Section I. Provisions common
to the territories of the parties to the conflict and to occupied
territories
Art. 27. Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to
respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their
religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They
shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected
especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against
insults and public curiosity.
Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their
honour, in particular against rape, enforced prostitutiOn, or any form
of indecent assault.
Without prejudice to the provisions relating to their state of
health, age and sex, all protected persons shall be treated with the
same consideration by the Party to the conflict in whose power they are,
without any adverse distinction based, in particular, on race, religion
or political opinion.
However, the Parties to the conflict may take such measures of
control and security in regard to protected persons as may be necessary
as a result of the war.
Art. 28. The presence of a protected person may not be used to render
certain points or areas immune from military operations.
Art. 29. The Party to the conflict in whose hands protected persons
may be, is responsible for the treatment accorded to them by its agents,
irrespective of any individual responsibility which may be incurred.
Art. 30. Protected persons shall have every facility for making
application to the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the
Red Cross, the National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun)
Society of the country where they may be, as well as to any organization
that might assist them.
These several organizations shall be granted all facilities for that
purpose by the authorities, within the bounds set by military or
security considerations.
Apart from the visits of the delegates of the Protecting Powers and
of the International Committee of the Red Cross, provided for by Article
143, the Detaining or Occupying Powers shall facilitate, as much as
possible, visits to protected persons by the representatives of other
organizations whose object is to give spiritual aid or material relief
to such persons.
Art. 31. No physical or moral coercion shall be exercised against
protected persons, in particular to obtain information from them or from
third parties.
Art. 32. The High Contracting Parties specifically agree that each of
them is prohibited from taking any measure of such a character as to
cause the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in
their hands. This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture,
corporal punishments, mutilation and medical or scientific experiments
not necessitated by the medical treatment of a protected person, but
also to any other measures of brutality whether applied by civilian or
military agents.
Art. 33. No protected person may
be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.
Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of
terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are
prohibited.
Art. 34. The taking of hostages is prohibited.
Section II. Aliens in the
territory of a party to the conflict
Art. 35. All protected persons who may desire to leave the territory
at the outset of, or during a conflict, shall be entitled to do so,
unless their departure is contrary to the national interests of the
State. The applications of such persons to leave shall be decided in
accordance with regularly established procedures and the decision shall
be taken as rapidly as possible. Those persons permitted to leave may
provide themselves with the necessary funds for their journey and take
with them a reasonable amount of their effects and articles of personal
use.
If any such person is refused permission to leave the territory, he
shall be entitled to have refusal reconsidered, as soon as possible by
an appropriate court or administrative board designated by the Detaining
Power for that purpose.
Upon request, representatives of the Protecting Power shall, unless
reasons of security prevent it, or the persons concerned object, be
furnished with the reasons for refusal of any request for permission to
leave the territory and be given, as expeditiously as possible, the
names of all persons who have been denied permission to leave.
Art. 36. Departures permitted under the foregoing Article shall be
carried out in satisfactory conditions as regards safety, hygiene,
sanitation and food. All costs in connection therewith, from the point
of exit in the territory of the Detaining Power, shall be borne by the
country of destination, or, in the case of accommodation in a neutral
country, by the Power whose nationals are benefited. The practical
details of such movements may, if necessary, be settled by special
agreements between the Powers concerned.
The foregoing shall not prejudice such special agreements as may be
concluded between Parties to the conflict concerning the exchange and
repatriation of their nationals in enemy hands.
Art. 37. Protected persons who are confined pending proceedings or
subject to a sentence involving loss of liberty, shall during their
confinement be humanely treated.
As soon as they are released, they may ask to leave the territory in
conformity with the foregoing Articles.
Art. 38. With the exception of
special measures authorized by the present Convention, in particularly
by Article 27 and 41 thereof, the situation of protected persons shall
continue to be regulated, in principle, by the provisions concerning
aliens in time of peace. In any case, the following rights shall be
granted to them:
(1) they shall be enabled to receive the individual or collective
relief that may be sent to them.
(2) they shall, if their state
of health so requires, receive medical attention and hospital
treatment to the same extent as the nationals of the State
concerned.
(3) they shall be allowed to practise their religion
and to receive spiritual assistance from ministers of their faith.
(4) if they reside in an area particularly exposed to the dangers of
war, they shall be authorized to move from that area to the same
extent as the nationals of the State concerned.
(5) children
under fifteen years, pregnant women and mothers of children under
seven years shall benefit by any preferential treatment to the same
extent as the nationals of the State concerned.
Art. 39. Protected persons who, as a result of the war, have lost
their gainful employment, shall be granted the opportunity to find paid
employment. That opportunity shall, subject to security considerations
and to the provisions of Article 40, be equal to that enjoyed by the
nationals of the Power in whose territory they are.
Where a Party to the conflict applies to a protected person methods
of control which result in his being unable to support himself, and
especially if such a person is prevented for reasons of security from
finding paid employment on reasonable conditions, the said Party shall
ensure his support and that of his dependents.
Protected persons may in any case receive allowances from their home
country, the Protecting Power, or the relief societies referred to in
Article 30.
Art. 40. Protected persons may be compelled to work only to the same
extent as nationals of the Party to the conflict in whose territory they
are.
If protected persons are of enemy nationality, they may only be
compelled to do work which is normally necessary to ensure the feeding,
sheltering, clothing, transport and health of human beings and which is
not directly related to the conduct of military operations.
In the cases mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs, protected
persons compelled to work shall have the benefit of the same working
conditions and of the same safeguards as national workers in particular
as regards wages, hours of labour, clothing and equipment, previous
training and compensation for occupational accidents and diseases.
If the above provisions are infringed, protected persons shall be
allowed to exercise their right of complaint in accordance with Article
30.
Art. 41. Should the Power, in whose hands protected persons may be,
consider the measures of control mentioned in the present Convention to
be inadequate, it may not have recourse to any other measure of control
more severe than that of assigned residence or internment, in accordance
with the provisions of Articles 42 and 43.
In applying the provisions of Article 39, second paragraph, to the
cases of persons required to leave their usual places of residence by
virtue of a decision placing them in assigned residence, by virtue of a
decision placing them in assigned residence, elsewhere, the Detaining
Power shall be guided as closely as possible by the standards of welfare
set forth in Part III, Section IV of this Convention.
Art. 42. The internment or placing in assigned residence of protected
persons may be ordered only if the security of the Detaining Power makes
it absolutely necessary.
If any person, acting through the representatives of the Protecting
Power, voluntarily demands internment, and if his situation renders this
step necessary, he shall be interned by the Power in whose hands he may
be.
Art. 43. Any protected person who has been interned or placed in
assigned residence shall be entitled to have such action reconsidered as
soon as possible by an appropriate court or administrative board
designated by the Detaining Power for that purpose. If the internment or
placing in assigned residence is maintained, the court or administrative
board shall periodically, and at least twice yearly, give consideration
to his or her case, with a view to the favourable amendment of the
initial decision, if circumstances permit.
Unless the protected persons concerned object, the Detaining Power
shall, as rapidly as possible, give the Protecting Power the names of
any protected persons who have been interned or subjected to assigned
residence, or who have been released from internment or assigned
residence. The decisions of the courts or boards mentioned in the first
paragraph of the present Article shall also, subject to the same
conditions, be notified as rapidly as possible to the Protecting Power.
Art. 44. In applying the measures of control mentioned in the present
Convention, the Detaining Power shall not treat as enemy aliens
exclusively on the basis of their nationality de jure of an enemy State,
refugees who do not, in fact, enjoy the protection of any government.
Art. 45. Protected persons shall not be transferred to a Power which
is not a party to the Convention.
This provision shall in no way constitute an obstacle to the
repatriation of protected persons, or to their return to their country
of residence after the cessation of hostilities.
Protected persons may be transferred by the Detaining Power only to a
Power which is a party to the present Convention and after the Detaining
Power has satisfied itself of the willingness and ability of such
transferee Power to apply the present Convention. If protected persons
are transferred under such circumstances, responsibility for the
application of the present Convention rests on the Power accepting them,
while they are in its custody. Nevertheless, if that Power fails to
carry out the provisions of the present Convention in any important
respect, the Power by which the protected persons were transferred
shall, upon being so notified by the Protecting Power, take effective
measures to correct the situation or shall request the return of the
protected persons. Such request must be complied with.
