Section I.
Direct Repatriation and Accommodation in Neutral Countries
Art 109. Subject to the provisions of the third paragraph of this
Article, Parties to the conflict are bound to send back to their own
country, regardless of number or rank, seriously wounded and seriously sick
prisoners of war, after having cared for them until they are fit to travel,
in accordance with the first paragraph of the following Article.
Throughout the duration of hostilities, Parties to the conflict shall
endeavour, with the cooperation of the neutral Powers concerned, to make
arrangements for the accommodation in neutral countries of the sick and
wounded prisoners of war referred to in the second paragraph of the
following Article. They may, in addition, conclude agreements with a view to
the direct repatriation or internment in a neutral country of able-bodied
prisoners of war who have undergone a long period of captivity.
No sick or injured prisoner of war who is eligible for repatriation under
the first paragraph of this Article, may be repatriated against his will
during hostilities.
Art 110. The following shall be repatriated direct:
(1) Incurably wounded and sick whose mental or physical fitness seems
to have been gravely diminished.
(2) Wounded and sick who, according
to medical opinion, are not likely to recover within one year, whose
condition requires treatment and whose mental or physical fitness seems
to have been gravely diminished.
(3) Wounded and sick who have
recovered, but whose mental or physical fitness seems to have been
gravely and permanently diminished.
The following may be accommodated in a neutral country:
(1) Wounded and sick whose recovery may be expected within one year
of the date of the wound or the beginning of the illness, if treatment
in a neutral country might increase the prospects of a more certain and
speedy recovery.
(2) Prisoners of war whose mental or physical
health, according to medical opinion, is seriously threatened by
continued captivity, but whose accommodation in a neutral country might
remove such a threat.
The conditions which prisoners of war accommodated in a neutral country
must fulfil in order to permit their repatriation shall be fixed, as shall
likewise their status, by agreement between the Powers concerned. In
general, prisoners of war who have been accommodated in a neutral country,
and who belong to the following categories, should be repatriated:
(1)
Those whose state of health has deteriorated so as to fulfil the condition
laid down for direct repatriation; (2) Those whose mental or physical powers
remain, even after treatment, considerably impaired.
If no special agreements are concluded between the Parties to the
conflict concerned, to determine the cases of disablement or sickness
entailing direct repatriation or accommodation in a neutral country, such
cases shall be settled in accordance with the principles laid down in the
Model Agreement concerning direct repatriation and accommodation in neutral
countries of wounded and sick prisoners of war and in the Regulations
concerning Mixed Medical Commissions annexed to the present Convention.
Art 111. The Detaining Power, the Power on which the prisoners of war
depend, and a neutral Power agreed upon by these two Powers, shall endeavour
to conclude agreements which will enable prisoners of war to be interned in
the territory of the said neutral Power until the close of hostilities.
Art 112. Upon the outbreak of hostilities, Mixed Medical Commissions
shall be appointed to examine sick and wounded prisoners of war, and to make
all appropriate decisions regarding them. The appointment, duties and
functioning of these Commissions shall be in conformity with the provisions
of the Regulations annexed to the present Convention.
However, prisoners of war who, in the opinion of the medical authorities
of the Detaining Power, are manifestly seriously injured or seriously sick,
may be repatriated without having to be examined by a Mixed Medical
Commission.
Art 113. Besides those who are designated by the medical authorities of
the Detaining Power, wounded or sick prisoners of war belonging to the
categories listed below shall be entitled to present themselves for
examination by the Mixed Medical Commissions provided for in the foregoing
Article:
(1) Wounded and sick proposed by a physician or surgeon who is of the
same nationality, or a national of a Party to the conflict allied with
the Power on which the said prisoners depend, and who exercises his
functions in the camp.
(2) Wounded and sick proposed by their prisoners' representative.
(3) Wounded and sick proposed by the Power on which they depend, or
by an organization duly recognized by the said Power and giving
assistance to the prisoners.
Prisoners of war who do not belong to one of the three foregoing
categories may nevertheless present themselves for examination by Mixed
Medical Commissions, but shall be examined only after those belonging to the
said categories.
The physician or surgeon of the same nationality as the prisoners who
present themselves for examination by the Mixed Medical Commission, likewise
the prisoners' representative of the said prisoners, shall have permission
to be present at the examination.
Art 114. Prisoners of war who meet with accidents shall, unless the
injury is self-inflicted, have the benefit of the provisions of this
Convention as regards repatriation or accommodation in a neutral country.
Art 115. No prisoner of war on whom a disciplinary punishment has been
imposed and who is eligible for repatriation or for accommodation in a
neutral country, may be kept back on the plea that he has not undergone his
punishment.
Prisoners of war detained in connection with a judicial prosecution or
conviction, and who are designated for repatriation or accommodation in a
neutral country, may benefit by such measures before the end of the
proceedings or the completion of the punishment, if the Detaining Power
consents.
Parties to the conflict shall communicate to each other the names of
those who will be detained until the end of the proceedings or the
completion of the punishment.
Art 116. The cost of repatriating prisoners of war or of transporting
them to a neutral country shall be borne, from the frontiers of the
Detaining Power, by the Power on which the said prisoners depend.
Art 117. No repatriated person may be employed on active military
service.
