Section 55p. 55

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

of a protected person, compelling a protected person to

serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or wilfully depriving

a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial

prescribed in the present Convention, taking of hostages

and extensive destruction and appropriation of property,

not

justified

by

military

necessity

and

carried

out

unlawfully and wantonly.

Art. 148. No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to

absolve itself or any other High Contracting Party of any

liability incurred by itself or by another High Contracting

Party in respect of breaches referred to in the preceding

Article.

Art. 149. At the request of a Party to the conflict, an

enquiry shall be instituted, in a manner to be decided

between the interested Parties, concerning any alleged

violation of the Convention.

If agreement has not been reached concerning the

procedure for the enquiry, the Parties should agree on

the choice of an umpire who will decide upon the

procedure to be followed.

Once the violation has been established, the Parties to

the conflict shall put an end to it and shall repress it with

the least possible delay.

Section II. Final Provisions

Art. 150. The present Convention is established in English

and in French. Both texts are equally authentic.

The

Swiss

Federal

Council

shall

arrange

for

official

translations of the Convention to be made in the Russian

and Spanish languages.

Art. 151. The present Convention, which bears the date of

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

name of the Powers represented at the Conference which

opened at Geneva on 21 April 1949.

Art. 152. 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. 153. 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. 154. In the relations between the Powers who are

bound by the Hague Conventions respecting the Laws

and Customs of War on Land, whether that of 29 July

1899, or that of 18 October 1907, and who are parties to the

present

Convention,

this

last

Convention

shall

be

supplementary to Sections II and III of the Regulations

annexed to the above-mentioned Conventions of The

Hague.

Art. 155. 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. 156. 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. 157. The situations provided for in Articles 2 and 3 shall

effective 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. 158. 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, repatriation and re-establishment 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. 159. 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.

Annex I. Draft Agreement Relating to

Hospital and Safety Zones and Localities

Art. 1. Hospital and safety zones shall be strictly reserved

for the persons mentioned in Article 23 of the Geneva

Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the

Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12

August 1949, and in Article 14 of the Geneva Convention

relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of

War 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 and safety 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 and safety zone

shall take all necessary measures to prohibit access to all

persons who have no right of residence or entry therein.

Art. 4. Hospital and safety 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

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