1st Geneva Convention – wounded and sick in the field

Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, 12 August 1949.

The undersigned, Plenipotentiaries of the Governments represented at the Diplomatic Conference which met in Geneva from April 21 to August 12, 1949, with a view to revising the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field of July 27, 1929, have agreed as follows:

CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

FIRST ARTICLE. – The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and ensure respect for this Convention in all circumstances.

ARTICLE 2. – Apart from the provisions which are to enter into force in time of peace, this Convention shall apply in the event of declared war or any other armed conflict arising between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by any of them.

The Convention shall also apply in all cases of occupation of all or part of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if such occupation meets with no military resistance.

If one of the Powers in conflict is not a party to the present Convention, the Powers parties to it shall nevertheless remain bound by it in their reciprocal relations. They shall also be bound by the Convention towards the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies its provisions.

ARTICLE 3. – In the event of an armed conflict not of an international character arising in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each of the Parties to the conflict shall be bound to apply at least the following provisions:

(1) Persons taking no direct part in hostilities, including members of the armed forces who have laid down their arms and persons who have been rendered hors de combat by sickness, injury, detention, or for any other cause, shall, in all circumstances, treated with humanity, without any adverse distinction based on race, color, religion or belief, sex, birth or fortune, or any other similar criteria.

To this end, are and remain prohibited, at all times and in all places, with regard to the persons mentioned above:

(a) attacks on life and bodily integrity, in particular murder in all its forms, mutilation, cruel treatment, torture and torture;

(b) hostage-taking;

(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;

(d) Sentences pronounced and executions carried out without a prior judgment rendered by a regularly constituted tribunal, accompanied by the judicial guarantees recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

2) The wounded and sick will 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.

The Parties to the conflict shall also endeavor to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of this Convention.

The application of the preceding provisions shall have no effect on the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.

ARTICLE 4. – The neutral Powers shall apply by analogy the provisions of the present Convention to the wounded and sick as well as to the members of the medical and religious personnel, belonging to the armed forces of the Parties to the conflict, who are received or interned in their territory, from same as to the collected dead.

ARTICLE 5. – For protected persons who have fallen into the power of the adverse party, this Convention shall apply until the moment of their definitive repatriation.

ARTICLE 6. – Apart from the agreements expressly provided for in Articles 10, 15, 23, 28, 31, 36, 37 and 52, the High Contracting Parties may conclude other special agreements on any question which they consider advisable. specifically set. No special agreement may prejudice the position of the wounded and sick, as well as members of the medical and religious personnel, as regulated by the present Convention, nor restrict the rights granted to them by it.

The wounded and sick, as well as the members of the medical and religious personnel, will continue to benefit from these agreements as long as the Convention is applicable to them, unless otherwise stipulated expressly in the aforesaid agreements or in subsequent agreements, or also unless more specific measures are taken. favorable measures taken in their respect by one or other of the Parties to the conflict.

ARTICLE 7. – The wounded and sick, as well as members of the medical and religious personnel, may in no case partially or totally renounce the rights guaranteed to them by this Convention and, where applicable, the special agreements referred to in Article XNUMX. previous.

ARTICLE 8. – This Convention shall be applied with the assistance and under the supervision of the Protecting Powers responsible for safeguarding the interests of the Parties to the conflict. To this end, the Protecting Powers may, apart from their diplomatic or consular staff, appoint delegates from among their own nationals or from among the nationals of other neutral Powers. These delegates must be subject to the approval of the Power with which they will exercise their mission.

The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate, to the greatest extent possible, the task of the representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers.

The representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall in no case exceed the limits of their mission, as set out in the present Convention; in particular, they must take account of the imperative security requirements of the State in which they perform their duties. Only imperious military requirements can authorize, on an exceptional and temporary basis, a restriction of their activity.

ARTICLE 9. – The provisions of this Convention shall not preclude the humanitarian activities which the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as any other impartial humanitarian organization, will undertake for the protection of the wounded and sick, as well as of the personnel medical and religious services, and for the relief to be provided to them, subject to the agreement of the Parties to the conflict concerned.

ARTICLE 10. – The High Contracting Parties may, at any time, agree to entrust to a body presenting all guarantees of impartiality and effectiveness the tasks assigned by this Convention to the Protecting Powers.

If the wounded and sick or members of the medical and religious personnel do not benefit or no longer benefit, for whatever reason, from the activity of a Protecting Power or of a body designated in accordance with the first paragraph , the Detaining Power must request either a neutral State or such an organization to assume the functions assigned by this Convention to the Protecting Powers designated by the Parties to the conflict.

If protection cannot be assured in this way, the Detaining Power must request a humanitarian organization, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, to assume the humanitarian tasks assigned by this Convention to the Protecting Powers or must accept, subject to of the provisions of this article, offers of services from such an organization.