In no circumstances shall a protected person be transferred to a
country where he or she may have reason to fear persecution for his or
her political opinions or religious beliefs.
The provisions of this Article do not constitute an obstacle to the
extradition, in pursuance of extradition treaties concluded before the
outbreak of hostilities, of protected persons accused of offences
against ordinary criminal law.
Art. 46. In so far as they have not been previously withdrawn,
restrictive measures taken regarding protected persons shall be
cancelled as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.
Restrictive measures affecting their property shall be cancelled, in
accordance with the law of the Detaining Power, as soon as possible
after the close of hostilities.
Section III. Occupied
territories
Art. 47. Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be
deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of
the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the
occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the
said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities
of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any
annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory.
Art. 48. Protected persons who are not nationals of the Power whose
territory is occupied, may avail themselves of the right to leave the
territory subject to the provisions of Article 35, and decisions thereon
shall be taken in accordance with the procedure which the Occupying
Power shall establish in accordance with the said Article.
Art. 49. Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as
deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the
territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country,
occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.
Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial
evacuation of a given area if the security of the population or
imperative military reasons so demand. Such evacuations may not involve
the displacement of protected persons outside the bounds of the occupied
territory except when for material reasons it is impossible to avoid
such displacement. Persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to
their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased.
The Occupying Power undertaking such transfers or evacuations shall
ensure, to the greatest practicable extent, that proper accommodation is
provided to receive the protected persons, that the removals are
effected in satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety and
nutrition, and that members of the same family are not separated.
The Protecting Power shall be informed of any transfers and
evacuations as soon as they have taken place.
The Occupying Power shall not detain protected persons in an area
particularly exposed to the dangers of war unless the security of the
population or imperative military reasons so demand.
The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies.
Art. 50. The Occupying Power shall, with the cooperation of the
national and local authorities, facilitate the proper working of all
institutions devoted to the care and education of children.
The Occupying Power shall take all necessary steps to facilitate the
identification of children and the registration of their parentage. It
may not, in any case, change their personal status, nor enlist them in
formations or organizations subordinate to it.
Should the local institutions be inadequate for the purpose, the
Occupying Power shall make arrangements for the maintenance and
education, if possible by persons of their own nationality, language and
religion, of children who are orphaned or separated from their parents
as a result of the war and who cannot be adequately cared for by a near
relative or friend.
A special section of the Bureau set up in accordance with Article 136
shall be responsible for taking all necessary steps to identify children
whose identity is in doubt. Particulars of their parents or other near
relatives should always be recorded if available.
The Occupying Power shall not hinder the application of any
preferential measures in regard to food, medical care and protection
against the effects of war which may have been adopted prior to the
occupation in favour of children under fifteen years, expectant mothers,
and mothers of children under seven years.
Art. 51. The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to
serve in its armed or auxiliary forces. No pressure or propaganda which
aims at securing voluntary enlistment is permitted.
The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to work unless
they are over eighteen years of age, and then only on work which is
necessary either for the needs of the army of occupation, or for the
public utility services, or for the feeding, sheltering, clothing,
transportation or health of the population of the occupied country.
Protected persons may not be compelled to undertake any work which would
involve them in the obligation of taking part in military operations.
The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to employ forcible
means to ensure the security of the installations where they are
performing compulsory labour.
The work shall be carried out only in the occupied territory where
the persons whose services have been requisitioned are. Every such
person shall, so far as possible, be kept in his usual place of
employment. Workers shall be paid a fair wage and the work shall be
proportionate to their physical and intellectual capacities. The
legislation in force in the occupied country concerning working
conditions, and safeguards as regards, in particular, such matters as
wages, hours of work, equipment, preliminary training and compensation
for occupational accidents and diseases, shall be applicable to the
protected persons assigned to the work referred to in this Article.
In no case shall requisition of labour lead to a mobilization of
workers in an organization of a military or semi-military character.
Art. 52. No contract, agreement or regulation shall impair the right
of any worker, whether voluntary or not and wherever he may be, to apply
to the representatives of the Protecting Power in order to request the
said Power's intervention.
All measures aiming at creating unemployment or at restricting the
opportunities offered to workers in an occupied territory, in order to
induce them to work for the Occupying Power, are prohibited.
Art. 53. Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal
property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or
to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or
cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction
is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.
Art. 54. The Occupying Power may not alter the status of public
officials or judges in the occupied territories, or in any way apply
sanctions to or take any measures of coercion or discrimination against
them, should they abstain from fulfilling their functions for reasons of
conscience.
This prohibition does not prejudice the application of the second
paragraph of Article 51. It does not affect the right of the Occupying
Power to remove public officials from their posts.
Art. 55. To the fullest extent
of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of
ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in
particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other
articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate.
The Occupying Power may not requisition foodstuffs, articles or
medical supplies available in the occupied territory, except for use by
the occupation forces and administration personnel, and then only if the
requirements of the civilian population have been taken into account.
Subject to the provisions of other international Conventions, the
Occupying Power shall make arrangements to ensure that fair value is
paid for any requisitioned goods.
The Protecting Power shall, at any time, be at liberty to verify the
state of the food and medical supplies in occupied territories, except
where temporary restrictions are made necessary by imperative military
requirements.
Art. 56. To the fullest extent
of the means available to it, the public Occupying Power has the duty of
ensuring and maintaining, with the cooperation of national and local
authorities, the medical and hospital establishments and services,
public health and hygiene in the occupied territory, with particular
reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and
preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious
diseases and epidemics. Medical personnel of all categories shall be
allowed to carry out their duties.
If new hospitals are set up in occupied territory and if the
competent organs of the occupied State are not operating there, the
occupying authorities shall, if necessary, grant them the recognition
provided for in Article 18. In similar circumstances, the occupying
authorities shall also grant recognition to hospital personnel and
transport vehicles under the provisions of Articles 20 and 21.
In adopting measures of health and hygiene and in their
implementation, the Occupying Power shall take into consideration the
moral and ethical susceptibilities of the population of the occupied
territory.
Art. 57. The Occupying Power
may requisition civilian hospitals of hospitals only temporarily and
only in cases of urgent necessity for the care of military wounded and
sick, and then on condition that suitable arrangements are made in due
time for the care and treatment of the patients and for the needs of the
civilian population for hospital accommodation.
The material and stores of civilian hospitals cannot be requisitioned
so long as they are necessary for the needs of the civilian population.
Art. 58. The Occupying Power shall permit ministers of religion to
give spiritual assistance to the members of their religious communities.
The Occupying Power shall also accept consignments of books and
articles required for religious needs and shall facilitate their
distribution in occupied territory.
Art. 59. If the whole or part of the population of an occupied
territory is inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to
relief schemes on behalf of the said population, and shall facilitate
them by all the means at its disposal.
Such schemes, which may be undertaken either by States or by
impartial humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee
of the Red Cross, shall consist, in particular, of the provision of
consignments of foodstuffs, medical supplies and clothing.
All Contracting Parties shall permit the free passage of these
consignments and shall guarantee their protection.
A Power granting free passage to consignments on their way to
territory occupied by an adverse Party to the conflict shall, however,
have the right to search the consignments, to regulate their passage
according to prescribed times and routes, and to be reasonably satisfied
through the Protecting Power that these consignments are to be used for
the relief of the needy population and are not to be used for the
benefit of the Occupying Power.
Art. 60. Relief consignments shall in no way relieve the Occupying
Power of any of its responsibilities under Articles 55, 56 and 59. The
Occupying Power shall in no way whatsoever divert relief consignments
from the purpose for which they are intended, except in cases of urgent
necessity, in the interests of the population of the occupied territory
and with the consent of the Protecting Power.
Art. 61. The distribution of the relief consignments referred to in
the foregoing Articles shall be carried out with the cooperation and
under the supervision of the Protecting Power. This duty may also be
delegated, by agreement between the Occupying Power and the Protecting
Power, to a neutral Power, to the International Committee of the Red
Cross or to any other impartial humanitarian body.
Such consignments shall be exempt in occupied territory from all
charges, taxes or customs duties unless these are necessary in the
interests of the economy of the territory. The Occupying Power shall
facilitate the rapid distribution of these consignments.
