Geneva Convention (II)

Article 33

Merchant vessels which have been transformed into hospital ships cannot
be put to any other use throughout the duration of hostilities.

Article 34

The protection to which hospital ships and sick-bays 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 due warning has been given, naming in all appropriate cases a
reasonable time limit, and after such warning has remained unheeded.

In particular, hospital ships may not possess or use a secret code for
their wireless or other means of communication.

Article 35

The following conditions shall not be considered as depriving hospital
ships or sick-bays of vessels of the protection due to them:

(1) The fact that the crews of ships or sick-bays are armed for the
maintenance of order, for their own defence or that of the sick and
wounded.
(2) The presence on board of apparatus exclusively intended to
facilitate navigation or communication.
(3) The discovery on board hospital ships or in sick-bays of portable
arms and ammunition taken from the wounded, sick and shipwrecked
and not yet handed to the proper service.
(4) The fact that the humanitarian activities of hospital ships and
sick-bays of vessels or of the crews extend to the care of wounded,
sick or shipwrecked civilians.
(5) The transport of equipment and of personnel intended exclusively
for medical duties, over and above the normal requirements.

Chapter IV

Personnel

Article 36

The religious, medical and hospital personnel of hospital ships and their
crews shall be respected and protected; they may not be captured during
the time they are in the service of the hospital ship, whether or not
there are wounded and sick on board.

Article 37

The religious, medical and hospital personnel assigned to the medical or
spiritual care of the persons designated in Articles 12 and 13 shall, if
they fall into the hands of the enemy, be respected and protected; they
may continue to carry out their duties as long as this is necessary for
the care of the wounded and sick. They shall afterwards be sent back as
soon as the Commander-in-Chief, under whose authority they are, considers
it practicable. They may take with them, on leaving the ship, their
personal property.

If, however, it prove necessary to retain some of this personnel owing to
the medical or spiritual needs of prisoners of war, everything possible
shall be done for their earliest possible landing.

Retained personnel shall be subject, on landing, to the provisions of the
Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded
and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949.

Chapter V

Medical Transport

Article 38

Ships chartered for that purpose shall be authorized to transport
equipment exclusively intended for the treatment of wounded and sick
members of armed forces or for the prevention of disease, provided that
the particulars regarding their voyage have been notified to the adverse
Power and approved by the latter. The adverse Power shall preserve the
right to board the carrier ships, but not to capture them or seize the
equipment carried.

By agreement amongst the Parties to the conflict, neutral observers may
be placed on board such ships to verify the equipment carried. For this
purpose, free access to the equipment shall be given.

Article 39

Medical aircraft, that is to say, aircraft exclusively employed for the
removal of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, and for the transport of
medical personnel and equipment, may not be the object of attack, but
shall be respected by the Parties to the conflict, while flying at
heights, at times and on routes specifically agreed upon between the
Parties to the conflict concerned.

They shall be clearly marked with the distinctive emblem prescribed in
Article 41, together with their national colours, on their lower, upper
and lateral surfaces. They shall be provided with any other markings or
means of identification which may be agreed upon between the Parties to
the conflict upon the outbreak or during the course of hostilities.

Unless agreed otherwise, flights over enemy or enemy-occupied territory
are prohibited.

Medical aircraft shall obey every summons to alight on land or water. In
the event of having thus to alight, the aircraft with its occupants may
continue its flight after examination, if any.

In the event of alighting involuntarily on land or water in enemy or
enemy-occupied territory, the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, as well as
the crew of the aircraft shall be prisoners of war. The medical personnel
shall be treated according to Articles 36 and 37.

Article 40

Subject to the provisions of the second paragraph, medical aircraft of
Parties to the conflict may fly over the territory of neutral Powers,
land thereon in case of necessity, or use it as a port of call. They
shall give neutral Powers prior notice of their passage over the said
territory, and obey every summons to alight, on land or water. They will
be immune from attack only when flying on routes, at heights and at times
specifically agreed upon between the Parties to the conflict and the
neutral Power concerned.

The neutral Powers may, however, place conditions or restrictions on the
passage or landing of medical aircraft on their territory. Such possible
conditions or restrictions shall be applied equally to all Parties to the
conflict.

Unless otherwise agreed between the neutral Powers and the Parties to the
conflict, the wounded, sick or shipwrecked who are disembarked with the
consent of the local authorities on neutral territory by medical aircraft
shall be detained by the neutral Power, where so required by
international law, in such a manner that they cannot again take part in
operations of war. The cost of their accommodation and internment shall
be borne by the Power on which they depend.

Author: international