Section 60p. 60

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

3. Provided that the general rule in paragraph 2 continues

to be observed, the Occupying Power may requisition the

said

resources,

subject

to

the

following

particular

conditions:

(a) that the resources are necessary for the adequate and

immediate medical treatment of the wounded and sick

members of the armed forces of the Occupying Power or

of prisoners of war;

(b)

that

the

requisition

continues

only

while

such

necessity exists; and

(c) that immediate arrangements are made to ensure

that the medical needs of the civilian population, as well

as those of any wounded and sick under treatment who

are affected by the requisition, continue to be satisfied.

Art

15.

Protection

of

civilian

medical

and

religious

personnel

1. Civilian medical personnel shall be respected and

protected.

2. If needed, all available help shall be afforded to civilian

medical personnel in an area where civilian medical

services are disrupted by reason of combat activity.

3. The Occupying Power shall afford civilian medical

personnel

in occupied territories every assistance to

enable them to perform, to the best of their ability, their

humanitarian functions. The Occupying Power may not

require that, in the performance of those functions, such

personnel shall give priority to the treatment of any

person except on medical grounds. They shall not be

compelled to carry out tasks which are not compatible

with their humanitarian mission.

4. Civilian medical personnel shall have access to any

place where their services are essential, subject to such

supervisory and safety measures as the relevant Party to

the conflict may deem necessary.

5. Civilian religious personnel shall be respected and

protected. The provisions of the Conventions and of this

Protocol concerning the protection and identification of

medical personnel shall apply equally to such persons.

Art 16. General protection of medical duties

1. Under no circumstances shall any person be punished

for

carrying

out

medical

activities

compatible

with

medical

ethics,

regardless

of

the

person

benefiting

therefrom.

2. Persons engaged in medical activities shall not be

compelled to perform acts or to carry out work contrary

to the rules of medical ethics or to other medical rules

designed for the benefit of the wounded and sick or to

the provisions of the Conventions or of this Protocol, or to

refrain from performing acts or from carrying out work

required by those rules and provisions.

3. No person engaged in medical activities shall be

compelled to give to anyone belonging either to an

adverse Party, or to his own Party except as required by

the law of the latter Party, any information concerning

the wounded and sick who are, or who have been, under

his care, if such information would, in his opinion, prove

harmful to the patients concerned or to their families.

Regulations

for

the

compulsory

notification

of

communicable diseases shall, however, be respected.

Art 17. Role of the civilian population and of aid societies

1. The civilian population shall respect the wounded, sick

and shipwrecked, even if they belong to the adverse

Party, and shall commit no act of violence against them.

The civilian population and aid societies, such as national

Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societies,

shall be permitted, even on their own initiative, to collect

and care for the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, even in

invaded or occupied areas. No one shall be harmed,

prosecuted, convicted or punished for such humanitarian

acts.

2. The Parties to the conflict may appeal to the civilian

population and the aid societies referred to in paragraph 1

to

collect

and

care

for

the

wounded,

sick

and

shipwrecked, and to search for the dead and report their

location;

they

shall

grant

both

protection

and

the

necessary facilities to those who respond to this appeal. If

the adverse Party gains or regains control of the area, that

Party also shall afford the same protection and facilities

for as long as they are needed.

Art 18. Identification

1. Each Party to the conflict shall endeavour to ensure that

medical and religious personnel and medical units and

transports are identifiable.

2. Each Party to the conflict shall also endeavour to adopt

and to implement methods and procedures which will

make

it

possible

to

recognize

medical

units

and

transports

which

use

the

distinctive

emblem

and

distinctive signals.

3. In occupied territory and in areas where fighting is

taking place or is likely to take place, civilian medical

personnel and civilian religious personnel should be

recognizable by the distinctive emblem and an identity

card certifying their status.

4. With the consent of the competent authority, medical

units and transports shall be marked by the distinctive

emblem. The ships and craft referred to in Article 22 of

this Protocol shall be marked in accordance with the

provisions of the Second Convention.

5. In addition to the distinctive emblem, a Party to the

conflict may, as provided in Chapter III of Annex I to this

Protocol,

authorize

the

use

of

distinctive signals to

identify medical units and transports. Exceptionally, in the

special cases covered in that Chapter, medical transports

may

use

distinctive

signals

without

displaying

the

distinctive emblem.

6. The application of the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 5 of

this article is governed by Chapters I to III of Annex I to

this Protocol. Signals designated in Chapter III of the

Annex

for

the

exclusive

use

of

medical

units

and

transports shall not, except as provided therein, be used

for any purpose other than to identify the medical units

and transports specified in that Chapter.

7. This article does not authorize any wider use of the

distinctive emblem in peacetime than is prescribed in

Article 44 of the First Convention.

8. The provisions of the Conventions and of this Protocol

relating to supervision of the use of the distinctive

emblem and to the prevention and repression of any

misuse thereof shall be applicable to distinctive signals.

Art 19. Neutral and other States not Parties to the conflict

Neutral and other States not Parties to the conflict shall

apply the relevant provisions of this Protocol to persons

protected by this Part who may be received or interned

within their territory, and to any dead of the Parties to

that conflict whom they may find.

Art 20. - Prohibition of reprisals

Reprisals against the persons and objects protected by

this Part are prohibited.

SECTION II. MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION

Art 21. Medical vehicles

Medical vehicles shall be respected and protected in the

same way as mobile medical units under the Conventions

and this Protocol.

Art 22. Hospital ships and coastal rescue craft

1. The provisions of the Conventions relating to:

(a) vessels described in Articles 22, 24, 25 and 27 of the

Second Convention,

(b) their lifeboats and small craft,

(c) their personnel and crews, and

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