Geneva Convention (IV)

Art. 57. The Occupying Power may requisition civilian hospitals of
hospitals only temporarily and only in cases of urgent necessity for the
care of military wounded and sick, and then on condition that suitable
arrangements are made in due time for the care and treatment of the
patients and for the needs of the civilian population for hospital
accommodation.

The material and stores of civilian hospitals cannot be requisitioned so
long as they are necessary for the needs of the civilian population.

Art. 58. The Occupying Power shall permit ministers of religion to give
spiritual assistance to the members of their religious communities.

The Occupying Power shall also accept consignments of books and articles
required for religious needs and shall facilitate their distribution in
occupied territory.

Art. 59. If the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory is
inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to relief schemes on
behalf of the said population, and shall facilitate them by all the means
at its disposal.

Such schemes, which may be undertaken either by States or by impartial
humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red
Cross, shall consist, in particular, of the provision of consignments of
foodstuffs, medical supplies and clothing.

All Contracting Parties shall permit the free passage of these consignments
and shall guarantee their protection.

A Power granting free passage to consignments on their way to territory
occupied by an adverse Party to the conflict shall, however, have the right
to search the consignments, to regulate their passage according to
prescribed times and routes, and to be reasonably satisfied through the
Protecting Power that these consignments are to be used for the relief of
the needy population and are not to be used for the benefit of the
Occupying Power.

Art. 60. Relief consignments shall in no way relieve the Occupying Power of
any of its responsibilities under Articles 55, 56 and 59. The Occupying
Power shall in no way whatsoever divert relief consignments from the
purpose for which they are intended, except in cases of urgent necessity,
in the interests of the population of the occupied territory and with the
consent of the Protecting Power.

Art. 61. The distribution of the relief consignments referred to in the
foregoing Articles shall be carried out with the cooperation and under the
supervision of the Protecting Power. This duty may also be delegated, by
agreement between the Occupying Power and the Protecting Power, to a
neutral Power, to the International Committee of the Red Cross or to any
other impartial humanitarian body.

Such consignments shall be exempt in occupied territory from all charges,
taxes or customs duties unless these are necessary in the interests of the
economy of the territory. The Occupying Power shall facilitate the rapid
distribution of these consignments.

All Contracting Parties shall endeavour to permit the transit and
transport, free of charge, of such relief consignments on their way to
occupied territories.

Art. 62. Subject to imperative reasons of security, protected persons in
occupied territories shall be permitted to receive the individual relief
consignments sent to them.

Art. 63. Subject to temporary and exceptional measures imposed for urgent
reasons of security by the Occupying Power:

(a) recognized National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun)
Societies shall be able to pursue their activities in accordance with
Red Cross principles, as defined by the International Red Cross
Conferences. Other relief societies shall be permitted to continue
their humanitarian activities under similar conditions;
(b) the Occupying Power may not require any changes in the personnel or
structure of these societies, which would prejudice the aforesaid
activities.

The same principles shall apply to the activities and personnel of special
organizations of a non-military character, which already exist or which may
be established, for the purpose of ensuring the living conditions of the
civilian population by the maintenance of the essential public utility
services, by the distribution of relief and by the organization of rescues.

Art. 64. The penal laws of the occupied territory shall remain in force,
with the exception that they may be repealed or suspended by the Occupying
Power in cases where they constitute a threat to its security or an
obstacle to the application of the present Convention.

Subject to the latter consideration and to the necessity for ensuring the
effective administration of justice, the tribunals of the occupied
territory shall continue to function in respect of all offences covered by
the said laws.

The Occupying Power may, however, subject the population of the occupied
territory to provisions which are essential to enable the Occupying Power
to fulfil its obligations under the present Convention, to maintain the
orderly government of the territory, and to ensure the security of the
Occupying Power, of the members and property of the occupying forces or
administration, and likewise of the establishments and lines of
communication used by them.

Art. 65. The penal provisions enacted by the Occupying Power shall not come
into force before they have been published and brought to the knowledge of
the inhabitants in their own language. The effect of these penal provisions
shall not be retroactive.

Art. 66. In case of a breach of the penal provisions promulgated by it by
virtue of the second paragraph of Article 64 the Occupying Power may hand
over the accused to its properly constituted, non-political military
courts, on condition that the said courts sit in the occupied country .
Courts of appeal shall preferably sit in the occupied country .

Art. 67. The courts shall apply only those provisions of law which were
applicable prior to the offence, and which are in accordance with general
principles of law, in particular the principle that the penalty shall be
proportionate to the offence. They shall take into consideration the fact
the accused is not a national of the Occupying Power.

Art. 68. Protected persons who commit an offence which is solely intended
to harm the Occupying Power, but which does not constitute an attempt on
the life or limb of members of the occupying forces or administration, nor
a grave collective danger, nor seriously damage the property of the
occupying forces or administration or the installations used by them, shall
be liable to internment or simple imprisonment, provided the duration of
such internment or imprisonment is proportionate to the offence committed.
Furthermore, internment or imprisonment shall, for such offences, be the
only measure adopted for depriving protected persons of liberty. The courts
provided for under Article 66 of the present Convention may at their
discretion convert a sentence of imprisonment to one of internment for the
same period.

The penal provisions promulgated by the Occupying Power in accordance with
Articles 64 and 65 may impose the death penalty on a protected person only
in cases where the person is guilty of espionage, of serious acts of
sabotage against the military installations of the Occupying Power or of
intentional offences which have caused the death of one or more persons,
provided that such offences were punishable by death under the law of the
occupied territory in force before the occupation began.

The death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected person unless the
attention of the court has been particularly called to the fact that since
the accused is not a national of the Occupying Power, he is not bound to it
by any duty of allegiance.

In any case, the death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected person
who was under eighteen years of age at the time of the offence.

Author: international