a repeated offence.
Article 118, paragraph 3, notwithstanding, internees punished as a result
of escape or attempt to escape, may be subjected to special surveillance,
on condition that such surveillance does not affect the state of their
health, that it is exercised in a place of internment and that it does not
entail the abolition of any of the safeguards granted by the present
Convention.
Internees who aid and abet an escape or attempt to escape, shall be liable
on this count to disciplinary punishment only.
Art. 121. Escape, or attempt to escape, even if it is a repeated offence,
shall not be deemed an aggravating circumstance in cases where an internee
is prosecuted for offences committed during his escape.
The Parties to the conflict shall ensure that the competent authorities
exercise leniency in deciding whether punishment inflicted for an offence
shall be of a disciplinary or judicial nature, especially in respect of
acts committed in connection with an escape, whether successful or not.
Art. 122. Acts which constitute offences against discipline shall be
investigated immediately. This rule shall be applied, in particular, in
cases of escape or attempt to escape. Recaptured internees shall be handed
over to the competent authorities as soon as possible.
In cases of offences against discipline, confinement awaiting trial shall
be reduced to an absolute minimum for all internees, and shall not exceed
fourteen days. Its duration shall in any case be deducted from any sentence
of confinement.
The provisions of Articles 124 and 125 shall apply to internees who are in
confinement awaiting trial for offences against discipline.
Art. 123. Without prejudice to the competence of courts and higher
authorities, disciplinary punishment may be ordered only by the commandant
of the place of internment, or by a responsible officer or official who
replaces him, or to whom he has delegated his disciplinary powers.
Before any disciplinary punishment is awarded, the accused internee shall
be given precise information regarding the offences of which he is accused,
and given an opportunity of explaining his conduct and of defending
himself. He shall be permitted, in particular, to call witnesses and to
have recourse, if necessary, to the services of a qualified interpreter.
The decision shall be announced in the presence of the accused and of a
member of the Internee Committee.
The period elapsing between the time of award of a disciplinary punishment
and its execution shall not exceed one month.
When an internee is awarded a further disciplinary punishment, a period of
at least three days shall elapse between the execution of any two of the
punishments, if the duration of one of these is ten days or more.
A record of disciplinary punishments shall be maintained by the commandant
of the place of internment and shall be open to inspection by
representatives of the Protecting Power.
Art. 124. Internees shall not in any case be transferred to penitentiary
establishments (prisons, penitentiaries, convict prisons, etc.) to undergo
disciplinary punishment therein.
The premises in which disciplinary punishments are undergone shall conform
to sanitary requirements: they shall in particular be provided with
adequate bedding. Internees undergoing punishment shall be enabled to keep
themselves in a state of cleanliness.
Women internees undergoing disciplinary punishment shall be confined in
separate quarters from male internees and shall be under the immediate
supervision of women.
Art. 125. Internees awarded disciplinary punishment shall be allowed to
exercise and to stay in the open air at least two hours daily.
They shall be allowed, if they so request, to be present at the daily
medical inspections. They shall receive the attention which their state of
health requires and, if necessary, shall be removed to the infirmary of the
place of internment or to a hospital.
They shall have permission to read and write, likewise to send and receive
letters. Parcels and remittances of money, however, may be withheld from
them until the completion of their punishment; such consignments shall
meanwhile be entrusted to the Internee Committee, who will hand over to the
infirmary the perishable goods contained in the parcels.
No internee given a disciplinary punishment may be deprived of the benefit
of the provisions of Articles 107 and 143 of the present Convention.
Art. 126. The provisions of Articles 71 to 76 inclusive shall apply, by
analogy, to proceedings against internees who are in the national territory
of the Detaining Power.
CHAPTER X
Transfers of Internees
Art. 127. The transfer of internees shall always be effected humanely. As a
general rule, it shall be carried out by rail or other means of transport,
and under conditions at least equal to those obtaining for the forces of
the Detaining Power in their changes of station. If, as an exceptional
measure, such removals have to be effected on foot, they may not take place
unless the internees are in a fit state of health, and may not in any case
expose them to excessive fatigue.
