Art 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.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring
into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the
other provisions of the present Convention.
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect
the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.
Art 4. A. Prisoners of war, in the sense
of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the
following categories, who have fallen into the power of the
enemy:
(1) Members of the armed forces of a Party to the
conflict, as well as members of militias or volunteer corps
forming part of such 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
in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is
occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps,
including such organized resistance movements, fulfil the
following conditions:
(a) that of being commanded by a person responsible for
his subordinates;
(b) that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a
distance;
(c) that of carrying arms openly;
(d) that of conducting their operations in accordance with
the laws and customs of war.
(3) Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance
to a government or an authority not recognized by the
Detaining Power.
(4) Persons who accompany the armed forces without
actually being members thereof, such as civilian members of
military aircraft crews, war correspondents, supply
contractors, members of labour units or of services
responsible for the welfare of the armed forces, provided
that they have received authorization, from the armed forces
which they accompany, who shall provide them for that purpose
with an identity card similar to the annexed model.
(5) Members of crews, including masters, pilots and
apprentices, of the merchant marine and the crews of civil
aircraft of the Parties to the conflict, who do not benefit
by more favourable treatment under any other provisions of
international law.
(6) Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the
approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist
the invading forces, without having had time to form
themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms
openly and respect the laws and customs of war.
B. The following shall likewise be treated as prisoners of
war under the present Convention:
(1) Persons belonging, or having belonged, to the armed
forces of the occupied country, if the occupying Power
considers it necessary by reason of such allegiance to intern
them, even though it has originally liberated them while
hostilities were going on outside the territory it occupies,
in particular where such persons have made an unsuccessful
attempt to rejoin the armed forces to which they belong and
which are engaged in combat, or where they fail to comply
with a summons made to them with a view to internment.
(2) The persons belonging to one of the categories
enumerated in the present Article, who have been received by
neutral or non-belligerent Powers on their territory and whom
these Powers are required to intern under international law,
without prejudice to any more favourable treatment which
these Powers may choose to give and with the exception of
Articles 8, 10, 15, 30, fifth paragraph, 58-67, 92, 126 and,
where diplomatic relations exist between the Parties to the
conflict and the neutral or non-belligerent Power concerned,
those Articles concerning the Protecting Power. Where such
diplomatic relations exist, the Parties to a conflict on whom
these persons depend shall be allowed to perform towards them
the functions of a Protecting Power as provided in the
present Convention, without prejudice to the functions which
these Parties normally exercise in conformity with diplomatic
and consular usage and treaties.
C. This Article shall in no way affect the status of
medical personnel and chaplains as provided for in Article 33 of
the present Convention.
Art 5. The present Convention shall apply to the persons
referred to in Article 4 from the time they fall into the power
of the enemy and until their final release and repatriation.
Should any doubt arise as to whether persons, having committed
a belligerent act and having fallen into the hands of the enemy,
belong to any of the categories enumerated in Article 4, such
persons shall enjoy the protection of the present Convention
until such time as their status has been determined by a
competent tribunal.
Art 6. In addition to the agreements expressly provided for in
Articles 10, 23, 28, 33, 60, 65, 66, 67, 72, 73, 75, 109, 110,
118, 119, 122 and 132, the High Contracting Parties may conclude
other special agreements for all matters concerning which they
may deem it suitable to make separate provision. No special
agreement shall adversely affect the situation of prisoners of
war, as defined by the present Convention, nor restrict the
rights which it confers upon them.
Prisoners of war shall continue to have the benefit of such
agreements as long as the Convention is applicable to them,
except where express provisions to the contrary are contained in
the aforesaid or in subsequent agreements, or where more
favourable measures have been taken with regard to them by one or
other of the Parties to the conflict.
Art 7. Prisoners of war may in no circumstances renounce in
part or in entirety the rights secured to them by the present
Convention, and by the special agreements referred to in the
foregoing Article, if such there be.
Art 8. The present Convention shall be applied with the
cooperation and under the scrutiny of the Protecting Powers whose
duty it is to safeguard the interests of the Parties to the
conflict. For this purpose, the Protecting Powers may appoint,
apart from their diplomatic or consular staff, delegates from
amongst their own nationals or the nationals of other neutral
Powers. The said delegates shall be subject to the approval of
the Power with which they are to carry out their duties.
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 not in any case exceed their mission under the present
Convention. They shall, in particular, take account of the
imperative necessities of security of the State wherein they
carry out their duties.
Art 9. The provisions of the present Convention constitute no
obstacle to the humanitarian activities which the International
Committee of the Red Cross or any other impartial humanitarian
organization may, subject to the consent of the Parties to the
conflict concerned, undertake for the protection of prisoners of
war and for their relief.
Art 10. The High Contracting Parties may at any time agree to
entrust to an organization which offers all guarantees of
impartiality and efficacy the duties incumbent on the Protecting
Powers by virtue of the present Convention.
When prisoners of war do not benefit or cease to benefit, no
matter for what reason, by the activities of a Protecting Power
or of an organization provided for in the first paragraph above,
the Detaining Power shall request a neutral State, or such an
organization, to undertake the functions performed under the
present Convention by a Protecting Power designated by the
Parties to a conflict.
If protection cannot be arranged accordingly, the Detaining
Power shall request or shall accept, subject to the provisions of
this Article, the offer of the services of a humanitarian
organization, such as the International Committee of the Red
Cross to assume the humanitarian functions performed by
Protecting Powers under the present Convention.
Any neutral Power or any organization invited by the Power
concerned or offering itself for these purposes, shall be
required to act with a sense of responsibility towards the Party
to the conflict on which persons protected by the present
Convention depend, and shall be required to furnish sufficient
assurances that it is in a position to undertake the appropriate
functions and to discharge them impartially.
No derogation from the preceding provisions shall be made by
special agreements between Powers one of which is restricted,
even temporarily, in its freedom to negotiate with the other
Power or its allies by reason of military events, more
particularly where the whole, or a substantial part, of the
territory of the said Power is occupied.
Whenever in the present Convention mention is made of a
Protecting Power, such mention applies to substitute
organizations in the sense of the present Article.
Art 11. In cases where they deem it advisable in the interest
of protected persons, particularly in cases of disagreement
between the Parties to the conflict as to the application or
interpretation of the provisions of the present Convention, the
Protecting Powers shall lend their good offices with a view to
settling the disagreement.
For this purpose, each of the Protecting Powers may, either at
the invitation of one Party or on its own initiative, propose to
the Parties to the conflict a meeting of their representatives,
and in particular of the authorities responsible for prisoners of
war, possibly on neutral territory suitably chosen. The Parties
to the conflict shall be bound to give effect to the proposals
made to them for this purpose. The Protecting Powers may, if
necessary, propose for approval by the Parties to the conflict a
person belonging to a neutral Power, or delegated by the
International Committee of the Red Cross, who shall be invited to
take part in such a meeting.
PART I General Provisions
