PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
The High Contracting Parties undertake
to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.
Article 2
In addition to the provisions which shall
be implemented in peacetime, 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 August 12, 1949, or by the Geneva Convention for
the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members
of Armed Forces at Sea of August 12, 1949, or by the Geneva Convention
relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, shall
not be considered as protected persons within the meaning of the present
Convention.
Article 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.
Article 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: I to 12, 27, 29 to 34, 47,
49, 51, 52, 53, 59, 61 to 77, and 143.
Protected persons whose release, repatriation
or re-establishment may take place after such dates shall meanwhile continue
to benefit by the present Convention. Article 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, nor 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 11
The High Contracting Parties may at any
time agree to entrust to an 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
with which the State of which they are nationals has not normal diplomatic
representation.
Article 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 person, 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
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 15
Any Party to the conflict may, either directly
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.
Article 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.
Article 1 7
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.
Article 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 August 12, 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 August 12, 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.
Article 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
August 12, 1949.
Article 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
August 12, 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.
Article 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
there by 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 TEE CONFLICT AND TO OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Article 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.
Article 28
The presence of a protected person may
not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 31
No physical or moral coercion shall be
exercised against protected persons, in particular to obtain information
from them or from third parties.
Article 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 punishment, 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.
Article 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.
Article 34
The taking of hostages is prohibited.
SECTION 11
ALIENS IN THE TERRITORY OF A PARTY TO THE
CONFLICT
Article 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 such 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.
Article 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.
Article 37
Protected persons who are confined pending
proceedings or serving 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.
Article 38
With the exception of special measures
authorized by the present Convention, in particular by Articles 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 residences 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 111
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Article 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.
Article 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 according to the procedure which the Occupying Power
shall establish in accordance with the said Article.
Article 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 do 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 56
To the fullest extent of the means available
to it, the 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.
Article 57
The Occupying Power may requisition civilian
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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 62
Subject to imperative reasons of security,
protected persons in occupied territories shall be permitted to receive
the individual relief consignments sent to them.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 proportioned to the offence. They shall take into consideration
the fact that the accused is not a national of the Occupying Power.
Article 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
against 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 against a protected person who was under eighteen years of
age at the time of the offence.
Article 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 awarded.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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 the right
at any time to object to the interpreter and to ask for his replacement.
Article 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.
Article 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 judgment 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 judgments 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 for
two years or more, shall not run until notification of judgment has been
received by the Protecting Power.
Article 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 at 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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
Article 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.
Article 80
Internees shall retain their full civil
capacity and shall exercise such attendant rights as may be compatible
with their status.
Article 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 dependants are without
adequate means of support or are unable to earn a living.
Article 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
Article 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.
Article 84
Internees shall be accommodated and administered
separately from prisoners of war and from persons deprived of liberty for
any other reason.
Article 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 in 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.
Article 86
The Detaining Power shall place at the
disposal of interned persons, of whatever denomination, premises suitable
for the holding of their religious services.
Article 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.
Article 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 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
Article 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.
Article 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
Article 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 an 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.
Article 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
Article 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 be longing 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.
Article 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 exercise 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.
Article 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, due regard being paid to the obligation
of 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.
Article 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 PROPER AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES
Article 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.
Article 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 owe 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 discrimination 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
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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
Article 105
Immediately upon interning protected persons,
the Detaining Power 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 Power shall likewise inform the Parties
concerned of any subsequent modifications of such measures.
Article 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.
Article 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.
Article 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