Any neutral Power or any organization invited by the Power concerned or offering itself for the aforementioned purposes must, in its activity, remain aware of its responsibility towards the Party to the conflict to which the persons protected by this Convention belong, and must furnish sufficient guarantees. capacity to assume the functions in question and to perform them impartially.

The foregoing provisions cannot be derogated from by special agreement between Powers one of which finds itself, even temporarily, vis-à-vis the other Power or its allies, limited in its freedom of negotiation as a result of events military, in particular in the event of an occupation of all or a significant part of its territory.

Whenever reference is made in this Convention to the Protecting Power, this reference also designates the organizations which replace it within the meaning of this article.

ARTICLE 11. – In all cases where they deem it useful in the interest of the persons protected, in particular in the event of disagreement between the Parties to the conflict on the application or interpretation of the provisions of this Convention, the Protecting Powers shall lend their good offices for the purpose of resolving the dispute.

To this end, each of the Protecting Powers may, at the invitation of a Party or spontaneously, propose to the Parties to the conflict a meeting of their representatives and, in particular, of the authorities responsible for the care of the wounded and sick, as well as members medical and religious personnel, possibly on a suitably chosen neutral territory. The Parties to the conflict will be required to follow up on the proposals made to them to this effect. The Protecting Powers may, if necessary, propose for the approval of the Parties to the conflict a person belonging to a neutral Power, or a person delegated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, who will be called upon to take part in this meeting.

CHAPTER II. INJURED AND SICK

ARTICLE 12. – The members of the armed forces and the other persons mentioned in the following article, who are injured or sick, must be respected and protected in all circumstances.

They shall be treated and cared for humanely by the Party to the conflict which has them in its power, without any adverse distinction based on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinion or any other similar criterion. Any attack on their life and person and, among other things, the fact of finishing or exterminating them, subjecting them to torture, carrying out biological experiments on them, leaving them in a premeditated manner without medical assistance, or without care, or to expose them to risks of contagion or infection created for this purpose.

Only medical emergency reasons will authorize a priority in the order of care.

Women will be treated with all special consideration due to their sex.

The Party to the conflict, obliged to abandon the wounded or sick to its adversary, will leave with them, insofar as military requirements permit, part of its medical personnel and material to help care for them.

ARTICLE 13. – This Convention shall apply to the wounded and sick belonging to the following categories:

1) members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict, as well as members of militias and volunteer corps forming part of these armed forces;

2) members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating outside or inside their own territory, even if that territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfill the following conditions:

(a) to have at their head a person responsible for his subordinates;

(b) to have a distinctive sign that is fixed and recognizable from a distance;

(c) to bear arms openly;

(d) to conform in their operations to the laws and customs of war;

3) members of the regular armed forces who claim to belong to a government or authority not recognized by the Detaining Power;

4) people who follow the armed forces without being directly part of it, such as civilian members of military aircraft crews, war correspondents, suppliers, members of work units or services responsible for the welfare of the military , provided that they have received authorization from the armed forces they are accompanying;

5) members of the crews, including masters, pilots and apprentices, of the merchant navy and the crews of the civil aviation of the Parties to the conflict who do not benefit from more favorable treatment under other provisions of the law international;

6) the population of an unoccupied territory who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to fight the invading troops without having had time to form themselves into regular armed forces, if they openly bear the weapons and whether it respects the laws and customs of war.

ARTICLE 14. – Taking into account the provisions of Article 12, the wounded and sick of a belligerent, who have fallen into the power of the adversary, will be prisoners of war and the rules of international law concerning prisoners of war will be theirs. applicable.

ARTICLE 15. – At all times and in particular after an engagement, the Parties to the conflict shall without delay take all possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick, protect them against pillage and ill-treatment and provide them with the necessary care, as well as to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled.

Whenever circumstances permit, an armistice, a break in fire or local arrangements will be agreed upon to permit the removal, exchange and transportation of wounded left on the field of battle.

Similarly, local arrangements may be made between the Parties to the conflict for the evacuation or exchange of the wounded and sick from a besieged or encircled area and for the passage of medical and religious personnel and medical equipment to that area. zoned.

ARTICLE 16. – The Parties to the conflict must record, as soon as possible, all the elements suitable for identifying the wounded, sick and dead of the adverse party who have fallen into their hands. This information should, if possible, include the following:

a) indication of the Power on which they depend;

b) assignment or service number;

(c) surname;

(d) the given name(s);

e) date of birth;

(f) any other information shown on the identity card or tag;

(g) date and place of capture or death;

(h) information regarding injury, illness or cause of death.

