Geneva Convention (I) 3

Geneva Convention (I)

 

CHAPTER III

Medical Units and Establishments

Art. 19. Fixed establishments and mobile medical units of the Medical
Service may in no circumstances be attacked, but shall at all times be
respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict. Should they fall
into the hands of the adverse Party, their personnel shall be free to
pursue their duties, as long as the capturing Power has not itself ensured
the necessary care of the wounded and sick found in such establishments and
units.

The responsible authorities shall ensure that the said medical
establishments and units are, as far as possible, situated in such a manner
that attacks against military objectives cannot imperil their safety.

Art. 20. Hospital ships entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention
for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked
Members of Armed Forces at Sea of 12 August 1949, shall not be attacked
from the land.

Art. 21. The protection to which fixed establishments and mobile medical
units of the Medical Service are entitled shall not cease unless they are
used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the
enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after a due warning has been
given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit, and after
such warning has remained unheeded.

Art. 22. The following conditions shall not be considered as depriving a
medical unit or establishment of the protection guaranteed by Article 19:

(1) That the personnel of the unit or establishment are armed, and that
they use the arms in their own defence, or in that of the wounded and
sick in their charge.
(2) That in the absence of armed orderlies, the unit or establishment is
protected by a picket or by sentries or by an escort.
(3) That small arms and ammunition taken from the wounded and sick and
not yet handed to the proper service, are found in the unit or
establishment.
(4) That personnel and material of the veterinary service are found in
the unit or establishment, without forming an integral part thereof.
(5) That the humanitarian activities of medical units and establishments
or of their personnel extend to the care of civilian wounded or sick.

Art. 23. In time of peace, the High Contracting Parties and, after the
outbreak of hostilities, the Parties thereto, may establish in their own
territory and, if the need arises, in occupied areas, hospital zones and
localities so organized as to protect the wounded and sick from the effects
of war, as well as the personnel entrusted with the organization and
administration of these zones and localities and with the care of the
persons therein assembled.

Upon the outbreak and during the course of hostilities, the Parties
concerned may conclude agreements on mutual recognition of the hospital
zones and localities they have created. They may for this purpose implement
the provisions of the Draft Agreement annexed to the present Convention,
with such amendments as they may consider necessary.

The Protecting Powers and the International Committee of the Red Cross are
invited to lend their good offices in order to facilitate the institution
and recognition of these hospital zones and localities.

CHAPTER IV

Personnel

Art. 24. Medical personnel exclusively engaged in the search for, or the
collection, transport or treatment of the wounded or sick, or in the
prevention of disease, staff exclusively engaged in the administration of
medical units and establishments, as well as chaplains attached to the
armed forces, shall be respected and protected in all circumstances.

Art. 25. Members of the armed forces specially trained for employment,
should the need arise, as hospital orderlies, nurses or auxiliary
stretcher-bearers, in the search for or the collection, transport or
treatment of the wounded and sick shall likewise be respected and protected
if they are carrying out these duties at the time when they come into
contact with the enemy or fall into his hands.

Art. 26. The staff of National Red Cross Societies and that of other
Voluntary Aid Societies, duly recognized and authorized by their
Governments, who may be employed on the same duties as the personnel named
in Article 24, are placed on the same footing as the personnel named in the
said Article, provided that the staff of such societies are subject to
military laws and regulations.

Each High Contracting Party shall notify to the other, either in time of
peace or at the commencement of or during hostilities, but in any case
before actually employing them, the names of the societies which it has
authorized, under its responsibility, to render assistance to the regular
medical service of its armed forces.

 

Art. 27. A recognized Society of a neutral country can only lend the
assistance of its medical personnel and units to a Party to the conflict
with the previous consent of its own Government and the authorization of
the Party to the conflict concerned. That personnel and those units shall
be placed under the control of that Party to the conflict.

The neutral Government shall notify this consent to the adversary of the
State which accepts such assistance. The Party to the conflict who accepts
such assistance is bound to notify the adverse Party thereof before making
any use of it.

In no circumstances shall this assistance be considered as interference in
the conflict.

The members of the personnel named in the first paragraph shall be duly
furnished with the identity cards provided for in Article 40 before leaving
the neutral country to which they belong.

Art. 28. Personnel designated in Articles 24 and 26 who fall into the hands
of the adverse Party, shall be retained only in so far as the state of
health, the spiritual needs and the number of prisoners of war require.

Personnel thus retained shall not be deemed prisoners of war. Nevertheless
they shall at least benefit by all the provisions of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949. Within the
framework of the military laws and regulations of the Detaining Power, and
under the authority of its competent service, they shall continue to carry
out, in accordance with their professional ethics, their medical and
spiritual duties on behalf of prisoners of war, preferably those of the
armed forces to which they themselves belong. They shall further enjoy the
following facilities for carrying out their medical or spiritual duties:
(a) They shall be authorized to visit periodically the prisoners of war
in labour units or hospitals outside the camp. The Detaining Power
shall put at their disposal the means of transport required.
(b) In each camp the senior medical officer of the highest rank shall be
responsible to the military authorities of the camp for the
professional activity of the retained medical personnel. For this
purpose, from the outbreak of hostilities, the Parties to the
conflict shall agree regarding the corresponding seniority of the
ranks of their medical personnel, including those of the societies
designated in Article 26. In all questions arising out of their
duties, this medical officer, and the chaplains, shall have direct
access to the military and medical authorities of the camp who shall
grant them the facilities they may require for correspondence
relating to these questions.
(c) Although retained personnel in a camp shall be subject to its
internal discipline, they shall not, however, be required to perform
any work outside their medical or religious duties.

During hostilities the Parties to the conflict shall make arrangements for
relieving where possible retained personnel, and shall settle the procedure
of such relief.

None of the preceding provisions shall relieve the Detaining Power of the
obligations imposed upon it with regard to the medical and spiritual
welfare of the prisoners of war.

 

 

 

Conclusion

Notes

See Also

References and Further Reading

About the Author/s and Reviewer/s

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