Geneva Convention (IV)

PART II

GENERAL PROTECTION OF POPULATIONS
AGAINST CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

Art. 13. The provisions of Part II cover the whole of the populations of
the countries in conflict, without any adverse distinction based, in
particular, on race, nationality, religion or political opinion, and are
intended to alleviate the sufferings caused by war.

Art. 14. 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 and safety
zones and localities so organized as to protect from the effects of war,
wounded, sick and aged persons, children under fifteen, expectant mothers
and mothers of children under seven.

Upon the outbreak and during the course of hostilities, the Parties
concerned may conclude agreements on mutual recognition of the 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 and safety zones and localities.

Art. 15. Any Party to the conflict may, either direct or through a neutral
State or some humanitarian organization, propose to the adverse Party to
establish, in the regions where fighting is taking place, neutralized zones
intended to shelter from the effects of war the following persons, without
distinction:
(a) wounded and sick combatants or non-combatants;
(b) civilian persons who take no part in hostilities, and who, while they
reside in the zones, perform no work of a military character.

When the Parties concerned have agreed upon the geographical position,
administration, food supply and supervision of the proposed neutralized
zone, a written agreement shall be concluded and signed by the
representatives of the Parties to the conflict. The agreement shall fix the
beginning and the duration of the neutralization of the zone.

Art. 16. The wounded and sick, as well as the infirm, and expectant
mothers, shall be the object of particular protection and respect.

As far as military considerations allow, each Party to the conflict shall
facilitate the steps taken to search for the killed and wounded, to assist
the shipwrecked and other persons exposed to grave danger, and to protect
them against pillage and ill-treatment.

Art. 17. The Parties to the conflict shall endeavour to conclude local
agreements for the removal from besieged or encircled areas, of wounded,
sick, infirm, and aged persons, children and maternity cases, and for the
passage of ministers of all religions, medical personnel and medical
equipment on their way to such areas.

Art. 18. Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick,
the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of
attack but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to
the conflict.

States which are Parties to a conflict shall provide all civilian hospitals
with certificates showing that they are civilian hospitals and that the
buildings which they occupy are not used for any purpose which would
deprive these hospitals of protection in accordance with Article 19.

Civilian hospitals shall be marked by means of the emblem provided for in
Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition
of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949, but
only if so authorized by the State.

The Parties to the conflict shall, in so far as military considerations
permit, take the necessary steps to make the distinctive emblems indicating
civilian hospitals clearly visible to the enemy land, air and naval forces
in order to obviate the possibility of any hostile action.

In view of the dangers to which hospitals may be exposed by being close to
military objectives, it is recommended that such hospitals be situated as
far as possible from such objectives.

Art. 19. The protection to which civilian hospitals 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.
The fact that sick or wounded members of the armed forces are nursed in
these hospitals, or the presence of small arms and ammunition taken from
such combatants which have not yet been handed to the proper service, shall
not be considered to be acts harmful to the enemy.

Art. 20. Persons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and
administration of civilian hospitals, including the personnel engaged in
the search for, removal and transporting of and caring for wounded and sick
civilians, the infirm and maternity cases shall be respected and protected.

In occupied territory and in zones of military operations, the above
personnel shall be recognizable by means of an identity card certifying
their status, bearing the photograph of the holder and embossed with the
stamp of the responsible authority, and also by means of a stamped,
water-resistant armlet which they shall wear on the left arm while carrying
out their duties. This armlet shall be issued by the State and shall bear
the emblem provided for in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the
Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in
the Field of 12 August 1949.

Other personnel who are engaged in the operation and administration of
civilian hospitals shall be entitled to respect and protection and to wear
the armlet, as provided in and under the conditions prescribed in this
Article, while they are employed on such duties. The identity card shall
state the duties on which they are employed.

The management of each hospital shall at all times hold at the disposal of
the competent national or occupying authorities an up-to-date list of such
personnel.

Art. 21. Convoys of vehicles or hospital trains on land or specially
provided vessels on sea, conveying wounded and sick civilians, the infirm
and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected in the same manner as
the hospitals provided for in Article 18, and shall be marked, with the
consent of the State, by the display of the distinctive emblem provided for
in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August
1949.

Art.22. Aircraft exclusively employed for the removal of wounded and sick
civilians, the infirm and maternity cases or for the transport of medical
personnel and equipment, shall not be attacked, but shall be respected
while flying at heights, times and on routes specifically agreed upon
between all the Parties to the conflict concerned.

They may be marked with the distinctive emblem provided for in Article 38
of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the
Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949.

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

Such aircraft shall obey every summons to land. In the event of a landing
thus imposed, the aircraft with its occupants may continue its flight after
examination, if any.

Art. 23. Each High Contracting Party shall allow the free passage of all
consignments of medical and hospital stores and objects necessary for
religious worship intended only for civilians of another High Contracting
Party, even if the latter is its adversary. It shall likewise permit the
free passage of all consignments of essential foodstuffs, clothing and
tonics intended for children under fifteen, expectant mothers and maternity
cases.

The obligation of a High Contracting Party to allow the free passage of the
consignments indicated in the preceding paragraph is subject to the
condition that this Party is satisfied that there are no serious reasons
for fearing:
(a) that the consignments may be diverted from their destination,
(b) that the control may not be effective, or
(c) that a definite advantage may accrue to the military efforts or
economy of the enemy through the substitution of the above-mentioned
consignments for goods which would otherwise be provided or produced
by the enemy or through the release of such material, services or
facilities as would otherwise be required for the production of such
goods.

The Power which allows the passage of the consignments indicated in the
first paragraph of this Article may make such permission conditional on the
distribution to the persons benefited thereby being made under the local
supervision of the Protecting Powers.

Such consignments shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible, and the Power
which permits their free passage shall have the right to prescribe the
technical arrangements under which such passage is allowed.

Art.24. The Parties to the conflict shall take the necessary measures to
ensure that children under fifteen, who are orphaned or are separated from
their families as a result of the war, are not left to their own resources,
and that their maintenance, the exercise of their religion and their
Education are facilitated in all circumstances. Their Education shall, as
far as possible, be entrusted to persons of a similar cultural tradition.

The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate the reception of such children
in a neutral country for the duration of the conflict with the consent of
the Protecting Power, if any, and under due safeguards for the observance
of the principles stated in the first paragraph.

They shall, furthermore, endeavour to arrange for all children under twelve
to be identified by the wearing of identity discs, or by some other means.

Art. 25. All persons in the territory of a Party to the conflict, or in a
territory occupied by it, shall be enabled to give news of a strictly
personal nature to members of their families, wherever they may be, and to
receive news from them. This correspondence shall be forwarded speedily and
without undue delay.

If, as a result of circumstances, it becomes difficult or impossible to
exchange family correspondence by the ordinary post, the Parties to the
conflict concerned shall apply to a neutral intermediary, such as the
Central Agency provided for in Article 140, and shall decide in
consultation with it how to ensure the fulfilment of their obligations
under the best possible conditions, in particular with the cooperation of
the National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societies.

If the Parties to the conflict deem it necessary to restrict family
correspondence, such restrictions shall be confined to the compulsory use
of standard forms containing twenty-five freely chosen words, and to the
limitation of the number of these forms despatched to one each month.

Art. 26. Each Party to the conflict shall facilitate enquiries made by
members of families dispersed owing to the war, with the object of renewing
contact with one another and of meeting, if possible. It shall encourage,
in particular, the work of organizations engaged on this task provided they
are acceptable to it and conform to its security regulations.

Author: international