As soon as possible, the information mentioned above must be communicated to the information office, referred to in article 122 of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war of August 12, 1949, which will transmit it to the on which these persons depend, through the intermediary of the Protecting Power and the Central Agency for Prisoners of War.

The Parties to the conflict shall draw up and communicate to each other, by the means indicated in the preceding paragraph, the death certificates or lists of deaths duly authenticated. They will also collect and transmit to each other, through the same office, half of a double identity disc, wills or other documents of importance to the family of the deceased, sums of money, and, in general, all objects of intrinsic or emotional value found on the dead. These objects, as well as unidentified objects, will be sent in sealed packets, accompanied by a declaration giving all the details necessary for the identification of the deceased possessor, as well as a complete inventory of the packet.

ARTICLE 17. – The Parties to the conflict shall ensure that the burial or cremation of the dead, carried out individually as far as circumstances permit, is preceded by a careful and, if possible, medical examination of the bodies, with a view to to ascertain the death, to establish the identity and to be able to account for it. Half of the double identity tag or the tag itself, if it is a single tag, will remain on the corpse.

Bodies may only be cremated for imperative reasons of hygiene or reasons arising from the religion of the deceased. In the event of cremation, detailed mention will be made, with an indication of the reasons, on the death certificate or on the authenticated death list.

The Parties to the conflict shall also ensure that the dead are buried honorably, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged, that their graves are respected, assembled if possible according to the nationality of the deceased, properly maintained and marked so that they can always be found. To this end and at the beginning of hostilities, they will officially organize a Graves Service, in order to allow possible exhumations, to ensure the identification of corpses, regardless of the location of the graves, and their possible return to their country of origin. 'origin. These provisions also apply to the ashes which will be kept by the Graves Service until the country of origin makes known the final measures it wishes to take in this regard.

As soon as circumstances permit and at the latest at the end of hostilities, these services will exchange, through the information office mentioned in the second paragraph of Article 16, lists indicating the exact location and designation of the graves. , as well as details of the dead buried there.

ARTICLE 18. – The military authority may appeal to the charitable zeal of the inhabitants to voluntarily collect and care for, under its control, the wounded and sick, granting those who have responded to this appeal the necessary protection and facilities. Should the adverse party come to take or regain control of the region, it will maintain this protection and these facilities for these people.

The military authority must authorize the inhabitants and relief societies, even in invaded or occupied regions, to spontaneously collect and care for the wounded or sick of whatever nationality they belong. The civilian population must respect these wounded and sick and, in particular, must not engage in any act of violence against them.

No one should ever be harassed or condemned for having given care to the wounded or the sick.

The provisions of this article do not exempt the Occupying Power from the obligations incumbent on it, in the medical and moral sphere, with regard to the wounded and sick.

CHAPTER III. HEALTH TRAINING AND ESTABLISHMENTS

ARTICLE 19. – The fixed establishments and the mobile medical units of the Health Service may under no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict. If they fall into the hands of the adverse party, they may continue to operate as long as the capturing Power has not itself provided the necessary care for the wounded and sick in these establishments and formations.

The competent authorities shall ensure that the medical establishments and formations mentioned above are, as far as possible, located in such a way that possible attacks against military objectives cannot put these medical establishments and formations in danger.

ARTICLE 20. – Hospital ships entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of ​​August 12, 1949, shall not be attacked from land. .

ARTICLE 21. – The protection due to the fixed establishments and to the mobile medical units of the Medical Service cannot cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy. However, the protection will cease only after a summons setting, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable period and which would have remained without effect.

ARTICLE 22. – Will not be considered as being likely to deprive a formation or a medical establishment of the protection ensured by article 19:

1. the fact that the personnel of the formation or the establishment are armed and that they use their weapons for their own defense or that of their wounded and sick;

2. the fact that, in the absence of armed orderlies, the formation or establishment is guarded by a picket or sentries or an escort;

3. the fact that in the formation or the establishment there are small arms and ammunition withdrawn from the wounded and sick and not yet transferred to the competent service;

4. the fact that personnel and equipment of the veterinary service are in the formation or the establishment, without forming an integral part of it;

5. the fact that the humanitarian activity of medical units and establishments or of their personnel is extended to wounded or sick civilians.

ARTICLE 23. In time of peace, the High Contracting Parties and, after the outbreak of hostilities, the Parties to the conflict, may create on their own territory and, if necessary, on occupied territories, zones and medical localities organized in such a way as to protect the wounded and sick from the effects of war as well as the personnel responsible for the organization and administration of these zones and localities and for the care to be given to persons who are injured. will find concentrated there.

From the beginning of a conflict and during it, the Parties concerned may conclude agreements among themselves for the recognition of the hospital zones and localities which they have established. To this end, they may bring into force the provisions set out in the draft agreement annexed to this Convention, possibly making any modifications they deem necessary.

