The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

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Last-Modified: 1999/11/17

             TITLE IV. TERMINATION OF CAPTIVITY
                              
   SECTION I-DIRECT REPATRIATION AND HOSPITALIZATION IN A
                       NEUTRAL COUNTRY
                              
                         ARTICLE 68
                              
Belligerents are bound to send back to their own country, regardless of
rank or number, seriously sick and seriously injured prisoners of war,
after having brought them to a condition where they can be transported.

Agreements between belligerents shall accordingly settle as soon as
possible the cases of invalidity or of sickness, entailing direct
repatriation, as well as the cases entailing possible hospitalization in
a neutral country. While awaiting the conclusion

                                                              [Page 617]

of these agreements, belligerents may have reference to the model
agreement annexed, for documentary purposes, to the present Convention.

                         ARTICLE 69

Upon the outbreak of hostilities, belligerents shall come to an
agreement to name mixed medical commissions. These commissions shall be
composed of three members, two of them belonging to a neutral country
and one appointed by the detaining Power; one of the physicians of the
neutral country shall preside. These mixed medical commissions shall
proceed to the examination of sick or wounded prisoners and shall make
all due decisions regarding them.

Decisions of these commissions shall be by majority and carried out with
the least possible delay.

                         ARTICLE 70

Besides those who are designated by the camp physician, the following
prisoners of war shall be inspected by the mixed medical commission
mentioned in Article 69, with a view to their direct repatriation or
their hospitalization in a neutral country:

a. Prisoners who make such a request directly of the camp physician;

b. Prisoners who are presented by the agents provided for in Article 43,
acting on their own initiative or at the request of the prisoners
themselves;

c. Prisoners who have been proposed by the Power in whose armies they
have served or by an aid society duly recognized and authorized by that
Power.

                         ARTICLE 71
                              
Prisoners of war who are victims of accidents in connection with work,
except those voluntarily injured, shall enjoy the benefit of the same
provisions, as far as repatriation or possible hospitalization in a
neutral country are concerned.

                         ARTICLE 72
                              
Throughout the duration of hostilities and for humane considerations,
belligerents may conclude agreements with a view to the direet
repatriation or hospitalization in a neutral country of able-bodied
prisoners of war who have undergone a long period of captivity.

                         ARTICLE 73
                              
The expenses of repatriation or of transportation to a neutral country
of prisoners of war shall be borne, from the frontiers of the detaining
Power, by the Power in whose armies the prisoners have served.

                                                              [Page 618]

                         ARTICLE 74

No repatriated person may be utilized in active military service.

    SECTION II-RELEASE AND REPATRIATION UPON CESSATION OF
                         HOSTILITIES
                              
                         ARTICLE 75
                              
When belligerents conclude a convention of armistice, they must, in
principle, have appear therein stipulations regarding the repatriation
of prisoners of war. If it has not been possible to insert stipulations
in this regard in such convention, belligerents shall nevertheless come
to ail agreement ill this regard as soon as possible. In any case,
repatriation of prisoners shall be effected with the least possible
delay after the conclusion of peace.

Prisoners of war against whom a penal prosecution might be pending for a
crime or an offense of municipal law may, however, be detained until the
end of the proceedings and, if necessary, until the expiration of the
punishment. The same shall be true of those sentenced for a crime or
offense of municipal law.

On agreement between the belligerents, commissions may be established
for the purpose of searching for dispersed prisoners and assuring their
repatriation.

             TITLE V. DEATH OF PRISONERS OF WAR
                              
                         ARTICLE 76

Wills of prisoners of war shall be received and drawn up in the same way
as for soldiers of the national army.

The same rules shall be observed regarding death certificates.
Belligerents shall see that prisoners of war dying ill captivity are
honorably buried and that the graves bear all due information, are
respected and properly maintained.

         TITLE VI. BUREAUS OF RELIEF AND INFORMATION
                 CONCERNING PRISONERS OF WAR
                              
                         ARTICLE 77

Upon the outbreak of hostilities, each of the belligerent Powers, as
well as the neutral Powers which have received belligerents, shall
institute an official information bureau for prisoners of war who are
within their territory.

Within the shortest possible period, each of the belligerent Powers
shall inform its information bureau of every capture of prisoners
effected by its armies, giving it all the information regarding identity
which it has, allowing it quickly to advise the

                                                              [Page 619]

families concerned, and informing it of the official addresses to which
families may write to prisoners.

The information bureau shall immediately forward all this information to
the interested Powers, through the intervention, on one hand, of the
protecting Powers and, on the other, of the central agency provided for
in Article 79.