All Contracting Parties shall endeavour to permit the transit and
transport, free of charge, of such relief consignments on their way to
occupied territories.
Art. 62. Subject to imperative reasons of security, protected persons
in occupied territories shall be permitted to receive the individual
relief consignments sent to them.
Art. 63. Subject to temporary and exceptional measures imposed for
urgent reasons of security by the Occupying Power:
(a) recognized National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and
Sun) Societies shall be able to pursue their activities in
accordance with Red Cross principles, as defined by the
International Red Cross Conferences. Other relief societies shall be
permitted to continue their humanitarian activities under similar
conditions;
(b) the Occupying Power may not require any changes in the
personnel or structure of these societies, which would prejudice the
aforesaid activities.
The same principles shall apply to the activities and personnel of
special organizations of a non-military character, which already exist
or which may be established, for the purpose of ensuring the living
conditions of the civilian population by the maintenance of the
essential public utility services, by the distribution of relief and by
the organization of rescues.
Art. 64. The penal laws of the occupied territory shall remain in
force, with the exception that they may be repealed or suspended by the
Occupying Power in cases where they constitute a threat to its security
or an obstacle to the application of the present Convention.
Subject to the latter consideration and to the necessity for ensuring
the effective administration of justice, the tribunals of the occupied
territory shall continue to function in respect of all offences covered
by the said laws.
The Occupying Power may, however, subject the population of the
occupied territory to provisions which are essential to enable the
Occupying Power to fulfil its obligations under the present Convention,
to maintain the orderly government of the territory, and to ensure the
security of the Occupying Power, of the members and property of the
occupying forces or administration, and likewise of the establishments
and lines of communication used by them.
Art. 65. The penal provisions enacted by the Occupying Power shall
not come into force before they have been published and brought to the
knowledge of the inhabitants in their own language. The effect of these
penal provisions shall not be retroactive.
Art. 66. In case of a breach of the penal provisions promulgated by
it by virtue of the second paragraph of Article 64 the Occupying Power
may hand over the accused to its properly constituted, non-political
military courts, on condition that the said courts sit in the occupied
country. Courts of appeal shall preferably sit in the occupied country.
Art. 67. The courts shall apply only those provisions of law which
were applicable prior to the offence, and which are in accordance with
general principles of law, in particular the principle that the penalty
shall be proportionate to the offence. They shall take into
consideration the fact the accused is not a national of the Occupying
Power.
Art. 68. Protected persons who commit an offence which is solely
intended to harm the Occupying Power, but which does not constitute an
attempt on the life or limb of members of the occupying forces or
administration, nor a grave collective danger, nor seriously damage the
property of the occupying forces or administration or the installations
used by them, shall be liable to internment or simple imprisonment,
provided the duration of such internment or imprisonment is
proportionate to the offence committed. Furthermore, internment or
imprisonment shall, for such offences, be the only measure adopted for
depriving protected persons of liberty. The courts provided for under
Article 66 of the present Convention may at their discretion convert a
sentence of imprisonment to one of internment for the same period.
The penal provisions promulgated by the Occupying Power in accordance
with Articles 64 and 65 may impose the death penalty on a protected
person only in cases where the person is guilty of espionage, of serious
acts of sabotage against the military installations of the Occupying
Power or of intentional offences which have caused the death of one or
more persons, provided that such offences were punishable by death under
the law of the occupied territory in force before the occupation began.
The death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected person unless
the attention of the court has been particularly called to the fact that
since the accused is not a national of the Occupying Power, he is not
bound to it by any duty of allegiance.
In any case, the death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected
person who was under eighteen years of age at the time of the offence.
Art. 69. In all cases the duration of the period during which a
protected person accused of an offence is under arrest awaiting trial or
punishment shall be deducted from any period of imprisonment of awarded.
Art. 70. Protected persons shall not be arrested, prosecuted or
convicted by the Occupying Power for acts committed or for opinions
expressed before the occupation, or during a temporary interruption
thereof, with the exception of breaches of the laws and customs of war.
Nationals of the occupying Power who, before the outbreak of
hostilities, have sought refuge in the territory of the occupied State,
shall not be arrested, prosecuted, convicted or deported from the
occupied territory, except for offences committed after the outbreak of
hostilities, or for offences under common law committed before the
outbreak of hostilities which, according to the law of the occupied
State, would have justified extradition in time of peace.
Art. 71. No sentence shall be pronounced by the competent courts of
the Occupying Power except after a regular trial.
Accused persons who are prosecuted by the Occupying Power shall be
promptly informed, in writing, in a language which they understand, of
the particulars of the charges preferred against them, and shall be
brought to trial as rapidly as possible. The Protecting Power shall be
informed of all proceedings instituted by the Occupying Power against
protected persons in respect of charges involving the death penalty or
imprisonment for two years or more; it shall be enabled, at any time, to
obtain information regarding the state of such proceedings. Furthermore,
the Protecting Power shall be entitled, on request, to be furnished with
all particulars of these and of any other proceedings instituted by the
Occupying Power against protected persons.
The notification to the Protecting Power, as provided for in the
second paragraph above, shall be sent immediately, and shall in any case
reach the Protecting Power three weeks before the date of the first
hearing. Unless, at the opening of the trial, evidence is submitted that
the provisions of this Article are fully complied with, the trial shall
not proceed. The notification shall include the following particulars:
(a) description of the accused;
(b) place of residence or
detention;
(c) specification of the charge or charges (with
mention of the penal provisions under which it is brought);
(d)
designation of the court which will hear the case;
(e) place and
date of the first hearing.
Art. 72. Accused persons shall have the right to present evidence
necessary to their defence and may, in particular, call witnesses. They
shall have the right to be assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel
of their own choice, who shall be able to visit them freely and shall
enjoy the necessary facilities for preparing the defence.
Failing a choice by the accused, the Protecting Power may provide him
with an advocate or counsel. When an accused person has to meet a
serious charge and the Protecting Power is not functioning, the
Occupying Power, subject to the consent of the accused, shall provide an
advocate or counsel.
Accused persons shall, unless they freely waive such assistance, be
aided by an interpreter, both during preliminary investigation and
during the hearing in court. They shall have at any time the right to
object to the interpreter and to ask for his replacement.
Art.73. A convicted person shall have the right of appeal provided
for by the laws applied by the court. He shall be fully informed of his
right to appeal or petition and of the time limit within which he may do
so.
The penal procedure provided in the present Section shall apply, as
far as it is applicable, to appeals. Where the laws applied by the Court
make no provision for appeals, the convicted person shall have the right
to petition against the finding and sentence to the competent authority
of the Occupying Power.
Art. 74. Representatives of the Protecting Power shall have the right
to attend the trial of any protected person, unless the hearing has, as
an exceptional measure, to be held in camera in the interests of the
security of the Occupying Power, which shall then notify the Protecting
Power. A notification in respect of the date and place of trial shall be
sent to the Protecting Power.
Any judgement involving a sentence of death, or imprisonment for two
years or more, shall be communicated, with the relevant grounds, as
rapidly as possible to the Protecting Power. The notification shall
contain a reference to the notification made under Article 71 and, in
the case of sentences of imprisonment, the name of the place where the
sentence is to be served. A record of judgements other than those
referred to above shall be kept by the court and shall be open to
inspection by representatives of the Protecting Power. Any period
allowed for appeal in the case of sentences involving the death penalty,
or imprisonment of two years or more, shall not run until notification
of judgement has been received by the Protecting Power.
Art. 75. In no case shall persons condemned to death be deprived of
the right of petition for pardon or reprieve.
No death sentence shall be carried out before the expiration of a
period of a least six months from the date of receipt by the Protecting
Power of the notification of the final judgment confirming such death
sentence, or of an order denying pardon or reprieve.
The six months period of suspension of the death sentence herein
prescribed may be reduced in individual cases in circumstances of grave
emergency involving an organized threat to the security of the Occupying
Power or its forces, provided always that the Protecting Power is
notified of such reduction and is given reasonable time and opportunity
to make representations to the competent occupying authorities in
respect of such death sentences.
Art. 76. Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in
the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences
therein. They shall, if possible, be separated from other detainees and
shall enjoy conditions of food and hygiene which will be sufficient to
keep them in good health, and which will be at least equal to those
obtaining in prisons in the occupied country.