The Detaining Power shall supply internees during transfer with drinking
water and food sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to maintain them
in good health, and also with the necessary clothing, adequate shelter and
the necessary medical attention. The Detaining Power shall take all
suitable precautions to ensure their safety during transfer, and shall
establish before their departure a complete list of all internees
transferred.
Sick, wounded or infirm internees and maternity cases shall not be
transferred if the journey would be seriously detrimental to them, unless
their safety imperatively so demands.
If the combat zone draws close to a place of internment, the internees in
the said place shall not be transferred unless their removal can be carried
out in adequate conditions of safety, or unless they are exposed to greater
risks by remaining on the spot than by being transferred.
When making decisions regarding the transfer of internees, the Detaining
Power shall take their interests into account and, in particular, shall not
do anything to increase the difficulties of repatriating them or returning
them to their own homes.
Art. 128. In the event of transfer, internees shall be officially advised
of their departure and of their new postal address. Such notification shall
be given in time for them to pack their luggage and inform their next of
kin.
They shall be allowed to take with them their personal effects, and the
correspondence and parcels which have arrived for them. The weight of such
baggage may be limited if the conditions of transfer so require, but in no
case to less than twenty-five kilograms per internee.
Mail and parcels addressed to their former place of internment shall be
forwarded to them without delay.
The commandant of the place of internment shall take, in agreement with the
Internee Committee, any measures needed to ensure the transport of the
internees' community property and of the luggage the internees are unable
to take with them in consequence of restrictions imposed by virtue of the
second paragraph.
CHAPTER XI
Deaths
Art. 129. The wills of internees shall be received for safe-keeping by the
responsible authorities; and if the event of the death of an internee his
will shall be transmitted without delay to a person whom he has previously
designated.
Deaths of internees shall be certified in every case by a doctor, and a
death certificate shall be made out, showing the causes of death and the
conditions under which it occurred.
An official record of the death, duly registered, shall be drawn up in
accordance with the procedure relating thereto in force in the territory
where the place of internment is situated, and a duly certified copy of
such record shall be transmitted without delay to the Protecting Power as
well as to the Central Agency referred to in Article 140.
Art. 130. The detaining authorities shall ensure that internees who die
while interned are honourably buried, if possible according to the rites of
the religion to which they belonged and that their graves are respected,
properly maintained, and marked in such a way that they can always be
recognized.
Deceased internees shall be buried in individual graves unless unavoidable
circumstances require the use of collective graves. Bodies may be cremated
only for imperative reasons of hygiene, on account of the religion of the
deceased or in accordance with his expressed wish to this effect. In case
of cremation, the fact shall be stated and the reasons given in the death
certificate of the deceased. The ashes shall be retained for safe-keeping
by the detaining authorities and shall be transferred as soon as possible
to the next of kin on their request.
As soon as circumstances permit, and not later than the close of
hostilities, the Detaining Power shall forward lists of graves of deceased
internees to the Powers on whom deceased internees depended, through the
Information Bureaux provided for in Article 136. Such lists shall include
all particulars necessary for the identification of the deceased internees,
as well as the exact location of their graves.
Art. 131. Every death or serious injury of an internee, caused or suspected
to have been caused by a sentry, another internee or any other person, as
well as any death the cause of which is unknown, shall be immediately
followed by an official enquiry by the Detaining Power.
A communication on this subject shall be sent immediately to the Protecting
Power. The evidence of any witnesses shall be taken, and a report including
such evidence shall be prepared and forwarded to the said Protecting Power.
If the enquiry indicates the guilt of one or more persons, the Detaining
Power shall take all necessary steps to ensure the prosecution of the
person or persons responsible.