The Protecting Powers and the International Committee of the Red Cross are invited to lend their good offices to facilitate the establishment and recognition of these hospital zones and localities.

CHAPTER IV. STAFF

ARTICLE 24. – Medical personnel exclusively assigned to the search, removal, transport or treatment of the wounded and sick or to the prevention of disease, personnel exclusively assigned to the administration of medical formations and establishments, as well as that chaplains attached to the armed forces will be respected and protected in all circumstances.

ARTICLE 25. – Military personnel specially instructed to be, if necessary, employed as auxiliary nurses or stretcher-bearers in the search for or removal, transport or treatment of the wounded and sick, will also be respected and protected if they fulfill these functions when they come into contact with the enemy or fall into his power.

ARTICLE 26. – The personnel of National Red Cross Societies and other voluntary relief societies, duly recognized and authorized by their government, who will be employed in the same functions as those of the personnel referred to in the said article, provided that the personnel of these companies shall be subject to military laws and regulations.

Each High Contracting Party shall notify the other, either in time of peace, or at the outbreak or during hostilities, in any case before any effective use, of the names of the companies which it has authorized to lend their assistance, under his responsibility, to the official medical service of his armies.

ARTICLE 27. – A recognized company of a neutral country may only lend the assistance of its personnel and its medical units to a Party to the conflict with the prior consent of its own government and the authorization of the Party to the conflict. herself. Such personnel and formations shall be placed under the control of that Party to the conflict.

The neutral government will notify this assent to the adverse party of the State which accepts this assistance. The Party to the conflict which has accepted this assistance is required, before any use, to notify the adverse party.

Under no circumstances should this competition be considered as an interference in the conflict.

The staff members referred to in the first paragraph must be duly provided with the identity documents provided for in Article 40 before leaving the neutral country to which they belong.

ARTICLE 28. – The personnel designated in Articles 24 and 26 shall not be retained, if they fall into the power of the adverse party, except insofar as the state of health, the spiritual needs and the number of prisoners of war so require. .

Personnel so retained shall not be considered prisoners of war. However, they shall at least benefit from all the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war of 12 August 1949. They shall continue to exercise, within the framework of the military laws and regulations of the Detaining Power, under the authority of its competent services and in accordance with their professional conscience, their medical or spiritual functions for the benefit of prisoners of war belonging preferably to the armed forces to which they belong. They shall also enjoy, for the exercise of their medical or spiritual mission, the following facilities:

(a) They shall be authorized to visit periodically prisoners of war in labor detachments or in hospitals outside the camp. The detaining authority will provide them with the necessary means of transport for this purpose.

(b) In each camp, the most senior medical officer in the highest rank shall be responsible to the military authorities of the camp for all matters relating to the activities of the medical personnel retained. To this end, the Parties to the conflict shall agree from the outbreak of hostilities on the correspondence of the ranks of their medical personnel, including that of the companies referred to in Article 26. For all questions relating to their mission, this doctor, as well as the chaplains, will have direct access to the competent authorities of the camp. These will give them all the necessary facilities for correspondence relating to these questions.

c) Although they are subject to the internal discipline of the camp in which they find themselves, the personnel selected may not be compelled to do any work unrelated to their medical or religious mission.

During the hostilities, the Parties to the conflict shall agree on the subject of a possible relief of the personnel retained and shall fix the terms thereof.

None of the foregoing provisions exempts the Detaining Power from its obligations with regard to prisoners of war in the medical and spiritual fields.

ARTICLE 29. – The personnel designated in article 25, who have fallen into the hands of the enemy, will be considered as prisoners of war, but they will be employed on medical missions insofar as the need arises.

ARTICLE 30. – Members of the personnel whose retention will not be essential by virtue of the provisions of Article 28 shall be returned to the Party to the conflict to which they belong as soon as a way is opened for their return and military necessities will allow it.

Pending their removal, they will not be considered prisoners of war. However, they will at least benefit from all the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war of August 12, 1949. They will continue to fulfill their functions under the direction of the opposing party and will preferably be assigned to the care of the wounded. and sick of the Party to the conflict to which they belong.

On their departure, they will take the effects, personal objects, securities and instruments that belong to them.

ARTICLE 31. – The choice of personnel whose return to the Party to the conflict is provided for under the terms of Article 30 shall be made without taking into account any consideration of race, religion or political opinion, preferably according to the chronological order of their capture and their state of health.

From the outbreak of hostilities, the Parties to the conflict may fix by special agreement the percentage of personnel to be retained according to the number of prisoners and their distribution in the camps.

ARTICLE 32. – The persons designated in article 27, who have fallen into the power of the opposing party, cannot be retained.

