Geneva Convention (II)

 

Article 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, sick and shipwrecked persons, medical personnel
and chaplains, and for their relief.

Article 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, sick and shipwrecked, 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.

Article 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, sick and shipwrecked, 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, sick and Shipwrecked

Article12

Members of the armed forces and other persons mentioned in the following
Article, who are at sea and who are wounded, sick or shipwrecked, shall
be respected and protected in all circumstances, it being understood that
the term “shipwreck”means shipwreck from any cause and includes forced
landings at sea by or from aircraft.

Such persons shall be treated humanely and cared for by the Parties 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.

Article 13

The present Convention shall apply to the wounded, sick and shipwrecked
at sea belonging to the following categories:

(1) Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict, as well as
members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed
forces.
(2) Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps,
including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a
Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own
territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such
militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance
movements, fulfil the following conditions:

(a) that of being commanded by a person responsible for his
subordinates;
(b) that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a
distance;
(c) that of carrying arms openly;
(d) that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws
and customs of war.

(3) Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a
Government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.
(4) Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being
members thereof, such as civilian members of military aircraft
crews, war correspondents, supply contractors, members of labour
units or of services responsible for the welfare of the armed
forces, provided that they have received authorization from the
armed forces which they accompany.
(5) Members of crews, including masters, pilots and apprentices, of the
merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft of the Parties to
the conflict, who do not benefit by more favourable treatment under
any Other provisions of international law.
(6) Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory who, on the approach of the
enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces,
without having had time to form themselves into regular armed
units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and
customs of war.

Article 14

All warships of a belligerent Party shall have the right to demand that
the wounded, sick or shipwrecked on board military hospital ships, and
hospital ships belonging to relief societies or to private individuals,
as well as merchant vessels, yachts and other craft shall be surrendered,
whatever their nationality, provided that the wounded and sick are in a
fit state to be moved and that the warship can provide adequate
facilities for necessary medical treatment.

Article 15

If wounded, sick or shipwrecked persons are taken on board a neutral
warship or a neutral military aircraft, it shall be ensured, where so
required by international law, that they can take no further part in
operations of war.

Article 16

Subject to the provisions of Article 12, the wounded, sick and
shipwrecked of a belligerent who fall into enemy hands shall be prisoners
of war, and the provisions of international law concerning prisoners of
war shall apply to them. The captor may decide, according to
circumstances, whether it is expedient to hold them, or to convey them to
a port in the captor’s own country , to a neutral port or even to a port
in enemy territory. In the last case, prisoners of war thus returned to
their home country may not serve for the duration of the war.

Article 17

Wounded, sick or shipwrecked persons who are landed in neutral ports with
the consent of the local authorities, shall, failing arrangements to the
contrary between the neutral and the belligerent Powers, be so guarded by
the neutral Power, where so required by international law, that the said
persons cannot again take part in operations of war.

The costs of hospital accommodation and internment shall be borne by the
Power on whom the wounded, sick or shipwrecked persons depend.

Article 18

After each engagement, Parties to the conflict shall, without delay, take
all possible measures to search for and collect the shipwrecked, wounded
and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure
their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being
despoiled.

Whenever circumstances permit, the Parties to the conflict shall conclude
local arrangements for the removal of the wounded and sick by sea from a
besieged or encircled area and for the passage of medical and religious
personnel and equipment on their way to that area.

Article 19

The Parties to the conflict shall record as soon as possible, in respect
of each shipwrecked, wounded, sick or dead person of the adverse Party
falling into their hands, any particulars which may assist in his
identification. These records should if possible include:

(a) designation of the Power on which he depends;
(b) army, regimental, personal or serial number;
(c) surname;
(d) first name or names;
(e) date of birth;
(f) any other particulars shown on his identity card or disc;
(g) date and place of capture or death;
(h) particulars concerning wounds or illness, or cause of death.

As soon as possible the above-mentioned information shall be forwarded to
the information bureau described in Article 122 of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, which
shall transmit this information to the Power on which these persons
depend through the intermediary of the Protecting Power and of the
Central Prisoners of War Agency.

Parties to the conflict shall prepare and forward to each other through
the same bureau, certificates of death or duly authenticated lists of the
dead. They shall likewise collect and forward through the same bureau one
half of the double identity disc, or the identity disc itself if it is a
single disc, last wills or other documents of importance to the next of
kin, money and in general all articles of an intrinsic or sentimental
value, which are found on the dead. These articles, together with
unidentified articles, shall be sent in sealed packets, accompanied by
statements giving all particulars necessary for the identification of the
deceased owners, as well as by a complete list of the contents of the
parcel.

 

Author: international