CHAPTER XII
Release, Repatriation and Accommodation
in Neutral Countries
Art. 132. Each interned person shall be released by the Detaining Power as
soon as the reasons which necessitated his internment no longer exist.
The Parties to the conflict shall, moreover, endeavour during the course of
hostilities, to conclude agreements for the release, the repatriation, the
return to places of residence or the accommodation in a neutral country of
certain classes of internees, in particular children, pregnant women and
mothers with infants and young children, wounded and sick, and internees
who have been detained for a long time.
Art. 133. Internment shall cease as soon as possible after the close of
hostilities.
Internees in the territory of a Party to the conflict against whom penal
proceedings are pending for offences not exclusively subject to
disciplinary penalties, may be detained until the close of such proceedings
and, if circumstances require, until the completion of the penalty. The
same shall apply to internees who have been previously sentenced to a
punishment depriving them of liberty.
By agreement between the Detaining Power and the Powers concerned,
committees may be set up after the close of hostilities, or of the
occupation of territories, to search for dispersed internees.
Art. 134. The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour, upon the
Repatriation close of hostilities or occupation, to ensure the return of
all internees to their last place of residence, or to facilitate their
residence repatriation.
Art. 135. The Detaining Power shall bear the expense of returning released
internees to the places where they were residing when interned, or, if it
took them into custody while they were in transit or on the high seas, the
cost of completing their journey or of their return to their point of
departure.
Where a Detaining Power refuses permission to reside in its territory to a
released internee who previously had his permanent domicile therein, such
Detaining Power shall pay the cost of the said internee's repatriation. If,
however, the internee elects to return to his country on his own
responsibility or in obedience to the Government of the Power to which he
owes allegiance, the Detaining Power need not pay the expenses of his
journey beyond the point of his departure from its territory. The Detaining
Power need not pay the cost of repatriation of an internee who was interned
at his own request.
If internees are transferred in accordance with Article 45, the
transferring and receiving Powers shall agree on the portion of the above
costs to be borne by each.
The foregoing shall not prejudice such special agreements as may be
concluded between Parties to the conflict concerning the exchange and
repatriation of their nationals in enemy hands.
SECTION V
Information Bureaux and Central Agency
Art. 136. Upon the outbreak of a conflict and in all cases of occupation,
each of the Parties to the conflict shall establish an official Information
Bureau responsible for receiving and transmitting information in respect of
the protected persons who are in its power.
Each of the Parties to the conflict shall, within the shortest possible
period, give its Bureau information of any measure taken by it concerning
any protected persons who are kept in custody for more than two weeks, who
are subjected to assigned residence or who are interned. It shall,
furthermore, require its various departments concerned with such matters to
provide the aforesaid Bureau promptly with information concerning all
changes pertaining to these protected persons, as, for example, transfers,
releases, repatriations, escapes, admittances to hospitals, births and
deaths.
Art. 137. Each national Bureau shall immediately forward information
concerning protected persons by the most rapid means to the Powers in whose
territory they resided, through the intermediary of the Protecting Powers
and likewise through the Central Agency provided for in Article 140. The
Bureaux shall also reply to all enquiries which may be received regarding
protected persons.
Information Bureaux shall transmit information concerning a protected
person unless its transmission might be detrimental to the person concerned
or to his or her relatives. Even in such a case, the information may not be
withheld from the Central Agency which, upon being notified of the
circumstances, will take the necessary precautions indicated in Article
140.
All communications in writing made by any Bureau shall be authenticated by
a signature or a seal.
Art. 138. The information received by the national Bureau and transmitted
by it shall be of such a character as to make it possible to identify the
protected person exactly and to advise his next of kin quickly. The
information in respect of each person shall include at least his surname,
first names, place and date of birth, nationality last residence and
distinguishing characteristics, the first name of the father and the maiden
name of the mother, the date, place and nature of the action taken with
regard to the individual, the address at which correspondence may be sent
to him and the name and address of the person to be informed.