Unless otherwise agreed, they shall be authorized to return to their country or, failing that, to the territory of the Party to the conflict in whose service they were placed, as soon as a way is opened for their return and military requirements permit.

Pending their dismissal, they will continue to fulfill their functions under the direction of the opposing party; they shall preferably be assigned to the care of the wounded and sick of the Party to the conflict in whose service they were placed.

On their departure, they will take away the effects, personal objects and valuables, instruments, weapons and if possible the means of transport which belong to them.

The Parties to the conflict shall ensure to such personnel, while they are in their power, the same maintenance, the same lodging, the same allowances and the same pay as the corresponding personnel of their army. The food will in any case be sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to ensure a normal balance of health for those concerned.

CHAPTER V. BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT

ARTICLE 33. – The equipment of the mobile medical units of the armed forces which will have fallen into the power of the adverse party, will remain assigned to the wounded and sick.

The buildings, equipment and depots of the fixed medical establishments of the armed forces shall remain subject to the laws of war, but may not be diverted from their use as long as they are necessary for the wounded and sick. However, the commanders of armies in the field may use them, in case of urgent military necessity, subject to having taken the necessary measures in advance for the well-being of the sick and wounded who are treated there.

The equipment and deposits referred to in this article must not be intentionally destroyed.

ARTICLE 34. – The movable and immovable property of relief societies admitted to the benefit of the Convention shall be considered as private property.

The right of requisition granted to belligerents by the laws and customs of war shall only be exercised in case of urgent necessity and once the fate of the wounded and sick has been assured.

CHAPTER VI. SANITARY TRANSPORT

ARTICLE 35. – The transport of the wounded and sick or of medical equipment will be respected and protected in the same way as mobile medical units.

When these transports or vehicles fall into the hands of the adverse party, they shall be subject to the laws of war, on the condition that the Party to the conflict which has captured them takes charge, in all cases, of the wounded and sick whom they contain.

The civilian personnel and all the means of transport coming from the requisition will be subject to the general rules of international law.

ARTICLE 36. – Medical aircraft, that is to say aircraft used exclusively for the evacuation of the wounded and sick as well as for the transport of medical personnel and material, shall not be the object of attacks but will be respected by the belligerents during their flights at altitudes, at times and following routes specifically agreed between all the belligerents concerned.

They will conspicuously bear the distinctive sign provided for in Article 38, alongside the national colours, on their lower, upper and lateral faces. They shall be provided with any other signaling or means of recognition fixed by agreement between the belligerents either at the beginning or during the hostilities.

Unless otherwise agreed, overflight of enemy or enemy-occupied territory will be prohibited.

Medical aircraft must obey any summons to land. In the event of a landing thus imposed, the aircraft, with its occupants, may resume its flight after any checks.

In the event of a fortuitous landing on enemy territory or occupied by the enemy, the wounded and sick, as well as the crew of the aircraft, will be prisoners of war. Medical personnel will be treated in accordance with articles 24 and following.

ARTICLE 37. – The medical aircraft of the Parties to the conflict may, subject to the second paragraph, fly over the territory of the neutral Powers and land or alight there in case of necessity or to make a stopover there. They must notify the neutral Powers beforehand of their passage through their territory and obey any summons to land or alight on water. They shall be safe from attack only during their flight at altitudes, at times and following routes specifically agreed upon between the Parties to the conflict and the neutral Powers concerned.

However, neutral Powers may fix conditions or restrictions as to the overflight of their territory by medical aircraft or their landing. These conditions or any restrictions will be applied equally to all Parties to the conflict.

Wounded or sick landed, with the consent of the local authority, on neutral territory by medical aircraft, shall, unless otherwise agreed by the neutral State with the Parties to the conflict, be guarded by the neutral, when required by international law, so that they cannot again take part in the operations of war. The costs of hospitalization and internment shall be borne by the Power on which the wounded and sick depend.

CHAPTER VII. OF THE DISTINCTIVE SIGN

ARTICLE 38. – As a tribute to Switzerland, the heraldic sign of the red cross on a white background, formed by inverting the federal colours, is maintained as the emblem and distinctive sign of the Armed Forces Medical Service.

However, for countries which already use as a distinctive emblem instead of the red cross, the red crescent or the red lion and sun on a white ground, these emblems are also admitted within the meaning of the present Convention.

ARTICLE 39. – Under the control of the competent military authority, the emblem will appear on the flags, the armbands as well as on all the material relating to the Medical Service.

ARTICLE 40. – The personnel referred to in article 24, and in articles 26 and 27, shall wear, attached to the left arm, a moisture-resistant armband bearing the distinctive emblem, issued and stamped by the military authority.

