Section 18p. 18

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

The

Swiss

Federal

Council

shall

arrange

for

official

translations of the Convention to be made in the Russian

and Spanish languages.

Art 55. The present Convention, which bears the date of

this day, is open to signature until February 12, 1950, in the

name of the Powers represented at the Conference which

opened at Geneva on April 21, 1949; furthermore, by

Powers not represented at that Conference, but which

are parties to the Xth Hague Convention of October 13,

1907 for the adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the

Principles of the Geneva Convention of 1906, or to the

Geneva Conventions of 1864, 1906 or 1929 for the Relief of

the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field.

Art 56. The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as

possible and the ratifications shall be deposited at Berne.

A record shall be drawn up of the deposit of each

instrument of ratification and certified copies of this

record shall be transmitted by the Swiss Federal Council

to all the Powers in whose name the Convention has

been signed, or whose accession has been notified.

Art 57. The present Convention shall come into force six

months after not less than two instruments of ratification

have been deposited.

Thereafter,

it

shall

come

into

force

for

each

High

Contracting Party six months after the deposit of the

instrument of ratification.

Art 58. The present Convention replaces the Xth Hague

Convention of October 18, 1907, for the adaptation to

Maritime

Warfare

of

the

principles

of

the

Geneva

Convention

of

1906,

in

relations

between

the

High

Contracting Parties.

Art 59. From the date of its coming into force, it shall be

open

to

any

Power

in

whose

name

the

present

Convention has not been signed, to accede to this

Convention.

Art 60. Accessions shall be notified in writing to the Swiss

Federal Council, and shall take effect six months after the

date on which they are received.

The

Swiss

Federal

Council

shall

communicate

the

accessions

to

all

the

Powers

in

whose

name

the

Convention has been signed, or whose accession has

been notified.

Art 61. The situations provided for in Articles 2 and 3 shall

give immediate effect to ratifications deposited and

accessions notified by the Parties to the conflict before or

after the beginning of hostilities or occupation. The Swiss

Federal

Council

shall

communicate

by the quickest

method any ratifications or accessions received from

Parties to the conflict.

Art 62. Each of the High Contracting Parties shall be at

liberty to denounce the present Convention.

The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Swiss

Federal

Council,

which

shall

transmit

it

to

the

Governments of all the High Contracting Parties.

The denunciation shall take effect one year after the

notification thereof has been made to the Swiss Federal

Council. However, a denunciation of which notification

has been made at a time when the denouncing Power is

involved in a conflict shall not take effect until peace has

been concluded, and until after operations connected

with the release and repatriation of the persons protected

by the present Convention have been terminated.

The denunciation shall have effect only in respect of the

denouncing

Power.

It

shall

in

no

way

impair

the

obligations which the Parties to the conflict shall remain

bound to fulfil by virtue of the principles of the law of

nations,

as they result from the usages established

among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity and

the dictates of the public conscience.

Art 63. The Swiss Federal Council shall register the

present Convention with the Secretariat of the United

Nations. The Swiss Federal Council shall also inform the

Secretariat of the United Nations of all ratifications,

accessions and denunciations received by it with respect

to the present Convention.

IN

WITNESS

WHEREOF

the

undersigned,

having

deposited their respective full powers, have signed the

present Convention.

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.

Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of

Prisoners of War

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 Convention concluded at Geneva on July 27, 1929,

relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, have agreed

as follows:

Part 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 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.

© Compiled by RGL

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