They shall receive the medical attention required by their state of
health.
They shall also have the right to receive any spiritual assistance
which they may require.
Women shall be confined in separate quarters and shall be under the
direct supervision of women.
Proper regard shall be paid to the special treatment due to minors.
Protected persons who are detained shall have the right to be visited
by delegates of the Protecting Power and of the International Committee
of the Red Cross, in accordance with the provisions of Article 143.
Such persons shall have the right to receive at least one relief
parcel monthly.
Art. 77. Protected persons who have been accused of offences or
convicted by the courts in occupied territory, shall be handed over at
the close of occupation, with the relevant records, to the authorities
of the liberated territory.
Art. 78. If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for
imperative reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning
protected persons, it may, at the most, subject them to assigned
residence or to internment.
Decisions regarding such assigned residence or internment shall be
made according to a regular procedure to be prescribed by the Occupying
Power in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention. This
procedure shall include the right of appeal for the parties concerned.
Appeals shall be decided with the least possible delay. In the event of
the decision being upheld, it shall be subject to periodical review, if
possible every six months, by a competent body set up by the said Power.
Protected persons made subject to assigned residence and thus
required to leave their homes shall enjoy the full benefit of Article 39
of the present Convention.
Section IV. Regulations for
the treatment of internees
Chapter I. General provisions
Art. 79. The Parties to the conflict shall not intern protected
persons, except in accordance with the provisions of Articles 41, 42,
43, 68 and 78.
Art. 80. Internees shall retain their full civil capacity and shall
exercise such attendant rights as may be compatible with their status.
Art. 81. Parties to the conflict who intern protected persons shall
be bound to provide free of charge for their maintenance, and to grant
them also the medical attention required by their state of health.
No deduction from the allowances, salaries or credits due to the
internees shall be made for the repayment of these costs.
The Detaining Power shall provide for the support of those dependent
on the internees, if such dependents are without adequate means of
support or are unable to earn a living.
Art.82. The Detaining Power shall, as far as possible, accommodate
the internees according to their nationality, language and customs.
Internees who are nationals of the same country shall not be separated
merely because they have different languages.
Throughout the duration of their internment, members of the same
family, and in particular parents and children, shall be lodged together
in the same place of internment, except when separation of a temporary
nature is necessitated for reasons of employment or health or for the
purposes of enforcement of the provisions of Chapter IX of the present
Section. Internees may request that their children who are left at
liberty without parental care shall be interned with them.
Wherever possible, interned members of the same family shall be
housed in the same premises and given separate accommodation from other
internees, together with facilities for leading a proper family life.
Chapter II. Places of Internment
Art. 83. The Detaining Power shall not set up places of internment in
areas particularly exposed to the dangers of war.
The Detaining Power shall give the enemy Powers, through the
intermediary of the Protecting Powers, all useful information regarding
the geographical location of places of internment.
Whenever military considerations permit, internment camps shall be
indicated by the letters IC, placed so as to be clearly visible in the
daytime from the air. The Powers concerned may, however, agree upon any
other system of marking. No place other than an internment camp shall be
marked as such.
Art.84. Internees shall be accommodated and administered separately
from prisoners of war and from persons deprived of liberty for any other
reason.
Art. 85. The Detaining Power is bound to take all necessary and
possible measures to ensure that protected persons shall, from the
outset of their internment, be accommodated in buildings or quarters
which afford every possible safeguard as regards hygiene and health, and
provide efficient protection against the rigours of the climate and the
effects of the war. In no case shall permanent places of internment be
situated in unhealthy areas or in districts, the climate of which is
injurious to the internees. In all cases where the district, in which a
protected person is temporarily interned, is an unhealthy area or has a
climate which is harmful to his health, he shall be removed to a more
suitable place of internment as rapidly as circumstances permit.
The premises shall be fully protected from dampness, adequately
heated and lighted, in particular between dusk and lights out. The
sleeping quarters shall be sufficiently spacious and well ventilated,
and the internees shall have suitable bedding and sufficient blankets,
account being taken of the climate, and the age, sex, and state of
health of the internees.
Internees shall have for their use, day and night, sanitary
conveniences which conform to the rules of hygiene, and are constantly
maintained in a state of cleanliness. They shall be provided with
sufficient water and soap for their daily personal toilet and for
washing their personal laundry; installations and facilities necessary
for this purpose shall be granted to them. Showers or baths shall also
be available. The necessary time shall be set aside for washing and for
cleaning.
Whenever it is necessary, as an exceptional and temporary measure, to
accommodate women internees who are not members of a family unit in the
same place of internment as men, the provision of separate sleeping
quarters and sanitary conveniences for the use of such women internees
shall be obligatory.
Art. 86. The Detaining Power shall place at the disposal of interned
persons, of whatever denomination, premises suitable for the holding of
their religious services.
Art. 87. Canteens shall be installed in every place of internment,
except where other suitable facilities are available. Their purpose
shall be to enable internees to make purchases, at prices not higher
than local market prices, of foodstuffs and articles of everyday use,
including soap and tobacco, such as would increase their personal
well-being and comfort.
Profits made by canteens shall be credited to a welfare fund to be
set up for each place of internment, and administered for the benefit of
the internees attached to such place of internment. The Internee
Committee provided for in Article 102 shall have the right to check the
management of the canteen and of the said fund.
When a place of internment is closed down, the balance of the welfare
fund shall be transferred to the welfare fund of a place of internment
for internees of the same nationality, or, if such a place does not
exist, to a central welfare fund which shall be administered for the
benefit of all internees remaining in the custody of the Detaining
Power. In case of a general release, the said profits shall be kept by
the Detaining Power, subject to any agreement to the contrary between
the Powers concerned.
Art. 88. In all places of internment exposed to air raids and other
hazards of war, shelters adequate in number and structure to ensure the
necessary protection shall be installed. In case of alarms, the measures
internees shall be free to enter such shelters as quickly as possible,
excepting those who remain for the protection of their quarters against
the aforesaid hazards. Any protective measures taken in favour of the
population shall also apply to them.
All due precautions must be taken in places of internment against the
danger of fire.
Chapter III. Food and
Clothing
Art. 89. Daily food rations for internees shall be sufficient in
quantity, quality and variety to keep internees in a good state of
health and prevent the development of nutritional deficiencies. Account
shall also be taken of the customary diet of the internees.
Internees shall also be given the means by which they can prepare for
themselves any additional food in their possession.
Sufficient drinking water shall be supplied to internees. The use of
tobacco shall be permitted.
Internees who work shall receive additional rations in proportion to
the kind of labour which they perform.
Expectant and nursing mothers and children under fifteen years of
age, shall be given additional food, in proportion to their
physiological needs.
Art. 90. When taken into custody, internees shall be given all
facilities to provide themselves with the necessary clothing, footwear
and change of underwear, and later on, to procure further supplies if
required. Should any internees not have sufficient clothing, account
being taken of the climate, and be unable to procure any, it shall be
provided free of charge to them by the Detaining Power.
The clothing supplied by the Detaining Power to internees and the
outward markings placed on their own clothes shall not be ignominious
nor expose them to ridicule.
Workers shall receive suitable working outfits, including protective
clothing, whenever the nature of their work so requires.
Chapter IV. Hygiene and Medical
Attention
Art. 91. Every place of internment shall have an adequate infirmary,
under the direction of a qualified doctor, where internees may have the
attention they require, as well as appropriate diet. Isolation wards
shall be set aside for cases of contagious or mental diseases.
Maternity cases and internees suffering from serious diseases, or
whose condition requires special treatment, a surgical operation or
hospital care, must be admitted to any institution where adequate
treatment can be given and shall receive care not inferior to that
provided for the general population.
Internees shall, for preference, have the attention of medical
personnel of their own nationality.
Internees may not be prevented from presenting themselves to the
medical authorities for examination. The medical authorities of the
Detaining Power shall, upon request, issue to every internee who has
undergone treatment an official certificate showing the nature of his
illness or injury, and the duration and nature of the treatment given. A
duplicate of this certificate shall be forwarded to the Central Agency
provided for in Article 140.
Treatment, including the provision of any apparatus necessary for the
maintenance of internees in good health, particularly dentures and other
artificial appliances and spectacles, shall be free of charge to the
internee.