This staff, in addition to the identity plate provided for in article 16, will also carry a special identity card bearing the distinctive sign. This card must resist humidity and be of such dimensions that it can be put in the pocket. It will be written in the national language, will mention at least the surname and first names, the date of birth, the rank and the registration number of the person concerned. It shall establish in what capacity he is entitled to the protection of this Convention. The card will bear the photograph of the holder and, in addition, either his signature or his fingerprints, or both at the same time. It will bear the dry stamp of the military authority.

The identity card must be uniform in each army and as far as possible of the same type in the armies of the High Contracting Parties. The Parties to the conflict may draw inspiration from the model appended as an example to this Convention. They will communicate to each other, at the beginning of hostilities, the model they use. Each identity card shall be drawn up, if possible, in at least two copies, one of which shall be kept by the Power of origin.

Under no circumstances may the staff mentioned above be deprived of their insignia or their identity card or the right to wear their armband. In case of loss, he will have the right to obtain duplicates of the card and the replacement of the badges.

ARTICLE 41. – The personnel designated in article 25 shall wear, only while performing medical duties, a white armband bearing in the middle the distinctive emblem, but of reduced dimensions, issued and stamped by the military authority.

The military identity documents which this personnel will carry will specify the health instruction received by the holder, the temporary nature of his duties and the right he has to wear an armband.

ARTICLE 42. – The distinctive flag of the Convention may only be displayed on the formations and medical establishments which it orders to be respected and only with the consent of the military authority.

In mobile formations as in fixed establishments, it may be accompanied by the national flag of the Party to the conflict to which the formation or establishment belongs.

However, medical units which have fallen into the hands of the enemy will only display the flag of the Convention. The Parties to the conflict shall take, insofar as military requirements permit, the necessary measures to make clearly visible to enemy land, air and sea forces the distinctive emblems indicating medical units and establishments, with a view to eliminating the possibility of any aggressive action.

ARTICLE 43. – The medical units of neutral countries which, under the conditions provided for in Article 27, would have been authorized to lend their services to a belligerent, must display, with the flag of the Convention, the national flag of this belligerent, if he uses the option conferred on him by Article 42.

Unless otherwise ordered by the competent military authority, they may in all circumstances display their national flag, even if they fall into the power of the adverse party.

ARTICLE 44. – The emblem of the red cross on a white background and the words "red cross" or "Geneva cross" may not, with the exception of the cases referred to in the following paragraphs of this article, be used either in time of peace, or in time of war, only to designate or protect the medical units and establishments, the personnel and the equipment protected by this Convention and by other international Conventions regulating similar matters. The same shall apply with regard to the emblems referred to in the second paragraph of Article 38, for the countries which use them. The National Societies of the Red Cross and the other societies referred to in Article 26 shall only be entitled to use the distinctive emblem conferring the protection of the Convention within the framework of the provisions of this paragraph.

In addition, National Red Cross Societies (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Red Sun) may in time of peace, in accordance with national legislation, make use of the name and emblem of the Red Cross for their other activities in conformity with the principles formulated by the International Conferences of the Red Cross. When these activities continue in time of war, the conditions for the use of the emblem must be such that it cannot be considered as conferring the protection of the Convention; the emblem will be relatively small in size and cannot be affixed to an armband or a roof.

International organizations of the Red Cross and their duly authorized personnel shall be authorized to use the sign of the red cross on a white background at all times.

Exceptionally, in accordance with national legislation, and with the express authorization of one of the National Red Cross Societies (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun), use may be made of the emblem of the Convention in time of peace, to signal vehicles used as ambulances and to mark the location of aid stations exclusively reserved for the free treatment of the wounded or sick.

CHAPTER VIII. EXECUTION OF THE AGREEMENT

ARTICLE 45. – Each Party to the conflict, through the intermediary of its commanders-in-chief, shall have to provide for the details of the execution of the preceding articles, as well as for cases not provided for, in accordance with the general principles of the present Convention.

ARTICLE 46. – The measures of reprisals against the wounded, the sick, the personnel, the buildings or the material protected by the Convention are prohibited.

ARTICLE 47. The High Contracting Parties undertake to disseminate as widely as possible, in time of peace and in time of war, the text of the present Convention in their respective countries, and in particular to incorporate the study of it into the curricula. military and, if possible, civilian training, in such a way that the principles are known to the entire population, in particular to the combatant armed forces, medical personnel and chaplains.

ARTICLE 48. The High Contracting Parties shall communicate to one another through the Swiss Federal Council and, during hostilities, through the Protecting Powers, the official translations of the present Convention, as well as the laws and regulations which they may adopted to ensure its application.