The information burear, being charged with replying to all inquiries
about prisoners of war, shall receive from the various services
concerned full information respeting internments and transfers, releases
on parole, repatriations, escapes, stays in hospitals, deaths, as well
as other information necessary to enable it to make out and keep up to
date and individual return for each prisoner of war.

The bureau shall state in this return, in so far as is possible and
dubject to the provisions of Article 5: the regimental number, given
names and surname, date and place of birth, rank and unit of the
interested party, the given name of the father and the name of the
mother, the address of the person to be advised in case of accident,
wounds, date and place of capture, internment, wounding and death, as
well as any other important information.

Weekly lists containing all new information likely to facilitate the
identification of each prisoner shall be transmitted to the interested
Powers.

At the conclusion of peace the individual return of the prisoner of war
shall be delivered to the Power which he served.

The infomration bureau shall further be bound to receive all objects of
personal use, valuables, letters, pay vouchers, indentification marks,
etc., which are left by prisoners of war who have been repatriated,
released on parole, escaped or died, and to transmit them to the
countries interested.

                         ARTICLE 78
                              
Relief societies for prisoners of war, which are properly constituted in
accordance with the laws of their country and with the object of serving
as the channel for charitable effort, shall receive from the
belligerents, for themselves and their duly accredited agents, every
facility for the efficient performance of their humane task within the
bounds imposed by military necessities. Agents of these societies may be
admitted to the camps for the purpose of distributing relief, as also to
the halting places of repatriated prisoners, if furnished with a
personal permit by the military authorities, and on giving an
undertaking in writing to comply with all measures of order and police
which the latter may issue.

                                                              [Page 620]

                         ARTICLE 79

A central information agency for prisoners of war shall be created in a
neutral country. The International Committee of the Red Cross shall
propose the organization of such an agency to the interested Powers, if
it considers it necessary.

The function of that agency shall be to centralize all information
respecting prisoners, which it may obtain through official or private
channels; it shall transmit it as quickly as possible to the country of
origin of the prisoners or to the Power which they have served.

These provisions must not be interpreted as restricting the humanitarian
activity of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

                         ARTICLE 80

Information bureaus shall enjoy the privilege of free postage on postal
matter, as well as all exemptions provided in Article 38.

         TITLE VII. APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION TO
                CERTAIN CLASSES OF CIVILIANS
                              
                         ARTICLE 81

Individuals who follow armed forces without directly belonging thereto,
such as newspaper correspondents and reporters, sutlers, contractors,
who fall into the enemy's hands and whom the latter thinks expedient to
detain, shall be entitled to be treated as prisoners of war, provided
they are in possession of a certificate from the military authorities of
the armed forces which they were accompanying.

           TITLE VIII. EXECUTION OF THE CONVENTION
                              
                SECTION I-GENERAL PROVISIONS
                              
                         ARTICLE 82

The provisions of the present Convention must be respected by the High
Contracting Parties under all circumstances.

In case, in time of war, one of the belligerents is not a part to the
Convention, its provisions shall nevertheless remain in force as between
the belligerents who are parties thereto.

                         ARTICLE 83

The High Contracting Parties reserve the right to conclude special
conventions on all questions relative to prisoners of war, on which it
seems to them expedient to have particular regulations.

                                                              [Page 621]

Prisoners of war shall receive the benefit of these agreements until the
completion of repatriation, except in the case of express , stipulations
to the contrary contained in the above-mentioned agreements or in later
agreements, or also except in the case of more favorable measures taken
by one or the other of the belligerent powers respecting the prisoners
which they hold.

In order to assure the reciprocal application of the stipulations of the
present Convention, and to facilitate the conclusion of the Ispecial
conventions provided for above, belligerents may, upon the commencement
of hostilities, authorize meetings of representatives of the respective
authorities charged with the administration of prisoners of war.

                         ARTICLE 84

The text of the present Convention and of the special conventions
provided for in the foregoing article, shall be posted, whereever
possible in the native language of the prisoners of war., in places
where it may be consulted by all the prisoners.

The text of these conventions shall be communicated to prisoners who
find it impossible to get the information from the posted text, upon
their request.

                         ARTICLE 85

The High Contracting Parties shall communicate to one another through
the Swiss Federal Council, the official translations of the present
convention, as well as of the laws and regulations which they may come
to adopt to assure the application of the present Convention.

             SECTION II.-ORGANIZATION OF CONTROL
                              
                         ARTICLE 86

The High Contracting Parties recognize that the regular application of
the present Convention will find a guaranty in the possibility of
collaboration of the protecting Powers charged with safeguarding the
interests of belligerents; in this respect, the protecting Powers may,
besides their diplomatic personnel, appoint delegates from among their
own nationals or from among the nationals of other neutral Powers. These
delegates must be subject to the approval of the belligerent near which
they exercise their Mission.