Art. 92. Medical inspections of internees shall be made at least once
a month. Their purpose shall be, in particular, to supervise the general
state of health, nutrition and cleanliness of internees, and to detect
contagious diseases, especially tuberculosis, malaria, and venereal
diseases. Such inspections shall include, in particular, the checking of
weight of each internee and, at least once a year, radioscopic
examination.
Chapter V. Religious, Intellectual
and Physical Activities
Art. 93. Internees shall enjoy complete latitude in the exercise of
their religious duties, including attendance at the services of their
faith, on condition that they comply with the disciplinary routine
prescribed by the detaining authorities.
Ministers of religion who are interned shall be allowed to minister
freely to the members of their community. For this purpose the Detaining
Power shall ensure their equitable allocation amongst the various places
of internment in which there are internees speaking the same language
and belonging to the same religion. Should such ministers be too few in
number, the Detaining Power shall provide them with the necessary
facilities, including means of transport, for moving from one place to
another, and they shall be authorized to visit any internees who are in
hospital. Ministers of religion shall be at liberty to correspond on
matters concerning their ministry with the religious authorities in the
country of detention and, as far as possible, with the international
religious organizations of their faith. Such correspondence shall not be
considered as forming a part of the quota mentioned in Article 107. It
shall, however, be subject to the provisions of Article 112.
When internees do not have at their disposal the assistance of
ministers of their faith, or should these latter be too few in number,
the local religious authorities of the same faith may appoint, in
agreement with the Detaining Power, a minister of the internees' faith
or, if such a course is feasible from a denominational point of view, a
minister of similar religion or a qualified layman. The latter shall
enjoy the facilities granted to the ministry he has assumed. Persons so
appointed shall comply with all regulations laid down by the Detaining
Power in the interests of discipline and security.
Art. 94. The Detaining Power shall encourage intellectual,
educational and recreational pursuits, sports and games amongst
internees, whilst leaving them free to take part in them or not. It
shall take all practicable measures to ensure the exercice thereof, in
particular by providing suitable premises.
All possible facilities shall be granted to internees to continue
their studies or to take up new subjects. The education of children and
young people shall be ensured; they shall be allowed to attend schools
either within the place of internment or outside.
Internees shall be given opportunities for physical exercise, sports
and outdoor games. For this purpose, sufficient open spaces shall be set
aside in all places of internment. Special playgrounds shall be reserved
for children and young people.
Art. 95. The Detaining Power shall not employ internees as workers,
unless they so desire. Employment which, if undertaken under compulsion
by a protected person not in internment, would involve a breach of
Articles 40 or 51 of the present Convention, and employment on work
which is of a degrading or humiliating character are in any case
prohibited.
After a working period of six weeks, internees shall be free to give
up work at any moment, subject to eight days' notice.
These provisions constitute no obstacle to the right of the Detaining
Power to employ interned doctors, dentists and other medical personnel
in their professional capacity on behalf of their fellow internees, or
to employ internees for administrative and maintenance work in places of
internment and to detail such persons for work in the kitchens or for
other domestic tasks, or to require such persons to undertake duties
connected with the protection of internees against aerial bombardment or
other war risks. No internee may, however, be required to perform tasks
for which he is, in the opinion of a medical officer, physically
unsuited.
The Detaining Power shall take entire responsibility for all working
conditions, for medical attention, for the payment of wages, and for
ensuring that all employed internees receive compensation for
occupational accidents and diseases. The standards prescribed for the
said working conditions and for compensation shall be in accordance with
the national laws and regulations, and with the existing practice; they
shall in no case be inferior to those obtaining for work of the same
nature in the same district. Wages for work done shall be determined on
an equitable basis by special agreements between the internees, the
Detaining Power, and, if the case arises, employers other than the
Detaining Power to provide for free maintenance of internees and for the
medical attention which their state of health may require. Internees
permanently detailed for categories of work mentioned in the third
paragraph of this Article, shall be paid fair wages by the Detaining
Power. The working conditions and the scale of compensation for
occupational accidents and diseases to internees, thus detailed, shall
not be inferior to those applicable to work of the same nature in the
same district.
Art.96. All labour detachments shall remain part of and dependent
upon a place of internment. The competent authorities of the Detaining
Power and the commandant of a place of internment shall be responsible
for the observance in a labour detachment of the provisions of the
present Convention. The commandant shall keep an up-to-date list of the
labour detachments subordinate to him and shall communicate it to the
delegates of the Protecting Power, of the International Committee of the
Red Cross and of other humanitarian organizations who may visit the
places of internment.
Chapter VI. Personal Property and
Financial Resources
Art. 97. Internees shall be permitted to retain articles of personal
use. Monies, cheques, bonds, etc., and valuables in their possession may
not be taken from them except in accordance with established procedure.
Detailed receipts shall be given therefor.
The amounts shall be paid into the account of every internee as
provided for in Article 98. Such amounts may not be converted into any
other currency unless legislation in force in the territory in which the
owner is interned so requires or the internee gives his consent.
Articles which have above all a personal or sentimental value may not
be taken away.
A woman internee shall not be searched except by a woman.
On release or repatriation, internees shall be given all articles,
monies or other valuables taken from them during internment and shall
receive in currency the balance of any credit to their accounts kept in
accordance with Article 98, with the exception of any articles or
amounts withheld by the Detaining Power by virtue of its legislation in
force. If the property of an internee is so withheld, the owner shall
receive a detailed receipt.
Family or identity documents in the possession of internees may not
be taken away without a receipt being given. At no time shall internees
be left without identity documents. If they have none, they shall be
issued with special documents drawn up by the detaining authorities,
which will serve as their identity papers until the end of their
internment.
Internees may keep on their persons a certain amount of money, in
cash or in the shape of purchase coupons, to enable them to make
purchases.
Art. 98. All internees shall receive regular allowances, sufficient
to enable them to purchase goods and articles, such as tobacco, toilet
requisites, etc. Such allowances may take the form of credits or
purchase coupons.
Furthermore, internees may receive allowances from the Power to which
they owe allegiance, the Protecting Powers, the organizations which may
assist them, or their families, as well as the income on their property
in accordance with the law of the Detaining Power. The amount of
allowances granted by the Power to which they o~e allegiance shall be
the same for each category of internees (infirm, sick, pregnant women,
etc.) but may not be allocated by that Power or distributed by the
Detaining Power on the basis of discriminations between internees which
are prohibited by Article 27 of the present Convention.
The Detaining Power shall open a regular account for every internee,
to which shall be credited the allowances named in the present Article,
the wages earned and the remittances received, together with such sums
taken from him as may be available under the legislation in force in the
territory in which he is interned. Internees shall be granted all
facilities consistent with the legislation in force in such territory to
make remittances to their families and to other dependants. They may
draw from their accounts the amounts necessary for their personal
expenses, within the limits fixed by the Detaining Power. They shall at
all times be afforded reasonable facilities for consulting and obtaining
copies of their accounts. A statement of accounts shall be furnished to
the Protecting Power, on request, and shall accompany the internee in
case of transfer.
Chapter VII. Administration and
Discipline
Art. 99. Every place of internment shall be put under the authority
of a responsible officer, chosen from the regular military forces or the
regular civil administration of the Detaining Power. The officer in
charge of the place of internment must have in his possession a copy of
the present Convention in the official language, or one of the official
languages, of his country and shall be responsible for its application.
The staff in control of internees shall be instructed in the provisions
of the present Convention and of the administrative measures adopted to
ensure its application.
The text of the present Convention and the texts of special
agreements concluded under the said Convention shall be posted inside
the place of internment, in a language which the internees understand,
or shall be in the possession of the Internee Committee.
Regulations, orders, notices and publications of every kind shall be
communicated to the internees and posted inside the places of
internment, in a language which they understand.
Every order and command addressed to internees individually must,
likewise, be given in a language which they understand.
Art. 100. The disciplinary regime in places of internment shall be
consistent with humanitarian principles, and shall in no circumstances
include regulations imposing on internees any physical exertion
dangerous to their health or involving physical or moral victimization.
Identification by tattooing or imprinting signs or markings on the body,
is prohibited.
In particular, prolonged standing and roll-calls, punishment drill,
military drill and manoeuvres, or the reduction of food rations, are
prohibited.
Art. 101. Internees shall have the right to present to the
authorities in whose power they are, any petition with regard to the
conditions of internment to which they are subjected.
