Geneva Convention (IV)

CHAPTER III

Food and Clothing

Art. 89. Daily food rations for internees shall be sufficient in quantity,
quality and variety to keep internees in a good state of health and prevent
the development of nutritional deficiencies. Account shall also be taken of
the customary diet of the internees.

Internees shall also be given the means by which they can prepare for
themselves any additional food in their possession.

Sufficient drinking water shall be supplied to internees. The use of
tobacco shall be permitted.

Internees who work shall receive additional rations in proportion to the
kind of labour which they perform.

Expectant and nursing mothers and children under fifteen years of age,
shall be given additional food, in proportion to their physiological needs.

Art. 90. When taken into custody, internees shall be given all facilities
to provide themselves with the necessary clothing, footwear and change of
underwear, and later on, to procure further supplies if required. Should
any internees not have sufficient clothing, account being taken of the
climate, and be unable to procure any, it shall be provided free of charge
to them by the Detaining Power.

The clothing supplied by the Detaining Power to internees and the outward
markings placed on their own clothes shall not be ignominious nor expose
them to ridicule.

Workers shall receive suitable working outfits, including protective
clothing, whenever the nature of their work so requires.

CHAPTER IV

Hygiene and Medical Attention

Art. 91. Every place of internment shall have an adequate infirmary, under
the direction of a qualified doctor, where internees may have the attention
they require, as well as appropriate diet. Isolation wards shall be set
aside for cases of contagious or mental diseases.

Maternity cases and internees suffering from serious diseases, or whose
condition requires special treatment, a surgical operation or hospital
care, must be admitted to any institution where adequate treatment can be
given and shall receive care not inferior to that provided for the general
population.

Internees shall, for preference, have the attention of medical personnel of
their own nationality.

Internees may not be prevented from presenting themselves to the medical
authorities for examination. The medical authorities of the Detaining Power
shall, upon request, issue to every internee who has undergone treatment an
official certificate showing the nature of his illness or injury, and the
duration and nature of the treatment given. A duplicate of this certificate
shall be forwarded to the Central Agency provided for in Article 140.

Treatment, including the provision of any apparatus necessary for the
maintenance of internees in good health, particularly dentures and other
artificial appliances and spectacles, shall be free of charge to the
internee.

Art. 92. Medical inspections of internees shall be made at least once a
month. Their purpose shall be, in particular, to supervise the general
state of health, nutrition and cleanliness of internees, and to detect
contagious diseases, especially tuberculosis, malaria, and venereal
diseases. Such inspections shall include, in particular, the checking of
weight of each internee and, at least once a year, radioscopic examination.

CHAPTER V

Religious, Intellectual and Physical
Activities

Art. 93. Internees shall enjoy complete latitude in the exercise of their
religious duties, including attendance at the services of their faith, on
condition that they comply with the disciplinary routine prescribed by the
detaining authorities.

Ministers of religion who are interned shall be allowed to minister freely
to the members of their community. For this purpose the Detaining Power
shall ensure their equitable allocation amongst the various places of
internment in which there are internees speaking the same language and
belonging to the same religion. Should such ministers be too few in number,
the Detaining Power shall provide them with the necessary facilities,
including means of transport, for moving from one place to another, and
they shall be authorized to visit any internees who are in hospital.
Ministers of religion shall be at liberty to correspond on matters
concerning their ministry with the religious authorities in the country of
detention and, as far as possible, with the international religious
organizations of their faith. Such correspondence shall not be considered
as forming a part of the quota mentioned in Article 107. It shall, however,
be subject to the provisions of Article 112.

When internees do not have at their disposal the assistance of ministers of
their faith, or should these latter be too few in number, the local
religious authorities of the same faith may appoint, in agreement with the
Detaining Power, a minister of the internees’ faith or, if such a course is
feasible from a denominational point of view, a minister of similar
religion or a qualified layman. The latter shall enjoy the facilities
granted to the ministry he has assumed. Persons so appointed shall comply
with all regulations laid down by the Detaining Power in the interests of
discipline and security.

Art. 94. The Detaining Power shall encourage intellectual, educational and
recreational pursuits, sports and games amongst internees, whilst leaving
them free to take part in them or not. It shall take all practicable
measures to ensure the exercice thereof, in particular by providing
suitable premises.

All possible facilities shall be granted to internees to continue their
studies or to take up new subjects. The Education of children and young
people shall be ensured; they shall be allowed to attend schools either
within the place of internment or outside.

Internees shall be given opportunities for physical exercise, sports and
outdoor games. For this purpose, sufficient open spaces shall be set aside
in all places of internment. Special playgrounds shall be reserved for
children and young people.

Art. 95. The Detaining Power shall not employ internees as workers, unless
they so desire. Employment which, if undertaken under compulsion by a
protected person not in internment, would involve a breach of Articles 40
or 51 of the present Convention, and employment on work which is of a
degrading or humiliating character are in any case prohibited.

After a working period of six weeks, internees shall be free to give up
work at any moment, subject to eight days’ notice.

These provisions constitute no obstacle to the right of the Detaining Power
to employ interned doctors, dentists and other medical personnel in their
professional capacity on behalf of their fellow internees, or to employ
internees for administrative and maintenance work in places of internment
and to detail such persons for work in the kitchens or for other domestic
tasks, or to require such persons to undertake duties connected with the
protection of internees against aerial bombardment or other war risks. No
internee may, however, be required to perform tasks for which he is, in the
opinion of a medical officer, physically unsuited.

The Detaining Power shall take entire responsibility for all working
conditions, for medical attention, for the payment of wages, and for
ensuring that all employed internees receive compensation for occupational
accidents and diseases. The standards prescribed for the said working
conditions and for compensation shall be in accordance with the national
laws and regulations, and with the existing practice; they shall in no case
be inferior to those obtaining for work of the same nature in the same
district. Wages for work done shall be determined on an equitable basis by
special agreements between the internees, the Detaining Power, and, if the
case arises, employers other than the Detaining Power to provide for free
maintenance of internees and for the medical attention which their state of
health may require. Internees permanently detailed for categories of work
mentioned in the third paragraph of this Article, shall be paid fair wages
by the Detaining Power. The working conditions and the scale of
compensation for occupational accidents and diseases to internees, thus
detailed, shall not be inferior to those applicable to work of the same
nature in the same district.

Art.96. All labour detachments shall remain part of and dependent upon a
place of internment. The competent authorities of the Detaining Power and
the commandant of a place of internment shall be responsible for the
observance in a labour detachment of the provisions of the present
Convention. The commandant shall keep an up-to-date list of the labour
detachments subordinate to him and shall communicate it to the delegates of
the Protecting Power, of the International Committee of the Red Cross and
of other humanitarian organizations who may visit the places of internment.

Author: international