Section 38p. 38

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

Medical Commission, subject to the provisions of Articles

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 of the present Regulations.

Art

14.

Mixed

Medical

Commissions

shall

function

permanently and shall visit each camp at intervals of not

more than six months.

Annex III. Regulations Concerning Collective

Relief (See Art 73.)

Art

1.

Prisoners'

representatives

shall

be

allowed to

distribute collective relief shipments for which they are

responsible, to all prisoners of war administered by their

camp, including those who are in hospitals, or in prisons

or other penal establishments.

Art 2. The distribution of collective relief shipments shall

be effected in accordance with the instructions of the

donors and with a plan drawn up by the prisoners'

representatives.

The

issue

of

medical

stores

shall,

however, be made for preference in agreement with the

senior medical officers, and the latter may, in hospitals

and infirmaries, waive the said instructions, if the needs of

their patients so demand. Within the limits thus defined,

the distribution shall always be carried out equitably.

Art

3.

The

said

prisoners'

representatives

or

their

assistants shall be allowed to go to the points of arrival of

relief supplies near their camps, so as to enable the

prisoners' representatives or their assistants to verify the

quality as well as the quantity of the goods received, and

to make out detailed reports thereon for the donors.

Art

4.

Prisoners'

representatives

shall

be

given

the

facilities necessary for verifying whether the distribution

of collective relief in all subdivisions and annexes of their

camps has been carried out in accordance with their

instructions.

Art 5. Prisoners' representatives shall be allowed to fill up,

and cause to be filled up by the prisoners' representatives

of labour detachments or by the senior medical officers of

infirmaries

and

hospitals,

forms

or

questionnaires

intended

for

the

donors, relating to collective relief

supplies

(distribution,

requirements,

quantities,

etc.).

Such forms and questionnaires, duly completed, shall be

forwarded to the donors without delay.

Art 6. In order to secure the regular issue of collective

relief to the prisoners of war in their camp, and to meet

any

needs

that

may

arise from the arrival of new

contingents of prisoners, prisoners' representatives shall

be allowed to build up and maintain adequate reserve

stocks of collective relief. For this purpose, they shall have

suitable warehouses at their disposal; each warehouse

shall

be

provided

with

two

locks,

the

prisoners'

representative holding the keys of one lock and the camp

commander the keys of the other.

Art 7. When collective consignments of clothing are

available,

each

prisoner

of

war

shall

retain

in

his

possession at least one complete set of clothes. If a

prisoner has more than one set of clothes, the prisoners'

representative shall be permitted to withdraw excess

clothing from those with the largest number of sets, or

particular articles in excess of one, if this is necessary in

order to supply prisoners who are less well provided. He

shall

not,

however,

withdraw

second

sets

of

underclothing, socks or footwear, unless this is the only

means of providing for prisoners of war with none.

Art 8. The High Contracting Parties, and the Detaining

Powers in particular, shall authorize, as far as possible and

subject to the regulations governing the supply of the

population,

all

purchases

of

goods

made

in

their

territories

for

the

distribution

of

collective

relief

to

prisoners of war. They shall similarly facilitate the transfer

of funds and other financial measures of a technical or

administrative nature taken for the purpose of making

such purchases.

Art 9. The foregoing provisions shall not constitute an

obstacle to the right of prisoners of war to receive

collective relief before their arrival in a camp or in the

course of transfer, nor to the possibility of representatives

of the Protecting Power, the International Committee of

the Red Cross, or any other body giving assistance to

prisoners which may be responsible for the forwarding of

such supplies, ensuring the distribution thereof to the

addressees by any other means that they may deem

useful.

Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of

Civilian Persons in Time 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

establishing a Convention for the Protection of Civilian

Persons in Time of War, have agreed as follows:

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.

© Compiled by RGL

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