They shall also have the right to apply without restriction through
the Internee Committee or, if they consider it necessary, direct to the
representatives of the Protecting Power, in order to indicate to them
any points on which they may have complaints to make with regard to the
conditions of internment.
Such petitions and complaints shall be transmitted forthwith and
without alteration, and even if the latter are recognized to be
unfounded, they may not occasion any punishment.
Periodic reports on the situation in places of internment and as to
the needs of the internees may be sent by the Internee Committees to the
representatives of the Protecting Powers.
Art. 102. In every place of internment, the internees shall freely
elect by secret ballot every six months, the members of a Committee
empowered to represent them before the Detaining and the Protecting
Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross and any other
organization which may assist them. The members of the Committee shall
be eligible for re-election.
Internees so elected shall enter upon their duties after their
election has been approved by the detaining authorities. The reasons for
any refusals or dismissals shall be communicated to the Protecting
Powers concerned.
Art. 103. The Internee Committees shall further the physical,
spiritual and intellectual well-being of the internees.
In case the internees decide, in particular, to organize a system of
mutual assistance amongst themselves, this organization would be within
the competence of the Committees in addition to the special duties
entrusted to them under other provisions of the present Convention.
Art. 104. Members of Internee Committees shall not be required to
perform any other work, if the accomplishment of their duties is
rendered more difficult thereby.
Members of Internee Committees may appoint from amongst the internees
such assistants as they may require. All material facilities shall be
granted to them, particularly a certain freedom of movement necessary
for the accomplishment of their duties (visits to labour detachments,
receipt of supplies, etc.).
All facilities shall likewise be accorded to members of Internee
Committees for communication by post and telegraph with the detaining
authorities, the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the
Red Cross and their delegates, and with the organizations which give
assistance to internees. Committee members in labour detachments shall
enjoy similar facilities for communication with their Internee Committee
in the principal place of internment. Such communications shall not be
limited, nor considered as forming a part of the quota mentioned in
Article 107.
Members of Internee Committees who are transferred shall be allowed a
reasonable time to acquaint their successors with current affairs.
Chaper VIII. Relations with the
Exterior
Art. 105. Immediately upon interning protected persons, the Detaining
Powers shall inform them, the Power to which they owe allegiance and
their Protecting Power of the measures taken for executing the
provisions of the present Chapter. The Detaining Powers shall likewise
inform the Parties concerned of any subsequent modifications of such
measures.
Art. 106. As soon as he is interned, or at the latest not more than
one week after his arrival in a place of internment, and likewise in
cases of sickness or transfer to another place of internment or to a
hospital, every internee shall be enabled to send direct to his family,
on the one hand, and to the Central Agency provided for by Article 140,
on the other, an internment card similar, if possible, to the model
annexed to the present Convention, informing his relatives of his
detention, address and state of health. The said cards shall be
forwarded as rapidly as possible and may not be delayed in any way.
Art. 107. Internees shall be allowed to send and receive letters and
cards. If the Detaining Power deems it necessary to limit the number of
letters and cards sent by each internee, the said number shall not be
less than two letters and four cards monthly; these shall be drawn up so
as to conform as closely as possible to the models annexed to the
present Convention. If limitations must be placed on the correspondence
addressed to internees, they may be ordered only by the Power to which
such internees owe allegiance, possibly at the request of the Detaining
Power. Such letters and cards must be conveyed with reasonable despatch;
they may not be delayed or retained for disciplinary reasons.
Internees who have been a long time without news, or who find it
impossible to receive news from their relatives, or to give them news by
the ordinary postal route, as well as those who are at a considerable
distance from their homes, shall be allowed to send telegrams, the
charges being paid by them in the currency at their disposal. They shall
likewise benefit by this provision in cases which are recognized to be
urgent.
As a rule, internees' mail shall be written in their own language.
The Parties to the conflict may authorize correspondence in other
languages.
Art. 108. Internees shall be allowed to receive, by post or by any
other means, individual parcels or collective shipments containing in
particular foodstuffs, clothing, medical supplies, as well as books and
objects of a devotional, educational or recreational character which may
meet their needs. Such shipments shall in no way free the Detaining
Power from the obligations imposed upon it by virtue of the present
Convention.
Should military necessity require the quantity of such shipments to
be limited, due notice thereof shall be given to the Protecting Power
and to the International Committee of the Red Cross, or to any other
organization giving assistance to the internees and responsible for the
forwarding of such shipments.
The conditions for the sending of individual parcels and collective
shipments shall, if necessary, be the subject of special agreements
between the Powers concerned, which may in no case delay the receipt by
the internees of relief supplies. Parcels of clothing and foodstuffs may
not include books. Medical relief supplies shall, as a rule, be sent in
collective parcels.
Art. 109. In the absence of special agreements between Parties to the
conflict regarding the conditions for the receipt and distribution of
collective relief shipments, the regulations concerning collective
relief which are annexed to the present Convention shall be applied.
The special agreements provided for above shall in no case restrict
the right of Internee Committees to take possession of collective relief
shipments intended for internees, to undertake their distribution and to
dispose of them in the interests of the recipients. Nor shall such
agreements restrict the right of representatives of the Protecting
Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross, or any other
organization giving assistance to internees and responsible for the
forwarding of collective shipments, to supervise their distribution to
the recipients.
Art. 110. An relief shipments for internees shall be exempt from
import, customs and other dues.
All matter sent by mail, including relief parcels sent by parcel post
and remittances of money, addressed from other countries to internees or
despatched by them through the post office, either direct or through the
Information Bureaux provided for in Article 136 and the Central
Information Agency provided for in Article 140, shall be exempt from all
postal dues both in the countries of origin and destination and in
intermediate countries. To this effect, in particular, the exemption
provided by the Universal Postal Convention of 1947 and by the
agreements of the Universal Postal Union in favour of civilians of enemy
nationality detained in camps or civilian prisons, shall be extended to
the other interned persons protected by the present Convention. The
countries not signatory to the above-mentioned agreements shall be bound
to grant freedom from charges in the same circumstances.
The cost of transporting relief shipments which are intended for
internees and which, by reason of their weight or any other cause,
cannot be sent through the post office, shall be borne by the Detaining
Power in all the territories under its control. Other Powers which are
Parties to the present Convention shall bear the cost of transport in
their respective territories.
Costs connected with the transport of such shipments, which are not
covered by the above paragraphs, shall be charged to the senders.
The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to reduce, so far as
possible, the charges for telegrams sent by internees, or addressed to
them.
Art. 111. Should military operations prevent the Powers concerned
from fulfilling their obligation to ensure the conveyance of the mail
and relief shipments provided for in Articles 106, 107, 108 and 113, the
Protecting Powers concerned, the International Committee of the Red
Cross or any other organization duly approved by the Parties to the
conflict may undertake to ensure the conveyance of such shipments by
suitable means (rail, motor vehicles, vessels or aircraft, etc.). For
this purpose, the High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to supply
them with such transport, and to allow its circulation, especially by
granting the necessary safe-conducts.
Such transport may also be used to convey:
(a) correspondence,
lists and reports exchanged between the Central Information Agency
referred to in Article 140 and the National Bureaux referred to in
Article 136;
(b) correspondence and reports relating to internees
which the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red
Cross or any other organization assisting the internees exchange either
with their own delegates or with the Parties to the conflict.
These provisions in no way detract from the right of any Party to the
conflict to arrange other means of transport if it should so prefer, nor
preclude the granting of safe-conducts, under mutually agreed
conditions, to such means of transport.
The costs occasioned by the use of such means of transport shall be
borne, in proportion to the importance of the shipments, by the Parties
to the conflict whose nationals are benefited thereby.
Art. 112. The censoring of correspondence addressed to internees or
despatched by them shall be done as quickly as possible.
The examination of consignments intended for internees shall not be
carried out under conditions that will expose the goods contained in
them to deterioration. It shall be done in the presence of the
addressee, or of a fellow-internee duly delegated by him. The delivery
to internees of individual or collective consignments shall not be
delayed under the pretext of difficulties of censorship.
Any prohibition of correspondence ordered by the Parties to the
conflict either for military or political reasons, shall be only
temporary and its duration shall be as short as possible.