Likewise, information regarding the state of health of internees who are
seriously ill or seriously wounded shall be supplied regularly and if
possible every week.
Art. 139. Each national Information Bureau shall, furthermore, be
responsible for collecting all personal valuables left by protected persons
mentioned in Article 136, in particular those who have been repatriated or
released, or who have escaped or died; it shall forward the said valuables
to those concerned, either direct, or, if necessary, through the Central
Agency. Such articles shall be sent by the Bureau in sealed packets which
shall be accompanied by statements giving clear and full identity
particulars of the person to whom the articles belonged, and by a complete
list of the contents of the parcel. Detailed records shall be maintained of
the receipt and despatch of all such valuables.
Art. 140. A Central Information Agency for protected persons, in particular
for internees, shall be created in a neutral country. The International
Committee of the Red Cross shall, if it deems necessary, propose to the
Powers concerned the organization of such an Agency, which may be the same
as that provided for in Article 123 of the Geneva Convention relative to
the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949.
The function of the Agency shall be to collect all information of the type
set forth in Article 136 which it may obtain through official or private
channels and to transmit it as rapidly as possible to the countries of
origin or of residence of the persons concerned, except in cases where such
transmissions might be detrimental to the persons whom the said information
concerns, or to their relatives. It shall receive from the Parties to the
conflict all reasonable facilities for effecting such transmissions.
The High Contracting Parties, and in particular those whose nationals
benefit by the services of the Central Agency, are requested to give the
said Agency the financial aid it may require.
The foregoing provisions shall in no way be interpreted as restricting the
humanitarian activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross and
of the relief Societies described in Article 142.
Art. 141. The national Information Bureaux and the Central Information
Agency shall enjoy free postage for all mail, likewise the exemptions
provided for in Article 110, and further, so far as possible, exemption
from telegraphic charges or, at least, greatly reduced rates.
PART IV
EXECUTION OF THE CONVENTION
SECTION I
General Provisions
Art. 142. Subject to the measures which the Detaining Powers may consider
essential to ensure their security or to meet any other reasonable need,
the representatives of religious organizations, relief societies, or any
other organizations assisting the protected persons, shall receive from
these Powers, for themselves or their duly accredited agents, all
facilities for visiting the protected persons, for distributing relief
supplies and material from any source, intended for educational,
recreational or religious purposes, or for assisting them in organizing
their leisure time within the places of internment. Such societies or
organizations may be constituted in the territory of the Detaining Power,
or in any other country, or they may have an international character.
The Detaining Power may limit the number of societies and organizations
whose delegates are allowed to carry out their activities in its territory
and under its supervision, on condition, however, that such limitation
shall not hinder the supply of effective and adequate relief to all
protected persons.
The special position of the International Committee of the Red Cross in
this field shall be recognized and respected at all times.
Art. 143. Representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall have
permission to go to all places where protected persons are, particularly to
places of internment, detention and work.
They shall have access to all premises occupied by protected persons and
shall be able to interview the latter without witnesses, personally or
through an interpreter.
Such visits may not be prohibited except for reasons of imperative military
necessity, and then only as an exceptional and temporary measure. Their
duration and frequency shall not be restricted.
Such representatives and delegates shall have full liberty to select the
places they wish to visit. The Detaining or Occupying Power, the Protecting
Power and when occasion arises the Power of origin of the persons to be
visited, may agree that compatriots of the internees shall be permitted to
participate in the visits.
The delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross shall also
enjoy the above prerogatives. The appointment of such delegates shall be
submitted to the approval of the Power governing the territories where they
will carry out their duties.
Art. 144. The High Contracting Parties undertake, in time of peace as in
time of war, to disseminate the text of the present Convention as widely as
possible in their respective countries, and, in particular, to include the
study thereof in their programmes of military and, if possible, civil
instruction, so that the principles thereof may become known to the entire
population.
