Section 12p. 12

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

Done at Geneva this twelfth day of August 1949, in the

English and French languages. The original shall be

deposited in the archives of the Swiss Confederation. The

Swiss

Federal Council shall transmit certified copies

thereof to each of the Signatory and Acceding States.

Annex I. Draft Agreement Relating to

Hospital Zones and Localities

Article 1. Hospital zones shall be strictly observed for the

persons named in Article 23 of the Geneva Convention for

the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and

Sick in the Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949,

and for the personnel entrusted with the organization

and administration of these zones and localities, and with

the care of the persons therein assembled.

Nevertheless, persons whose permanent residence is

within such zones shall have the right to stay there.

Art. 2. No persons residing, in whatever capacity, in a

hospital zone shall perform any work, either within or

without

the

zone,

directly

connected

with

military

operations or the production of war material.

Art. 3. The Power establishing a hospital zone shall take all

necessary measures to prohibit access to all persons who

have no right of residence or entry therein.

Art. 4. Hospital zones shall fulfil the following conditions:

(a) They shall comprise only a small part of the territory

governed by the Power which has established them.

(b) They shall be thinly populated in relation to the

possibilities of accommodation.

(c) They shall be far removed and free from all military

objectives,

or

large

industrial

or

administrative

establishments.

(d) They shall not be situated in areas which, according to

every probability, may become important for the conduct

of the war.

Art. 5. Hospital zones shall be subject to the following

obligations:

(a) The lines of communication and means of transport

which they possess shall not be used for the transport of

military personnel or material, even in transit.

(b) They shall in no case be defended by military means.

Art. 6. Hospital zones shall be marked by means of red

crosses (red crescents, red lions and suns) on a white

background placed on the outer precincts and on the

buildings. They may be similarly marked at night by

means of appropriate illumination.

Art.

7.

The

Powers

shall

communicate

to

all

High

Contracting Parties in peacetime or on the outbreak of

hostilities, a list of the hospital zones in the territories

governed by them. They shall also give notice of any new

zones set up during hostilities.

As

soon

as

the

adverse

Party

has

receive

the

above-mentioned notification, the zone shall be regularly

constituted.

If,

however,

the

adverse

Party

considers

that

the

conditions of the present agreement have not been

fulfilled, it may refuse to recognize the zone by giving

immediate notice thereof to the Party responsible for the

said Zone, or may make its recognition of such zone

dependent upon the institution of the control provided

for in Article 8.

Art. 8. Any Power having recognized one of several

hospital zones instituted by the adverse Party shall be

entitled to demand control by one or more Special

Commissioners, for the purpose of ascertaining if the

zones fulfil the conditions and obligations stipulated in

the present agreement.

For

this

purpose,

the

members

of

the

Special

Commissions shall at all times have free access to the

various zones and may even reside there permanently.

They

shall

be

given

all

facilities for their duties of

inspection.

Art. 9. Should the Special Commissions note any facts

which they consider contrary to the stipulations of the

present agreement, they shall at once draw the attention

of the Power governing the said zone to these facts, and

shall fix a time limit of five days within which the matter

should be rectified. They shall duly notify the Power who

has recognized the zone.

If, when the time limit has expired, the Power governing

the zone has not complied with the warning, the adverse

Party may declare that it is no longer bound by the

present agreement in respect of the said zone.

Art. 10. Any Power setting up one or more hospital zones

and localities, and the adverse Parties to whom their

existence has been notified, shall nominate or have

nominated by neutral Powers, the persons who shall be

members of the Special Commissions mentioned in

Articles 8 and 9,

Art. 11. In no circumstances may hospital zones be the

object of attack. They shall be protected and respected at

all times by the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 12. In the case of occupation of a territory, the hospital

zones therein shall continue to be respected and utilized

as such.

Their

purpose

may,

however,

be

modified

by

the

Occupying Power, on condition that all measures are

taken to ensure the safety of the persons accommodated.

Art. 13. The present agreement shall also apply to localities

which the Powers may utilize for the same purposes as

hospital zones.

Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the

Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked

Members of Armed Forces at Sea

Preamble

The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of the Governments

represented at the Diplomatic Conference held at Geneva

from April 21 to August 12, 1949, for the purpose of revising

the Xth Hague Convention of October 18, 1907 for the

Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the

Geneva Convention of 1906, have agreed as follows:

Chapter I. General Provisions

Art 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 peacetime, 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:

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