CIA Printed Copy of Fourth Geneva Convention

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The Avalon Projec at Yale Law School
Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in Time of War, August 12, 1949
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
Art 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:
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(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
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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
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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
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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
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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,
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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 illtreatment.
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.
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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 alined 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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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 infoinied 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
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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 armyof 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
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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,pccupied State are not operating there, the occupying authorities shall, if
necessary, grant them the recognition provided for in Article 18. In similar
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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 interment. 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.
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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,
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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
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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
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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 RedCross 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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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 safeconducts.
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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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 tozead 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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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, furtheiniore, 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.
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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
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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 paiinitted 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
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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 mariner 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.
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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.
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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
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with the organization and administration of these zones and localities, and with
the care of the persons therein assembled.
Nevertheless, persons whose pernianent 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
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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 hasnot
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
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1 he Avalon Project : Convention (IV) Relative to the P otection of Civilian Persons in Page 57 of 59
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 H
Draft Regulations concerning Collective Relief
Art. 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, fowls 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
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I 1ae Avalon Project : Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection`of Civilian Persons in ,.. Page 58 of 59
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.
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