Representatives of the protecting Power or its accepted delegates shall
be permitted to go to any place, without exception, where prisoners of
war are interned. They shall have access to all places occupied by
prisoners and may interview them, as a general rule without witnesses,
personally or through interpreters.

                                                              [Page 622]

Belligerents snaii so iar as Possible facilitate the task of
representatives or accepted delegates of the protecting Power. The
military authorities shall be informed of their visit.

Belligerents may come to an agreement to allow persons of the same
nationality as the prisoners to be permitted to take part in inspection
trips.

                         ARTICLE 87

In case of disagreement between the belligerents as to the application
of provisions of the present Convention, the protecting Powers must, in
so far as possible, lend their good offices for the purpose of settling
the difference.

For this purpose, each of the protecting Powers may, in particular,
suggest to the interested belligerents a meeting of representatives
thereof, possibly upon a neutral territory suitably chosen. Belligerents
shall be bound to accede to proposals in this sense which are made to
them. The protecting Power may, if occasion arises, submit for the
approval of the Powers concerned a person belonging to a neutral Power
or a person delegated by the International Committee of the Red Cross,
who shall be summoned to take part in this meeting.

                         ARTICLE 88

The foregoing provisions are not an obstacle to the humanitarian
activity which the International Committee of the Red Cross may use for
the protection of prisoners of war, with the consent of the interested
belligerents.

                SECTION III-FINAL PROVISIONS
                              
                         ARTICLE 89
                              
In the relations between Powers bound by the Hague Convention respecting
the Laws and Customs of War on Land, whether it is a question of that of
July 29, 1899, or that of October 18, 1907, and who participate in the
present Convention, this latter shall complete Chapter II of the
Regulations annexed to the said Hague Conventions.

                         ARTICLE 90

The present Convention, which will bear this day's date, may be signed
up to February 1, 1930, on behalf of all the countries represented at
the Conference which opened at Geneva July 1, 1929.

                         ARTICLE 91

The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible.

The ratifications shall be deposited at Berne.

                                                              [Page 623]

A record of the deposit of each instrument of ratification shall be
prepared, a duly certified copy of which shall be forwarded by the Swiss
Federal Council to the Governments of all the countries on whose behalf
the Convention has been signed or notification of adherence made.

                         ARTICLE 92

The present Convention shall become effective six months after the
deposit of at least two instruments of ratification.

Subsequently, it shall become effective for each High Contracting Party
six months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification.

                         ARTICLE 93

From the date on which it becomes effective, the present Convention
shall be open for adherences given on behalf of any country in whose
name this Convention was not signed.

                         ARTICLE 94

Adherence shall be given by written notification addressed to the Swiss
Federal Council and shall take effect six months after the date of their
receipt.

The Swiss Federal Council shall communicate adherences to the
Governments of all the countries on whose behalf the Convention was
signed or notification of adherence made.

                         ARTICLE 95

A state of war shall give immediate effect to ratifications deposited
and to adherences notified by belligerent Powers prior to or after the
outbreak of hostilities. The communication of ratifications or
adherences received from Powers at war shall be made by the Swiss
Federal Council by the most rapid method.

                         ARTICLE 96

Each of the High Contracting Parties shall have the right to denounce
the present Convention. The denunciation shall not take effect until one
year after notification has been made in writng to the Swiss Federal
Council. The latter shall communicate such notification to the
Governments of all the High ContractingParties.

The denunciation shall have effect only with respect to the High
Contracting Party which gave notification thereof.

Moreover, such denunciation shall not take effect during a war in which
the denouncing Power is involved. In this case, the present Convention
shall continue in effect, beyond the period of one year, until the
conclusion of peace, and, in any event, until the Processes of
repatriation are completed.

                                                              [Page 624]

                         ARTICLE 97

A duly certified copy of the present Convention shall be deposited in
the archives of the League of Nations by the Swiss Federal Council.
Likewise, ratifications, adherences, and denunciations of which the
Swiss Federal Council shall be notified, shall be communicated by it to
the League of Nations.

In faith whereof, the Plenipotentiaries named above have signed the
present Convention.

Done at Geneva, the twenty-seventh of July, one thousand nine hundred
and twenty-nine, in a single copy, which shall remain in the archives of
the Swiss Confederation and duly certified copies of which shall be
forwarded to the Governments of all the countries invited to the
Conference.

[Here follow signatures.]


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