Section 32p. 32

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

repatriation

or

internment

in

a

neutral

country

of

able-bodied prisoners of war who have undergone a long

period of captivity.

No sick or injured prisoner of war who is eligible for

repatriation under the first paragraph of this Article, may

be repatriated against his will during hostilities.

Art 110. The following shall be repatriated direct:

(1) Incurably wounded and sick whose mental or physical

fitness seems to have been gravely diminished.

(2) Wounded and sick who, according to medical opinion,

are not likely to recover within one year, whose condition

requires treatment and whose mental or physical fitness

seems to have been gravely diminished.

(3) Wounded and sick who have recovered, but whose

mental or physical fitness seems to have been gravely

and permanently diminished.

The

following

may

be

accommodated

in

a neutral

country:

(1) Wounded and sick whose recovery may be expected

within

one

year

of

the date of the wound or the

beginning of the illness, if treatment in a neutral country

might increase the prospects of a more certain and

speedy recovery.

(2) Prisoners of war whose mental or physical health,

according to medical opinion, is seriously threatened by

continued captivity, but whose accommodation in a

neutral country might remove such a threat.

The conditions which prisoners of war accommodated in

a neutral country must fulfil in order to permit their

repatriation shall be fixed, as shall likewise their status, by

agreement between the Powers concerned. In general,

prisoners of war who have been accommodated in a

neutral

country,

and

who

belong

to

the

following

categories, should be repatriated:

(1) Those whose state of health has deteriorated so as to

fulfil the condition laid down for direct repatriation;

(2) Those whose mental or physical powers remain, even

after treatment, considerably impaired.

If no special agreements are concluded between the

Parties to the conflict concerned, to determine the cases

of disablement or sickness entailing direct repatriation or

accommodation in a neutral country, such cases shall be

settled in accordance with the principles laid down in the

Model Agreement concerning direct repatriation and

accommodation in neutral countries of wounded and

sick prisoners of war and in the Regulations concerning

Mixed Medical Commissions annexed to the present

Convention.

Art 111. The Detaining Power, the Power on which the

prisoners of war depend, and a neutral Power agreed

upon by these two Powers, shall endeavour to conclude

agreements which will enable prisoners of war to be

interned in the territory of the said neutral Power until

the close of hostilities.

Art 112. Upon the outbreak of hostilities, Mixed Medical

Commissions shall be appointed to examine sick and

wounded prisoners of war, and to make all appropriate

decisions regarding them. The appointment, duties and

functioning of these Commissions shall be in conformity

with the provisions of the Regulations annexed to the

present Convention.

However, prisoners of war who, in the opinion of the

medical

authorities

of

the

Detaining

Power,

are

manifestly seriously injured or seriously sick, may be

repatriated without having to be examined by a Mixed

Medical Commission.

Art 113. Besides those who are designated by the medical

authorities of the Detaining Power, wounded or sick

prisoners of war belonging to the categories listed below

shall be entitled to present themselves for examination

by the Mixed Medical Commissions provided for in the

foregoing Article:

(1) Wounded and sick proposed by a physician or surgeon

who is of the same nationality, or a national of a Party to

the conflict allied with the Power on which the said

prisoners depend, and who exercises his functions in the

camp.

(2)

Wounded

and

sick

proposed

by their prisoners'

representative.

(3) Wounded and sick proposed by the Power on which

they depend, or by an organization duly recognized by

the said Power and giving assistance to the prisoners.

Prisoners of war who do not belong to one of the three

foregoing

categories

may

nevertheless

present

themselves

for

examination

by

Mixed

Medical

Commissions, but shall be examined only after those

belonging to the said categories.

The physician or surgeon of the same nationality as the

prisoners who present themselves for examination by the

Mixed

Medical

Commission,

likewise

the

prisoners'

representative of the said prisoners, shall have permission

to be present at the examination.

Art 114. Prisoners of war who meet with accidents shall,

unless the injury is self-inflicted, have the benefit of the

provisions of this Convention as regards repatriation or

accommodation in a neutral country.

Art 115. No prisoner of war on whom a disciplinary

punishment has been imposed and who is eligible for

repatriation or for accommodation in a neutral country,

may be kept back on the plea that he has not undergone

his punishment.

Prisoners of war detained in connection with a judicial

prosecution or conviction, and who are designated for

repatriation or accommodation in a neutral country, may

benefit

by

such

measures

before

the

end

of

the

proceedings or the completion of the punishment, if the

Detaining Power consents.

Parties to the conflict shall communicate to each other

the names of those who will be detained until the end of

the proceedings or the completion of the punishment.

Art 116. The cost of repatriating prisoners of war or of

transporting them to a neutral country shall be borne,

from the frontiers of the Detaining Power, by the Power

on which the said prisoners depend.

Art 117. No repatriated person may be employed on active

military service.

Section II. Release and Repatriation of Prisoners of War at

the Close of Hostilities

Art 118. Prisoners of war shall be released and repatriated

without delay after the cessation of active hostilities.

In the absence of stipulations to the above effect in any

agreement concluded between the Parties to the conflict

with a view to the cessation of hostilities, or failing any

such agreement, each of the Detaining Powers shall itself

establish and execute without delay a plan of repatriation

in

conformity

with

the

principle

laid

down

in

the

foregoing paragraph.

In either case, the measures adopted shall be brought to

the knowledge of the prisoners of war.

The costs of repatriation of prisoners of war shall in all

cases be equitably apportioned between the Detaining

Power and the Power on which the prisoners depend.

This apportionment shall be carried out on the following

basis:

(a) If the two Powers are contiguous, the Power on which

the prisoners of war depend shall bear the costs of

repatriation from the frontiers of the Detaining Power.

© Compiled by RGL

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