Geneva Convention (IV)

 

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure
respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.

Art. 2. In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in
peace-time, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war
or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the
High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one
of them.

The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation
of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation
meets with no armed resistance.

Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the present
Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in
their mutual relations. They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention
in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies the
provisions thereof.

Art. 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character
occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each
Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following
provisions:

(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members
of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors
de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall
in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse
distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or
wealth, or any other similar criteria.
To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any
time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned
persons:
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds,
mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) taking of hostages;
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and
degrading treatment;
(d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions
without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted
court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are
recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
(2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the
Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.

The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force,
by means of special agreements, all or part of the Other provisions of the
present Convention.

The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal
status of the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 4. Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given
moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict
or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power
of which they are not nationals.

Nationals of a State which is not bound by the Convention are not protected
by it. Nationals of a neutral State who find themselves in the territory of
a belligerent State, and nationals of a co-belligerent State, shall not be
regarded as protected persons while the State of which they are nationals
has normal diplomatic representation in the State in whose hands they are.

The provisions of Part II are, however, wider in application, as defined in
Article 13.

Persons protected by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August
1949, or by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of
Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of 12 August
1949, or by the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of
War of 12 August 1949, shall not be considered as protected persons within
the meaning of the present Convention.

Art. 5 Where in the territory of a Party to the conflict, the latter is
satisfied that an individual protected person is definitely suspected of or
engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State, such individual
person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the
present Convention as would, if exercised in the favour of such individual
person, be prejudicial to the security of such State.

Where in occupied territory an individual protected person is detained as a
spy or saboteur, or as a person under definite suspicion of activity
hostile to the security of the Occupying Power, such person shall, in those
cases where absolute military security so requires, be regarded as having
forfeited rights of communication under the present Convention.

In each case, such persons shall nevertheless be treated with humanity and,
in case of trial, shall not be deprived of the rights of fair and regular
trial prescribed by the present Convention. They shall also be granted the
full rights and privileges of a protected person under the present
Convention at the earliest date consistent with the security of the State
or Occupying Power, as the case may be.

Art. 6. The present Convention shall apply from the outset of any conflict
or occupation mentioned in Article 2.

In the territory of Parties to the conflict, the application of the
present Convention shall cease on the general close of military operations.

In the case of occupied territory, the application of the present
Convention shall cease one year after the general close of military
operations; however, the Occupying Power shall be bound, for the duration
of the occupation, to the extent that such Power exercises the functions of
government in such territory, by the provisions of the following Articles
of the present Convention: 1 to 12, 27, 29 to 34, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 59,
61 to 77, 143.

Protected persons whose release, repatriation or re-establishment may take
place after such dates shall meanwhile continue to benefit by the present
Convention.

Art. 7. In addition to the agreements expressly provided for in Articles
11, 14, 15, 17, 36, 108, 109, 132, 133 and 149, the High Contracting
Parties may conclude other special agreements for all matters concerning
which they may deem it suitable to make separate provision. No special
agreement shall adversely affect the situation of protected persons, as
defined by the present Convention, not restrict the rights which it confers
upon them.

Protected persons shall continue to have the benefit of such agreements as
long as the Convention is applicable to them, except where express
provisions to the contrary are contained in the aforesaid or in subsequent
agreements, or where more favourable measures have been taken with regard
to them by one or other of the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 8. Protected persons may in no circumstances renounce in part or in
entirety the rights secured to them by the present Convention, and by the
special agreements referred to in the foregoing Article, if such there be.

Art. 9. The present Convention shall be applied with the cooperation and
under the scrutiny of the Protecting Powers whose duty it is to safeguard
the interests of the Parties to the conflict. For this purpose, the
Protecting Powers may appoint, apart from their diplomatic or consular
staff, delegates from amongst their own nationals or the nationals of other
neutral Powers. The said delegates shall be subject to the approval of the
Power with which they are to carry out their duties.

The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate to the greatest extent
possible the task of the representatives or delegates of the Protecting
Powers.

The representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall not in any
case exceed their mission under the present Convention.

They shall, in particular, take account of the imperative necessities of
security of the State wherein they carry out their duties.

Art. 10. 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 civilian persons and for their relief.

Art. 11. The High Contracting Parties may at any time agree to entrust to
an international organization which offers all guarantees of impartiality
and efficacy the duties incumbent on the Protecting Powers by virtue of the
present Convention.

When persons protected by the present Convention 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 applies to substitute organizations in the sense of the
present Article.

The provisions of this Article shall extend and be adapted to cases of
nationals of a neutral State who are in occupied territory or who find
themselves in the territory of a belligerent State in which the State of
which they are nationals has not normal diplomatic representation.

Art. 12. 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, and in particular of the
authorities responsible for protected persons, 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.

 

Author: international