Any civilian, military, police or other authorities, who in time of war
assume responsibilities in respect of protected persons, must possess the
text of the Convention and be specially instructed as to its provisions.
Art. 145. The High Contracting Parties shall communicate to one another
through the Swiss Federal Council and, during hostilities, through the
Protecting Powers, the official translations of the present Convention, as
well as the laws and regulations which they may adopt to ensure the
application thereof.
Art. 146. The High Contracting Parties undertake to enact any legislation
necessary to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or
ordering to be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present
Convention defined in the following Article.
Each High Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for
persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such
grave breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their
nationality, before its own courts. It may also, if it prefers, and in
accordance with the provisions of its own legislation, hand such persons
over for trial to another High Contracting Party concerned, provided such
High Contracting Party has made out a prima facie case.
Each High Contracting Party shall take measures necessary for the
suppression of all acts contrary to the provisions of the present
Convention other than the grave breaches defined in the following Article.
In all circumstances, the accused persons shall benefit by safeguards of
proper trial and defence, which shall not be less favourable than those
provided by Article 105 and those following of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949.
Art. 147. Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be
those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or
property protected by the present Convention: wilful killing, torture or
inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great
suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or
transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a
protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or wilfully
depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial
prescribed in the present Convention, taking of hostages and extensive
destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military
necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.
Art. 148. No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself or
any other High Contracting Party of any liability incurred by itself or by
another High Contracting Party in respect of breaches referred to in the
preceding Article.
Art. 149. At the request of a Party to the conflict, an enquiry shall be
instituted, in a manner to be decided between the interested Parties,
concerning any alleged violation of the Convention.
If agreement has not been reached concerning the procedure for the enquiry,
the Parties should agree on the choice of an umpire who will decide upon
the procedure to be followed.
Once the violation has been established, the Parties to the conflict shall
put an end to it and shall repress it with the least possible delay.
SECTION II
Final Provisions
Art. 150. The present Convention is established in English and in French.
Both texts are equally authentic.
The Swiss Federal Council shall arrange for official translations of the
Convention to be made in the Russian and Spanish languages.
Art. 151. The present Convention, which bears the date of this day, is open
to signature until 12 February 1950, in the name of the Powers represented
at the Conference which opened at Geneva on 21 April 1949.
Art. 152. The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible and
the ratifications shall be deposited at Berne.
A record shall be drawn up of the deposit of each instrument of
ratification and certified copies of this record shall be transmitted by
the Swiss Federal Council to all the Powers in whose name the Convention
has been signed, or whose accession has been notified.
Art. 153. The present Convention shall come into force six months after not
less than two instruments of ratification have been deposited.
Thereafter, it shall come into force for each High Contracting Party six
months after the deposit of the instrument of ratification.
Art. 154. In the relations between the Powers who are bound by the Hague
Conventions respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, whether that of
29 July 1899, or that of 18 October 1907, and who are parties to the
present Convention, this last Convention shall be supplementary to Sections
II and III of the Regulations annexed to the above-mentioned Conventions of
The Hague.
Art. 155. From the date of its coming into force, it shall be open to any
Power in whose name the present Convention has not been signed, to accede
to this Convention.
Art. 156. Accessions shall be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal
Council, and shall take effect six months after the date on which they are
received.
The Swiss Federal Council shall communicate the accessions to all the
Powers in whose name the Convention has been signed, or whose accession has
been notified.
Art. 157. The situations provided for in Articles 2 and 3 shall effective
immediate effect to ratifications deposited and accessions notified by the
Parties to the conflict before or after the beginning of hostilities or
occupation. The Swiss Federal Council shall communicate by the quickest
method any ratifications or accessions received from Parties to the
conflict.
Art. 158. Each of the High Contracting Parties shall be at liberty to
denounce the present Convention.
The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal Council,
which shall transmit it to the Governments of all the High Contracting
Parties.
