Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land

Art. 7. The Government into whose hands prisoners of war have fallen is
charged with their maintenance.

In the absence of a special agreement between the belligerents, prisoners
of war shall be treated as regards board, lodging, and clothing on the same
footing as the troops of the Government who captured them.

Art. 8. Prisoners of war shall be subject to the laws, regulations, and
orders in force in the army of the State in whose power they are. Any act
of insubordination justifies the adoption towards them of such measures of
severity as may be considered necessary.

Escaped prisoners who are retaken before being able to rejoin their own
army or before leaving the territory occupied by the army which captured
them are liable to disciplinary punishment.

Prisoners who, after succeeding in escaping, are again taken prisoners, are
not liable to any punishment on account of the previous flight.

Art. 9. Every prisoner of war is bound to give, if he is questioned on the
subject, his true name and rank, and if he infringes this rule, he is
liable to have the advantages given to prisoners of his class curtailed.

Art. 10. Prisoners of war may be set at liberty on parole if the laws of
their country allow, and, in such cases, they are bound, on their personal
honour, scrupulously to fulfil, both towards their own Government and the
Government by whom they were made prisoners, the engagements they have
contracted.

In such cases their own Government is bound neither to require of nor
accept from them any service incompatible with the parole given.

Art. 11. A prisoner of war cannot be compelled to accept his liberty on
parole; similarly the hostile Government is not obliged to accede to the
request of the prisoner to be set at liberty on parole.

Art. 12. Prisoners of war liberated on parole and recaptured bearing arms
against the Government to whom they had pledged their honour, or against
the allies of that Government, forfeit their right to be treated as
prisoners of war, and can be brought before the courts.

Art. 13. Individuals who follow an army without directly belonging to it,
such as newspaper correspondents and reporters, sutlers and contractors,
who fall into the enemy’s hands and whom the latter thinks expedient to
detain, are entitled to be treated as prisoners of war, provided they are
in possession of a certificate from the military authorities of the army
which they were accompanying.

Art. 14. An inquiry office for prisoners of war is instituted on the
commencement of hostilities in each of the belligerent States, and, when
necessary, in neutral countries which have received belligerents in their
territory. It is the function of this office to reply to all inquiries
about the prisoners. It receives from the various services concerned full
information respecting internments and transfers. releases on parole,
exchanges, escapes, admissions into hospital, deaths, as well as other
information necessary to enable it to make out and keep up to date an
individual return for each prisoner of war. The office must state in this
return the regimental number, name and surname, age, place of origin, rank,
unit, wounds, date and place of capture, internment, wounding, and death,
as well as any observations of a special character. The individual return
shall be sent to the Government of the other belligerent after the
conclusion of peace.

It is likewise the function of the inquiry office to receive and collect
all objects of personal use, valuables, letters, etc., found on the field
of battle or left by prisoners who have been released on parole, or
exchanged, or who have escaped, or died in hospitals or ambulances, and to
forward them to those concerned.

Art. 15. Relief societies for prisoners of war, which are properly
constituted in accordance with the laws of their country and with the
object of serving as the channel for charitable effort shall receive from
the belligerents, for themselves and their duly accredited agents every
facility for the efficient performance of their humane task within the
bounds imposed by military necessities and administrative regulations.
Agents of these societies may be admitted to the places of internment for
the purpose of distributing relief, as also to the halting places of
repatriated prisoners, if furnished with a personal permit by the military
authorities, and on giving an undertaking in writing to comply with all
measures of order and police which the latter may issue.

Art. 16. Inquiry offices enjoy the privilege of free postage. Letters,
money orders, and valuables, as well as parcels by post, intended for
prisoners of war, or dispatched by them, shall be exempt from all postal
duties in the countries of origin and destination, as well as in the
countries they pass through.

Presents and relief in kind for prisoners of war shall be admitted free of
all import or other duties, as well as of payments for carriage by the
State railways.

Art. 17. Officers taken prisoners shall receive the same rate of pay as of
officers of corresponding rank in the country where they are detained, the
amount to be ultimately refunded by their own Government.

Art. 18. Prisoners of war shall enjoy complete liberty in the exercise of
their religion, including attendance at the services of whatever church
they may belong to, on the sole condition that they comply with the
measures of order and police issued by the military authorities.

Art. 19. The wills of prisoners of war are received or drawn up in the same
way as for soldiers of the national army.

The same rules shall be observed regarding death certificates as well as
for the burial of prisoners of war, due regard being paid to their grade
and rank.

Art. 20. After the conclusion of peace, the repatriation of prisoners of
war shall be carried out as quickly as possible.

Author: international