Section II.
Release and Repatriation of Prisoners of War at the Close of Hostilities
Art 118. Prisoners of war shall be released and repatriated without delay
after the cessation of active hostilities.In the absence of stipulations to
the above effect in any agreement concluded between the Parties to the
conflict with a view to the cessation of hostilities, or failing any such
agreement, each of the Detaining Powers shall itself establish and execute
without delay a plan of repatriation in conformity with the principle laid
down in the foregoing paragraph.
In either case, the measures adopted shall be brought to the knowledge of
the prisoners of war.
The costs of repatriation of prisoners of war shall in all cases be
equitably apportioned between the Detaining Power and the Power on which the
prisoners depend. This apportionment shall be carried out on thefollowing
basis:
(a) If the two Powers are contiguous, the Power on which the
prisoners of war depend shall bear the costs of repatriation from the
frontiers of the Detaining Power.
(b) If the two Powers are not
contiguous, the Detaining Power shall bear the costs of transport of
prisoners of war over its own territory as far as its frontier or its
port of embarkation nearest to the territory of the Power on which the
prisoners of war depend. The Parties concerned shall agree between
themselves as to the equitable apportionment of the remaining costs of
the repatriation. The conclusion of this agreement shall in no
circumstances justify any delay in the repatriation of the prisoners of
war.
Art 119. Repatriation shall be effected in conditions similar to those
laid down in Articles 46 to 48 inclusive of the present Convention for the
transfer of prisoners of war, having regard to the provisions of Article 118
and to those of the following paragraphs.
On repatriation, any articles of value impounded from prisoners of war
under Article 18, and any foreign currency which has not been converted into
the currency of the Detaining Power, shall be restored to them. Articles of
value and foreign currency which, for any reason whatever, are not restored
to prisoners of war on repatriation, shall be despatched to the Information
Bureau set up under Article 122.
Prisoners of war shall be allowed to take with them their personal
effects, and any correspondence and parcels which have arrived for them. The
weight of such baggage may be limited, if the conditions of repatriation so
require, to what each prisoner can reasonably carry. Each prisoner shall in
all cases be authorized to carry at least twenty-five kilograms.
The other personal effects of the repatriated prisoner shall be left in
the charge of the Detaining Power which shall have them forwarded to him as
soon as it has concluded an agreement to this effect, regulating the
conditions of transport and the payment of the costs involved, with the
Power on which the prisoner depends.
Prisoners of war against whom criminal proceedings for an indictable
offence are pending may be detained until the end of such proceedings, and,
if necessary, until the completion of the punishment. The same shall apply
to prisoners of war already convicted for an indictable offence.
Parties to the conflict shall communicate to each other the names of any
prisoners of war who are detained until the end of the proceedings or until
punishment has been completed.
By agreement between the Parties to the conflict, commissions shall be
established for the purpose of searching for dispersed prisoners of war and
of assuring their repatriation with the least possible delay.
Section III. Death of
Prisoners of War
Art 120. Wills of prisoners of war shall be drawn up so as to satisfy the
conditions of validity required by the legislation of their country of
origin, which will take steps to inform the Detaining Power of its
requirements in this respect. At the request of the prisoner of war and, in
all cases, after death, the will shall be transmitted without delay to the
Protecting Power; a certified copy shall be sent to the Central Agency.
Death certificates, in the form annexed to the present Convention, or
lists certified by a responsible officer, of all persons who die as
prisoners of war shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible to the Prisoner
of War Information Bureau established in accordance with Article 122. The
death certificates or certified lists shall show particulars of identity as
set out in the third paragraph of Article 17, and also the date and place of
death, the cause of death, the date and place of burial and all particulars
necessary to identify the graves.
The burial or cremation of a prisoner of war shall be preceded by a
medical examination of the body with a view to confirming death and enabling
a report to be made and, where necessary, establishing identity.
The detaining authorities shall ensure that prisoners of war who have
died in captivity are honourably buried, if possible according to the rites
of the religion to which they belonged, and that their graves are respected,
suitably maintained and marked so as to be found at any time. Wherever
possible, deceased prisoners of war who depended on the same Power shall be
interred in the same place.
Deceased prisoners of war 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 express wish to this
effect. In case of cremation, the fact shall be stated and the reasons given
in the death certificate of the deceased.
In order that graves may always be found, all particulars of burials and
graves shall be recorded with a Graves Registration Service established by
the Detaining Power. Lists of graves and particulars of the prisoners of war
interred in cemeteries and elsewhere shall be transmitted to the Power on
which such prisoners of war depended. Responsibility for the care of these
graves and for records of any subsequent moves of the bodies shall rest on
the Power controlling the territory, if a Party to the present Convention.
These provisions shall also apply to the ashes, which shall be kept by the
Graves Registration Service until proper disposal thereof in accordance with
the wishes of the home country.
Art 121. Every death or serious injury of a prisoner of war caused or
suspected to have been caused by a sentry, another prisoner of war, 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. Statements shall be taken from witnesses, especially from
those who are prisoners of war, and a report including such statements shall
be forwarded to the Protecting Power.
If the enquiry indicates the guilt of one or more persons, the Detaining
Power shall take all measures for the prosecution of the person or persons
responsible.