The denunciation shall take effect one year after the notification thereof
has been made to the Swiss Federal Council. However, a denunciation of
which notification has been made at a time when the denouncing Power is
involved in a conflict shall not take effect until peace has been
concluded, and until after operations connected with release, repatriation
and re-establishment of the persons protected by the present Convention
have been terminated.
The denunciation shall have effect only in respect of the denouncing Power.
It shall in no way impair the obligations which the Parties to the conflict
shall remain bound to fulfil by virtue of the principles of the law of
nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized
peoples, from the laws of humanity and the dictates of the public
conscience.
Art. 159. The Swiss Federal Council shall register the present Convention
with the Secretariat of the United Nations. The Swiss Federal Council shall
also inform the Secretariat of the United Nations of all ratifications,
accessions and denunciations received by it with respect to the present
Convention.
In witness whereof the undersigned, having deposited their respective full
powers, have signed the present Convention.
Done at Geneva this twelfth day of August 1949, in the English and French
languages. The original shall be deposited in the Archives of the Swiss
Confederation. The Swiss Federal Council shall transmit certified copies
thereof to each of the signatory and acceding States.
ANNEX I
Draft Agreement Relating to Hospital
and Safety Zones and Localities
Art. 1. Hospital and safety zones shall be strictly reserved for the
persons mentioned in Article 23 of the Geneva Convention for the
Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in
the Field of 12 August 1949, and in Article 14 of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August
1949, and for the personnel entrusted with the organization and
administration of these zones and localities, and with the care of the
persons therein assembled.
Nevertheless, persons whose permanent residence is within such zones shall
have the right to stay there.
Art. 2. No persons residing, in whatever capacity, in a hospital and safety
zone shall perform any work, either within or without the zone, directly
connected with military operations or the production of war material.
Art. 3. The Power establishing a hospital and safety zone shall take all
necessary measures to prohibit access to all persons who have no right of
residence or entry therein.
Art. 4. Hospital and safety zones shall fulfil the following conditions:
(a) they shall comprise only a small part of the territory governed by
the Power which has established them
(b) they shall be thinly populated in relation to the possibilities of
accommodation
(c) they shall be far removed and free from all military objectives, or
large industrial or administrative establishments
(d) they shall not be situated in areas which, according to every
probability, may become important for the conduct of the war.
Art. 5. Hospital and safety zones shall be subject to the following
obligations:
(a) the lines of communication and means of transport which they possess
shall not be used for the transport of military personnel or
material, even in transit
(b) they shall in no case be defended by military means.
Art. 6. Hospital and safety zones shall be marked by means of oblique red
bands on a white ground, placed on the buildings and outer precincts.
Zones reserved exclusively for the wounded and sick may be marked by means
of the Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) emblem on a white ground.
They may be similarly marked at night by means of appropriate illumination.
Art. 7. The Powers shall communicate to all the High Contracting Parties in
peacetime or on the outbreak of hostilities, a list of the hospital and
safety zones in the territories governed by them. They shall also give
notice of any new zones set up during hostilities.
As soon as the adverse party has received the above-mentioned notification,
the zone shall be regularly established.
If, however, the adverse party considers that the conditions of the present
agreement have not been fulfilled, it may refuse to recognize the zone by
giving immediate notice thereof to the Party responsible for the said zone,
or may make its recognition of such zone dependent upon the institution of
the control provided for in Article 8.
Art. 8. Any Power having recognized one or several hospital and safety
zones instituted by the adverse Party shall be entitled to demand control
by one or more Special Commissions, for the purpose of ascertaining if the
zones fulfil the conditions and obligations stipulated in the present
agreement.
For this purpose, members of the Special Commissions shall at all times
have free access to the various zones and may even reside there
permanently. They shall be given all facilities for their duties of
inspection.