Art. 113. The Detaining Powers shall provide all reasonable execution
facilities for the transmission, through the Protecting Power or the
Central Agency provided for in Article 140, or as otherwise required, of
wills, powers of attorney, letters of authority, or any other documents
intended for internees or despatched by them.
In all cases the Detaining Powers shall facilitate the execution and
authentication in due legal form of such documents on behalf of
internees, in particular by allowing them to consult a lawyer.
Art. 114. The Detaining Power shall afford internees all facilities
to enable them to manage their property, provided this is not
incompatible with the conditions of internment and the law which is
applicable. For this purpose, the said Power may give them permission to
leave the place of internment in urgent cases and if circumstances
allow.
Art. 115. In all cases where an internee is a party to proceedings in
any court, the Detaining Power shall, if he so requests, cause the court
to be informed of his detention and shall, within legal limits, ensure
that all necessary steps are taken to prevent him from being in any way
prejudiced, by reason of his internment, as regards the preparation and
conduct of his case or as regards the execution of any judgment of the
court.
Art.116. Every internee shall be allowed to receive visitors,
especially near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as
possible.
As far as is possible, internees shall be permitted to visit their
homes in urgent cases, particularly in cases of death or serious illness
of relatives.
Chapter IX. Penal and Disciplinary
Sanctions
Art. 117. Subject to the provisions of the present Chapter, the laws
in force in the territory in which they are detained will continue to
apply to internees who commit offences during internment.
If general laws, regulations or orders declare acts committed by
internees to be punishable, whereas the same acts are not punishable
when committed by persons who are not internees, such acts shall entail
disciplinary punishments only.
No internee may be punished more than once for the same act, or on
the same count.
Art. 118. The courts or authorities shall in passing sentence take as
far as possible into account the fact that the defendant is not a
national of the Detaining Power. They shall be free to reduce the
penalty prescribed for the offence with which the internee is charged
and shall not be obliged, to this end, to apply the minimum sentence
prescribed.
Imprisonment in premises without daylight, and, in general, all forms
of cruelty without exception are forbidden.
Internees who have served disciplinary or judicial sentences shall
not be treated differently from other internees.
The duration of preventive detention undergone by an internee shall
be deducted from any disciplinary or judicial penalty involving
confinement to which he may be sentenced.
Internee Committees shall be informed of all judicial proceedings
instituted against internees whom they represent, and of their result.
Art. 119. The disciplinary punishments applicable to internees shall
be the following:
(1) a fine which shall not exceed 50 per cent of the wages which
the internee would otherwise receive under the provisions of Article
95 during a period of not more than thirty days.
(2)
discontinuance of privileges granted over and above the treatment
provided for by the present Convention
(3) fatigue duties, not
exceeding two hours daily, in connection with the maintenance of the
place of internment.
(4) confinement.
In no case shall disciplinary penalties be inhuman, brutal or
dangerous for the health of internees. Account shall be taken of the
internee's age, sex and state of health.
The duration of any single punishment shall in no case exceed a
maximum of thirty consecutive days, even if the internee is answerable
for several breaches of discipline when his case is dealt with, whether
such breaches are connected or not.
Art. 120. Internees who are recaptured after having escaped or when
attempting to escape, shall be liable only to disciplinary punishment in
respect of this act, even if it is a repeated offence.
Article 118, paragraph 3, notwithstanding, internees punished as a
result of escape or attempt to escape, may be subjected to special
surveillance, on condition that such surveillance does not affect the
state of their health, that it is exercised in a place of internment and
that it does not entail the abolition of any of the safeguards granted
by the present Convention.
Internees who aid and abet an escape or attempt to escape, shall be
liable on this count to disciplinary punishment only.
Art. 121. Escape, or attempt to escape, even if it is a repeated
offence, shall not be deemed an aggravating circumstance in cases where
an internee is prosecuted for offences committed during his escape.
The Parties to the conflict shall ensure that the competent
authorities exercise leniency in deciding whether punishment inflicted
for an offence shall be of a disciplinary or judicial nature, especially
in respect of acts committed in connection with an escape, whether
successful or not.
Art. 122. Acts which constitute offences against discipline shall be
investigated immediately. This rule shall be applied, in particular, in
cases of escape or attempt to escape. Recaptured internees shall be
handed over to the competent authorities as soon as possible.
In cases of offences against discipline, confinement awaiting trial
shall be reduced to an absolute minimum for all internees, and shall not
exceed fourteen days. Its duration shall in any case be deducted from
any sentence of confinement.
The provisions of Articles 124 and 125 shall apply to internees who
are in confinement awaiting trial for offences against discipline.
Art. 123. Without prejudice to the competence of courts and higher
authorities, disciplinary punishment may be ordered only by the
commandant of the place of internment, or by a responsible officer or
official who replaces him, or to whom he has delegated his disciplinary
powers.
Before any disciplinary punishment is awarded, the accused internee
shall be given precise information regarding the offences of which he is
accused, and given an opportunity of explaining his conduct and of
defending himself. He shall be permitted, in particular, to call
witnesses and to have recourse, if necessary, to the services of a
qualified interpreter. The decision shall be announced in the presence
of the accused and of a member of the Internee Committee.
The period elapsing between the time of award of a disciplinary
punishment and its execution shall not exceed one month.
When an internee is awarded a further disciplinary punishment, a
period of at least three days shall elapse between the execution of any
two of the punishments, if the duration of one of these is ten days or
more.
A record of disciplinary punishments shall be maintained by the
commandant of the place of internment and shall be open to inspection by
representatives of the Protecting Power.
Art. 124. Internees shall not in any case be transferred to
penitentiary establishments (prisons, penitentiaries, convict prisons,
etc.) to undergo disciplinary punishment therein.
The premises in which disciplinary punishments are undergone shall
conform to sanitary requirements: they shall in particular be provided
with adequate bedding. Internees undergoing punishment shall be enabled
to keep themselves in a state of cleanliness.
Women internees undergoing disciplinary punishment shall be confined
in separate quarters from male internees and shall be under the
immediate supervision of women.
Art. 125. Internees awarded disciplinary punishment shall be allowed
to exercise and to stay in the open air at least two hours daily.
They shall be allowed, if they so request, to be present at the daily
medical inspections. They shall receive the attention which their state
of health requires and, if necessary, shall be removed to the infirmary
of the place of internment or to a hospital.
They shall have permission to read and write, likewise to send and
receive letters. Parcels and remittances of money, however, may be
withheld from them until the completion of their punishment; such
consignments shall meanwhile be entrusted to the Internee Committee, who
will hand over to the infirmary the perishable goods contained in the
parcels.
No internee given a disciplinary punishment may be deprived of the
benefit of the provisions of Articles 107 and 143 of the present
Convention.
Art. 126. The provisions of Articles 71 to 76 inclusive shall apply,
by analogy, to proceedings against internees who are in the national
territory of the Detaining Power.
Chapter X. Transfers of
Internees
Art. 127. The transfer of internees shall always be effected
humanely. As a general rule, it shall be carried out by rail or other
means of transport, and under conditions at least equal to those
obtaining for the forces of the Detaining Power in their changes of
station. If, as an exceptional measure, such removals have to be
effected on foot, they may not take place unless the internees are in a
fit state of health, and may not in any case expose them to excessive
fatigue.
The Detaining Power shall supply internees during transfer with
drinking water and food sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to
maintain them in good health, and also with the necessary clothing,
adequate shelter and the necessary medical attention. The Detaining
Power shall take all suitable precautions to ensure their safety during
transfer, and shall establish before their departure a complete list of
all internees transferred.
Sick, wounded or infirm internees and maternity cases shall not be
transferred if the journey would be seriously detrimental to them,
unless their safety imperatively so demands.
If the combat zone draws close to a place of internment, the
internees in the said place shall not be transferred unless their
removal can be carried out in adequate conditions of safety, or unless
they are exposed to greater risks by remaining on the spot than by being
transferred.
When making decisions regarding the transfer of internees, the
Detaining Power shall take their interests into account and, in
particular, shall not do anything to increase the difficulties of
repatriating them or returning them to their own homes.
Art. 128. In the event of transfer, internees shall be officially
advised of their departure and of their new postal address. Such
notification shall be given in time for them to pack their luggage and
inform their next of kin.
