Geneva Convention (I)

CHAPTER I

General Provisions

Article 1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure
respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.

Art. 2. In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in
peacetime, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war
or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the
High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one
of them.

The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation
of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation
meets with no armed resistance.

Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the present
Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in
their mutual relations. They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention
in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies the
provisions thereof.

Art. 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character
occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each
Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a
minimum, the following provisions:

(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members
of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors
de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall
in all circumstances be treated humanely,without any adverse
distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or
wealth, or any other similar criteria.
To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at
any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the
above-mentioned persons:
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds,
mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) taking of hostages;
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and
degrading treatment;
(d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions
without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted
court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as
indispensable by civilized peoples.

(2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the
Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.

The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force,
by means of special agreements, all or part of the Other provisions of the
present Convention.

The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal
status of the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 4. Neutral Powers shall apply by analogy the provisions of the present
Convention to the wounded and sick, and to members of the medical personnel
and to chaplains of the armed forces of the Parties to the conflict,
received or interned in their territory, as well as to dead persons found.

Art. 5. For the protected persons who have fallen into the hands of the
enemy, the present Convention shall apply until their final repatriation.

Art. 6. In addition to the agreements expressly provided for in Articles
10, 15, 23, 28, 31, 36, 37 and 52, the High Contracting Parties may
conclude other special agreements for all matters concerning which they may
deem it suitable to make separate provision. No special agreement shall
adversely affect the situation of the wounded and sick, of members of the
medical personnel or of chaplains, as defined by the present Convention,
nor restrict the rights which it confers upon them.

Wounded and sick, as well as medical personnel and chaplains, shall
continue to have the benefit of such agreements as long as the Convention
is applicable to them, except where express provisions to the contrary are
contained in the aforesaid or in subsequent agreements, or where more
favourable measures have been taken j with regard to them by one or other
of the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 7. Wounded and sick, as well as members of the medical personnel and
chaplains, may in no circumstances renounce in part or in entirety the
rights secured to them by the present Convention, and by the special
agreements referred to in the foregoing Article, if such there be.

Art. 8. The present Convention shall be applied with the cooperation and
under the scrutiny of the Protecting Powers whose duty it is to safeguard
the interests of the Parties to the conflict. For this purpose, the
Protecting Powers may appoint, apart from their diplomatic or consular
staff, delegates from amongst their own nationals or the nationals of other
neutral Powers. The said delegates shall be subject to the approval of the
Power with which they are to carry out their duties.

The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate to the greatest extent
possible, the task of the representatives or delegates of the Protecting
Powers.

The representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall not in any
case exceed their mission under the present Convention. They shall, in
particular, take account of the imperative necessities of security of the
State wherein they carry out their duties. Their activities shall only be
restricted as an exceptional and temporary measure when this is rendered
necessary by imperative military necessities.

Art. 9. The provisions of the present Convention constitute no obstacle to
the humanitarian activities which the International Committee of the Red
Cross or any other impartial humanitarian organization may, subject to the
consent of the Parties to the conflict concerned, undertake for the
protection of wounded and sick, medical personnel and chaplains, and for
their relief.

Art. 10. The High Contracting Parties may at any time agree to entrust to
an organization which offers all guarantees of impartiality and efficacy
the duties incumbent on the Protecting Powers by virtue of the present
Convention.

When wounded and sick, or medical personnel and chaplains do not benefit or
cease to benefit, no matter for what reason, by the activities of a
Protecting Power or of an organization provided for in the first paragraph
above, the Detaining Power shall request a neutral State, or such an
organization, to undertake the functions performed under the present
Convention by a Protecting Power designated by the Parties to a conflict.

If protection cannot be arranged accordingly, the Detaining Power shall
request or shall accept, subject to the provisions of this Article, the
offer of the services of a humanitarian organization, such as the
International Committee of the Red Cross, to assume the humanitarian
functions performed by Protecting Powers under the present Convention.

Any neutral Power, or any organization invited by the Power concerned or
offering itself for these purposes, shall be required to act with a sense
of responsibility towards the Party to the conflict on which persons
protected by the present Convention depend, and shall be required to
furnish sufficient assurances that it is in a position to undertake the
appropriate functions and to discharge them impartially.

No derogation from the preceding provisions shall be made by special
agreements between Powers one of which is restricted, even temporarily, in
its freedom to negotiate with the other Power or its allies by reason of
military events, more particularly where the whole, or a substantial part,
of the territory of the said Power is occupied.

Whenever, in the present Convention, mention is made of a Protecting Power,
such mention also applies to substitute organizations in the sense of the
present Article.

Art. 11. In cases where they deem it advisable in the interest of protected
persons, particularly in cases of disagreement between the Parties to the
conflict as to the application or interpretation of the provisions of the
present Convention, the Protecting Powers shall lend their good offices
with a view to settling the disagreement.

For this purpose, each of the Protecting Powers may, either at the
invitation of one Party or on its own initiative, propose to the Parties to
the conflict a meeting of their representatives, in particular of the
authorities responsible for the wounded and sick, members of medical
personnel and chaplains, possibly on neutral territory suitably chosen. The
Parties to the conflict shall be bound to give effect to the proposals made
to them for this purpose. The Protecting Powers may, if necessary, propose
for approval by the Parties to the conflict, a person belonging to a
neutral Power or delegated by the International Committee of the Red Cross,
who shall be invited to take part in such a meeting

CHAPTER II

Wounded and Sick

Art. 12. Members of the armed forces and other persons mentioned in the
following Article, who are wounded or sick, shall be respected and
protected in all circumstances.

They shall be treated humanely and cared for by the Party to the conflict
in whose power they may be, without any adverse distinction founded on sex,
race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any other similar
criteria. Any attempts upon their lives, or violence to their persons,
shall be strictly prohibited; in particular, they shall not be murdered or
exterminated, subjected to torture or to biological experiments; they shall
not wilfully be left without medical assistance and care, nor shall
conditions exposing them to contagion or infection be created.

Only urgent medical reasons will authorize priority in the order of
treatment to be administered.

Women shall be treated with all consideration due to their sex. The Party
to the conflict which is compelled to abandon wounded or sick to the enemy
shall, as far as military considerations permit, leave with them a part of
its medical personnel and material to assist in their care.

Author: international