CHAPTER IX. PUNISHMENT OF ABUSE AND OFFENSES

ARTICLE 49. – The High Contracting Parties undertake to take all legislative measures necessary to lay down the appropriate penal sanctions to be applied to persons who have committed, or given the order to commit, one or other of the serious breaches of the this Convention as defined in the following article.

Each Contracting Party shall be under an obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, any of these grave breaches, and it shall bring them before its own courts, regardless of their nationality. It may also, if it prefers, and under the conditions provided for by its own legislation, hand them over for judgment to another Contracting Party interested in the prosecution, provided that this Contracting Party has brought sufficient charges against the said persons.

Each Contracting Party shall take the necessary measures to put an end to acts contrary to the provisions of this Convention, other than the grave breaches defined in the following article.

In all circumstances, the accused shall benefit from guarantees of procedure and freedom of defense which shall not be inferior to those provided for by articles 105 and following of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war of August 12, 1949.

ARTICLE 50. – The serious offenses referred to in the preceding article are those which include one or other of the following acts, if they are committed against persons or property protected by the Convention: intentional homicide, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by necessity military and carried out on a large scale in an illicit and arbitrary manner.

ARTICLE 51. – No Contracting Party may exonerate itself or another Contracting Party from any liability incurred by itself or by another Contracting Party as a result of the offenses provided for in the preceding article.

ARTICLE 52. – At the request of a Party to the conflict, an inquiry shall be opened, in a manner to be determined between the Parties concerned, into any alleged violation of the Convention.

If an agreement on the investigation procedure is not reached, the Parties will agree to choose an arbitrator, who will decide on the procedure to be followed.

Once the violation has been established, the Parties to the conflict shall put an end to it and punish it as soon as possible.

ARTICLE 53. – The use by individuals, companies or business houses, both public and private, other than those entitled thereto by virtue of this Convention, of the emblem or the name of "red cross" or " cross of Geneva”, as well as any sign or any denomination constituting an imitation thereof, shall be prohibited at all times, whatever the purpose of this use and whatever the previous date of adoption may have been.

Because of the homage paid to Switzerland by the adoption of the inverted federal colors and the confusion which may arise between the coat of arms of Switzerland and the distinctive emblem of the Convention, the use by individuals, companies or houses of trade, the coat of arms of the Swiss Confederation, as well as any sign constituting an imitation thereof, either as a trademark or as an element of these marks, either for a purpose contrary to commercial fairness, or under conditions likely to hurt the Swiss national sentiment, will be prohibited at all times.

However, the High Contracting Parties which were not parties to the Geneva Convention of July 27, 1929 may grant prior users of the emblems, denominations or marks referred to in the first paragraph, a maximum period of three years, from the entry into force of this Convention, to abandon the use thereof, it being understood that during this period, the use may not appear, in time of war, as intended to confer the protection of the Convention.

The prohibition established by the first paragraph of this article also applies, without effect on the acquired rights of prior users, to the emblems and denominations provided for in the second paragraph of article 38.

ARTICLE 54. The High Contracting Parties, whose legislation is not at present sufficient, shall take the necessary measures to prevent and repress at all times the abuses referred to in Article 53.

FINAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE 55. – This Agreement is drawn up in French and English. Both texts are equally authentic. The Swiss Federal Council will arrange for official translations of the Convention into Russian and Spanish.

ARTICLE 56. This Convention, which shall bear the date of today, may, until February 12, 1950, be signed in the name of the Powers represented at the Conference which opened at Geneva on April 21, 1949, as well as of the Powers not represented at this Conference which participate in the Geneva Conventions of 1864, 1906 or 1929, for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armies in the field.

ARTICLE 57. – This Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible and the ratifications shall be deposited at Berne.

There shall be drawn up of the deposit of each instrument of ratification a proces-verbal, a copy of which, certified true, shall be delivered by the Swiss Federal Council to all the Powers in the name of which the Convention shall have been signed or the accession notified.

ARTICLE 58. – This Convention shall enter into force six months after at least two instruments of ratification have been deposited.

Subsequently, it will come into force for each High Contracting Party six months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification.

ARTICLE 59. This Convention replaces the Conventions of August 22, 1864, July 6, 1906, and July 27, 1929, in the relations between the High Contracting Parties.

ARTICLE 60. From the date of its entry into force, this Convention shall be open to adhesion by any Power in whose name this Convention has not been signed.

ARTICLE 61. – Accessions shall be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal Council and shall produce their effects six months after the date on which they reach it.

The Swiss Federal Council will communicate the accessions to all the Powers in whose name the Convention has been signed or the accession notified.

ARTICLE 62. – The situations provided for in Articles 2 and 3 shall give immediate effect to the ratifications deposited and accessions notified by the Parties to the conflict before or after the start of hostilities or occupation. The communication of ratifications or accessions received from the Parties to the conflict shall be made by the Swiss Federal Council by the quickest route.