Art. 9. Should the Special Commissions note any facts which they consider
contrary to the stipulations of the present agreement, they shall at once
draw the attention of the Power governing the said zone to these facts, and
shall fix a time limit of five days within which the matter should be
rectified. They shall duly notify the Power which has recognized the zone.
If, when the time limit has expired, the Power governing the zone has not
complied with the warning, the adverse Party may declare that it is no
longer bound by the present agreement in respect of the said zone.
Art. 10. Any Power setting up one or more hospital and safety zones, and
the adverse Parties to whom their existence has been notified, shall
nominate or have nominated by the Protecting Powers or by other neutral
Powers, persons eligible to be members of the Special Commissions mentioned
in Articles 8 and 9.
Art. 11. In no circumstances may hospital and safety zones be the object of
attack. They shall be protected and respected at all times by the Parties
to the conflict.
Art. 12. In the case of occupation of a territory, the hospital and safety
zones therein shall continue to be respected and utilized as such.
Their purpose may, however, be modified by the Occupying Power, on
condition that all measures are taken to ensure the safety of the persons
accommodated.
Art. 13. The present agreement shall also apply to localities which the
Powers may utilize for the same purposes as hospital and safety zones.
ANNEX II
Draft Regulations
concerning Collective Relief
Article 1. The Internee Committees shall be allowed to distribute
collective relief shipments for which they are responsible to all internees
who are dependent for administration on the said Committee's place of
internment, including those internees who are in hospitals, or in prison or
other penitentiary establishments.
Art. 2. The distribution of collective relief shipments shall be effected
in accordance with the instructions of the donors and with a plan drawn up
by the Internee Committees. The issue of medical stores shall, however, be
made for preference in agreement with the senior medical officers, and the
latter may, in hospitals and infirmaries, waive the said instructions, if
the needs of their patients so demand. Within the limits thus defined, the
distribution shall always be carried out equitably.
Art. 3. Members of Internee Committees shall be allowed to go to the
railway stations or other points of arrival of relief supplies near their
places of internment so as to enable them to verify the quantity as well as
the quality of the goods received and to make out detailed reports thereon
for the donors.
Art. 4. Internee Committees shall be given the facilities necessary for
verifying whether the distribution of collective relief in all subdivisions
and annexes of their places of internment has been carried out in
accordance with their instructions.
Art. 5. Internee Committees shall be allowed to complete, and to cause to
be completed by members of the Internee Committees in labour detachments or
by the senior medical officers of infirmaries and hospitals, forms or
questionnaires intended for the donors, relating to collective relief
supplies (distribution, requirements, quantities, etc.). Such forms and
questionnaires, duly completed, shall be forwarded to the donors without
delay.
Art. 6. In order to secure the regular distribution of collective relief
supplies to the internees in their place of internment, and to meet any
needs that may arise through the arrival of fresh parties of internees, the
Internee Committees shall be allowed to create and maintain sufficient
reserve stocks of collective relief. For this purpose, they shall have
suitable warehouses at their disposal; each warehouse shall be provided
with two locks, the Internee Committee holding the keys of one lock, and
the commandant of the place of internment the keys of the other.
Art. 7. The High Contracting Parties, and the Detaining Powers in
particular, shall, so far as is in any way possible and subject to the
regulations governing the food supply of the population, authorize
purchases of goods to be made in their territories for the distribution of
collective relief to the internees. They shall likewise facilitate the
transfer of funds and other financial measures of a technical or
administrative nature taken for the purpose of making such purchases.
Art. 8. The foregoing provisions shall not constitute an obstacle to the
right of internees to receive collective relief before their arrival in a
place of internment or in the course of their transfer, nor to the
possibility of representatives of the Protecting Power, or of the
International Committee of the Red Cross or any other humanitarian
organization giving assistance to internees and responsible for forwarding
such supplies, ensuring the distribution thereof to the recipients by any
other means they may deem suitable.
[ANNEX III, illustrations of Internment Card, Letter, and Correspondence
Card, not included]