They shall be allowed to take with them their personal effects, and
the correspondence and parcels which have arrived for them. The weight
of such baggage may be limited if the conditions of transfer so require,
but in no case to less than twenty-five kilograms per internee.
Mail and parcels addressed to their former place of internment shall
be forwarded to them without delay.
The commandant of the place of internment shall take, in agreement
with the Internee Committee, any measures needed to ensure the transport
of the internees' community property and of the luggage the internees
are unable to take with them in consequence of restrictions imposed by
virtue of the second paragraph.
Chapter XI. Deaths
Art. 129. The wills of internees shall be received for safe-keeping
by the responsible authorities; and if the event of the death of an
internee his will shall be transmitted without delay to a person whom he
has previously designated. Deaths of internees shall be certified in
every case by a doctor, and a death certificate shall be made out,
showing the causes of death and the conditions under which it occurred.
An official record of the death, duly registered, shall be drawn up
in accordance with the procedure relating thereto in force in the
territory where the place of internment is situated, and a duly
certified copy of such record shall be transmitted without delay to the
Protecting Power as well as to the Central Agency referred to in Article
140.
Art. 130. The detaining authorities shall ensure that internees who
die while interned are honourably buried, if possible according to the
rites of the religion to which they belonged and that their graves are
respected, properly maintained, and marked in such a way that they can
always be recognized.
Deceased internees shall be buried in individual graves unless
unavoidable circumstances require the use of collective graves. Bodies
may be cremated only for imperative reasons of hygiene, on account of
the religion of the deceased or in accordance with his expressed wish to
this effect. In case of cremation, the fact shall be stated and the
reasons given in the death certificate of the deceased. The ashes shall
be retained for safe-keeping by the detaining authorities and shall be
transferred as soon as possible to the next of kin on their request.
As soon as circumstances permit, and not later than the close of
hostilities, the Detaining Power shall forward lists of graves of
deceased internees to the Powers on whom deceased internees depended,
through the Information Bureaux provided for in Article 136. Such lists
shall include all particulars necessary for the identification of the
deceased internees, as well as the exact location of their graves.
Art. 131. Every death or serious injury of an internee, caused or
suspected to have been caused by a sentry, another internee or any other
person, as well as any death the cause of which is unknown, shall be
immediately followed by an official enquiry by the Detaining Power.
A communication on this subject shall be sent immediately to the
Protecting Power. The evidence of any witnesses shall be taken, and a
report including such evidence shall be prepared and forwarded to the
said Protecting Power.
If the enquiry indicates the guilt of one or more persons, the
Detaining Power shall take all necessary steps to ensure the prosecution
of the person or persons responsible.
Chapter XIII. Release,
Repatriation and Accommodation in Neutral Countries
Art. 132. Each interned person shall be released by the Detaining
Power as soon as the reasons which necessitated his internment no longer
exist.
The Parties to the conflict shall, moreover, endeavour during the
course of hostilities, to conclude agreements for the release, the
repatriation, the return to places of residence or the accommodation in
a neutral country of certain classes of internees, in particular
children, pregnant women and mothers with infants and young children,
wounded and sick, and internees who have been detained for a long time.
Art. 133. Internment shall cease as soon as possible after the close
of hostilities.
Internees in the territory of a Party to the conflict against whom
penal proceedings are pending for offences not exclusively subject to
disciplinary penalties, may be detained until the close of such
proceedings and, if circumstances require, until the completion of the
penalty. The same shall apply to internees who have been previously
sentenced to a punishment depriving them of liberty.
By agreement between the Detaining Power and the Powers concerned,
committees may be set up after the close of hostilities, or of the
occupation of territories, to search for dispersed internees.
Art. 134. The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour, upon the
Repatriation close of hostilities or occupation, to ensure the return of
all internees to their last place of residence, or to facilitate their
residence repatriation.
Art. 135. The Detaining Power shall bear the expense of returning
released internees to the places where they were residing when interned,
or, if it took them into custody while they were in transit or on the
high seas, the cost of completing their journey or of their return to
their point of departure.
Where a Detaining Power refuses permission to reside in its territory
to a released internee who previously had his permanent domicile
therein, such Detaining Power shall pay the cost of the said internee's
repatriation. If, however, the internee elects to return to his country
on his own responsibility or in obedience to the Government of the Power
to which he owes allegiance, the Detaining Power need not pay the
expenses of his journey beyond the point of his departure from its
territory. The Detaining Power need not pay the cost of repatriation of
an internee who was interned at his own request.
If internees are transferred in accordance with Article 45, the
transferring and receiving Powers shall agree on the portion of the
above costs to be borne by each.
The foregoing shall not prejudice such special agreements as may be
concluded between Parties to the conflict concerning the exchange and
repatriation of their nationals in enemy hands.
Section V. Information
Bureaux and Central Agency
Art. 136. Upon the outbreak of a conflict and in all cases of
occupation, each of the Parties to the conflict shall establish an
official Information Bureau responsible for receiving and transmitting
information in respect of the protected persons who are in its power.
Each of the Parties to the conflict shall, within the shortest
possible period, give its Bureau information of any measure taken by it
concerning any protected persons who are kept in custody for more than
two weeks, who are subjected to assigned residence or who are interned.
It shall, furthermore, require its various departments concerned with
such matters to provide the aforesaid Bureau promptly with information
concerning all changes pertaining to these protected persons, as, for
example, transfers, releases, repatriations, escapes, admittances to
hospitals, births and deaths.
Art. 137. Each national Bureau shall immediately forward information
concerning protected persons by the most rapid means to the Powers in
whose territory they resided, through the intermediary of the Protecting
Powers and likewise through the Central Agency provided for in Article
140. The Bureaux shall also reply to all enquiries which may be received
regarding protected persons.
Information Bureaux shall transmit information concerning a protected
person unless its transmission might be detrimental to the person
concerned or to his or her relatives. Even in such a case, the
information may not be withheld from the Central Agency which, upon
being notified of the circumstances, will take the necessary precautions
indicated in Article 140.
All communications in writing made by any Bureau shall be
authenticated by a signature or a seal.
Art. 138. The information received by the national Bureau and
transmitted by it shall be of such a character as to make it possible to
identify the protected person exactly and to advise his next of kin
quickly. The information in respect of each person shall include at
least his surname, first names, place and date of birth, nationality
last residence and distinguishing characteristics, the first name of the
father and the maiden name of the mother, the date, place and nature of
the action taken with regard to the individual, the address at which
correspondence may be sent to him and the name and address of the person
to be informed.
Likewise, information regarding the state of health of internees who
are seriously ill or seriously wounded shall be supplied regularly and
if possible every week.
Art. 139. Each national Information Bureau shall, furthermore, be
responsible for collecting all personal valuables left by protected
persons mentioned in Article 136, in particular those who have been
repatriated or released, or who have escaped or died; it shall forward
the said valuables to those concerned, either direct, or, if necessary,
through the Central Agency. Such articles shall be sent by the Bureau in
sealed packets which shall be accompanied by statements giving clear and
full identity particulars of the person to whom the articles belonged,
and by a complete list of the contents of the parcel. Detailed records
shall be maintained of the receipt and despatch of all such valuables.
Art. 140. A Central Information Agency for protected persons, in
particular for internees, shall be created in a neutral country. The
International Committee of the Red Cross shall, if it deems necessary,
propose to the Powers concerned the organization of such an Agency,
which may be the same as that provided for in Article 123 of the Geneva
Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August
1949.
The function of the Agency shall be to collect all information of the
type set forth in Article 136 which it may obtain through official or
private channels and to transmit it as rapidly as possible to the
countries of origin or of residence of the persons concerned, except in
cases where such transmissions might be detrimental to the persons whom
the said information concerns, or to their relatives. It shall receive
from the Parties to the conflict all reasonable facilities for effecting
such transmissions.
The High Contracting Parties, and in particular those whose nationals
benefit by the services of the Central Agency, are requested to give the
said Agency the financial aid it may require.
The foregoing provisions shall in no way be interpreted as
restricting the humanitarian activities of the International Committee
of the Red Cross and of the relief Societies described in Article 142.
Art. 141. The national Information Bureaux and the Central
Information Agency shall enjoy free postage for all mail, likewise the
exemptions provided for in Article 110, and further, so far as possible,
exemption from telegraphic charges or, at least, greatly reduced rates.