ARTICLE 63. Each of the High Contracting Parties shall have the right to denounce this Convention.

The denunciation will be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal Council. The latter shall communicate the notification to the Governments of all the High Contracting Parties.

The denunciation will take effect one year after its notification to the Swiss Federal Council. However, the denunciation notified while the denouncing Power is involved in a conflict, will not produce any effect as long as peace has not been concluded and, in any case, as long as the operations for the release and repatriation of persons protected by this Agreement will not be terminated.

The denunciation will be valid only with regard to the denouncing Power. It shall have no effect on the obligations which the Parties to the conflict shall remain bound to fulfill by virtue of the principles of the law of nations such as they result from the usages established between civilized nations, from the laws of humanity and from the dictates of conscience. public.

ARTICLE 64. – The Swiss Federal Council shall cause this Convention to be registered 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 which it may receive in respect of this Convention.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, having deposited their respective full powers, have signed this Convention.

DONE at Geneva, August 12, 1949, in the French and English languages, the original to be deposited in the Archives of the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss Federal Council will transmit a certified true copy of the Convention to each of the signatory States, as well as to the States which have acceded to the Convention.

(Designation of plenipotentiaries)

[ ANNEX I. DRAFT AGREEMENT RELATING TO SANITARY ZONES AND LOCALITIES

FIRST ARTICLE. – The medical zones will 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 August 12, 1949, as well as for personnel responsible for the organization and administration of these zones and localities and the care to be given to the persons who will be concentrated there.

However, persons who have their permanent residence inside these zones will have the right to stay there.

ARTICLE 2. – Persons who find themselves, in any capacity whatsoever, in a hospital zone, must not engage in any work which would have a direct relationship with military operations or the production of war material either inside or outside this area.

ARTICLE 3. – The Power which creates a hospital zone shall take all appropriate measures to prohibit access to it to all persons who do not have the right to go there or be there.

ARTICLE 4. – The sanitary areas will meet the following conditions:

a) they will represent only a small part of the territory controlled by the Power which created them;

b) they should be sparsely populated in relation to their capacity to accommodate;

(c) they shall be remote and free from any military objective and any important industrial or administrative installation;

(d) they will not be located in areas which, in all likelihood, may be of importance for the conduct of war.

ARTICLE 5. – The sanitary areas will be subject to the following obligations:

a) the lines of communication and the means of transport which they may include shall not be used for the movement of military personnel or material, even in simple transit;

b) they will not be militarily defended under any circumstances.

ARTICLE 6. – The sanitary areas will be designated by red crosses (red crescents, lions and red suns) on a white background affixed to the periphery and to the buildings.

At night, they can also be illuminated by appropriate lighting.

ARTICLE 7. From time of peace or on the outbreak of hostilities, each Power shall communicate to all the High Contracting Parties the list of the hospital zones established in the territory which it controls. It will notify them of any new zones created during a conflict.

As soon as the opposing party has received the notification mentioned above, the zone will be duly constituted.

If, however, the adverse party considers that one of the conditions set out in this agreement is manifestly not fulfilled, it may refuse to recognize the zone by urgently communicating its refusal to the party to which the zone belongs, or make its acknowledgment to the institution of the control provided for in Article 8.

ARTICLE 8. – Each Power, which has recognized one or more hospital zones established by the adverse party, shall have the right to request that one or more special commissions check whether the zones meet the conditions and obligations set out in the present agreement.

To this end, the members of the special commissions shall at all times have free access to the various zones and may even reside there permanently. Every facility will be granted to them so that they can carry out their mission of control.

ARTICLE 9. – In the event that the special commissions should note facts which appear to them to be contrary to the stipulations of the present agreement, they shall immediately notify the Power to which the zone is subject and set it a period of five days at the most to remedy the situation; they will inform the Power which recognized the zone.

If, at the expiration of this period, the Power on which the zone depends has not acted on the warning addressed to it, the adverse party may declare that it is no longer bound by this agreement to with respect to this area.

ARTICLE 10. – The Power which will have created one or more hospital zones and localities, as well as the adverse parties to which their existence will have been notified, will appoint, or cause to be designated by neutral Powers, the persons who may form part of the special commissions of which they is mentioned in Articles 8 and 9.

ARTICLE 11. – Hospital zones may not, under any circumstances, be attacked, but shall at all times be protected and respected by the Parties to the conflict.

ARTICLE 12. – In the event of occupation of a territory, the medical zones therein must continue to be respected and used as such.

However, the Occupying Power may modify its use after having ensured the fate of the persons who were collected there.

ARTICLE 13. – This agreement shall also apply to localities which the Powers assign to the same purpose as hospital zones.

ANNEX II

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