ARTICLE 25. If as the result of naval operations beyond the territorial waters of neutral states there should be dead or wounded on board belligerent vessels, said states may send hospital ships under the vigilance of the neutral government to the scene of the disaster. These ships shall enjoy complete immunity during the discharge of their mission. ARTICLE 26. Neutral states are bound to exert all the vigilance within their power in order to prevent in their ports or territorial waters any violation of the foregoing provisions. A belligerent shall indemnify the damage caused by its violation of the foregoing provisions. It shall likewise be responsible for the acts of persons who may belong to its armed forces. ARTICLE 28. The present convention does not affect obligations previously undertaken by the contracting parties through international agreements. ARTICLE 29. After being signed, the present convention shall be submitted to the ratification of the signatory states. The Government of Cuba is charged with transmitting authentic certified copies to the governments for the aforementioned purpose of ratification. The instrument of ratification shall be deposited in the archives of the Pan American Union in Washington, the Union to notify the signatory governments of said deposit. Such notifications shall be considered as an exchange of ratifications. This convention shall remain open to the adherence of nonsignatory states. --(Treaty Series, No. 845; 47 Stat. 1990-1995.) EDITORIAL NOTES This convention was concluded at the Sixth International Conference of American States, Habana, Cuba, and was signed Feb. 20, 1928; ratification thereof was advised by the Senate (with the exception of section 3 of Article 12) Jan. 28, 1932 (legislative day of Jan. 26, 1932); it was tified by the President (with the exception of se a 3 of Article 12) on Feb. 6, 1932; ratification was deposited with the Pan American Union, Mar. 22, 1932; it was proclaimed May 26, 1932. The convention was signed by representatives of the United States of America (with a reservation in respect to section 3 of Article 12), Peru, Uruguay, Panama, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Costa Rica, Chile (with a reservation), Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Cuba (with a reservation). CONVENTION OF JULY 27, 1929, RELATIVE TO THE TREATMENT OF PRISONERS OF WAR. TITLE I. GENERAL PROVISIONS, The present convention shall apply, without prejudice to the stipulations of Title VII: 1) To all persons mentioned in Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention respecting the laws and customs of war on land, of October 18, 1907, and captured by the enemy.* 2) To all persons belonging to the armed forces of belligerent parties, captured by the enemy in the course of military operations at sea or in the air, except for such derogations as might be rendered inevitable by the conditions of capture. However, such derogations shall not infringe upon the fundamental principles of the present Convention; they shall cease from the moment when the persons captured have rejoined a prisoners-of-war camp. ARTICLE 2. Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile Power, but not of the individuals or corps who have captured them. They must at all times be humanely treated and protected, particularly against acts of violence, insults and public curiosity. Measures of reprisal against them are prohibited. ARTICLE 3. Prisoners of war have the right to have their person and their honor respected. Women shall be treated with all the regard due to their sex. Prisoners retain their full civil status. ARTICLE 4. The power detaining prisoners of war is bound to provide for their maintenance. Difference in treatment among prisoners is lawful only when it is based on the military rank, state of physical or mental health, professoinal qualifications or sex of those who profit thereby. TITLE II. CAPTURE. Every prisoner of war is bound to give, if he is questioned on the subject, his true name and rank, or else his regimental number. If he infringes this rule, he is liable to have the advantages given to prisoners of his class curtailed. Annexed Regulations: ART. 1. The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions: 4. To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. In countries where militia or volunteer corps constitute the army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomination "army." ART. 2. The inhabitants of a territory which has not been occupied, who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading troops without having had time to organize themselves in accordance with Article 1, shall be regarded as belligerents if they carry arms openly and if they respect the laws and customs of war. ART. 3. The armed forces of the belligerent parties may consist of combatants and noncombatants. In the case of capture by the enemy, both have a right to be treated as prisoners of war. [Footnote in the original.] No coercion may be used on prisoners to secure information relative to the condition of their army or country. Prisoners who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind whatever. If, because of his physical or mental condition, a prisoner is unable to identify himself, he shall be turned over to the medical corps. ARTICLE 6. All effects and objects of personal use--except arms, horses, military equipment and military papers--shall remain in the possession of prisoners of war, as well as metal helmets and gas masks. Money in the possession of prisoners may not be taken away from them except by order of an officer and after the amount is determined. A receipt shall be given, Money thus taken away shall be entered to the account of each prisoner. Identification documents, insignia of rank, decorations and objects of value may not be taken from prisoners. TITLE III. CAPTIVITY. SECTION I. EVACUATION OF PRISONERS OF WAR. ARTICLE 7. Prisoners of war shall be evacuated within the shortest possible period after their capture, to depots located in a region far enough from the zone of combat for them to be out of danger. Only prisoners who, because of wounds or sickness, would run greater risks by being evacuated than by remaining where they are may be temporarily kept in a dangerous zone. Prisoners shall not be needlessly exposed to danger while awaiting their evacuation from the combat zone. Evacuation of prisoners on foot may normally be effected only by stages of 20 kilometers a day, unless the necessity of reaching water and food depots requires longer stages. ARTICLE 8. Belligerents are bound mutually to notify each other of their capture of prisoners within the shortest period possible, through the intermediary of the information bureaus, such as are organized according to Article 77. They are likewise bound to inform each other of the official addresses to which the correspondence of their families may be sent to prisoners of war. As soon as possible, every prisoner must be enabled to correspond with his family himself, under the conditions provided in Articles 36 et seq. As regards prisoners captured at sea, the provisions of the present article shall be observed as soon as possible after arrival at port. SECTION II. PRISONERS-OF-WAR CAMPS. ARTICLE 9. Prisoners of war may be interned in a town, fortress, or other place, and bound not to go beyond certain fixed limits. They may also be interned in enclosed camps; they may not be confined or imprisoned except as an indispensable measure of safety or sanitation, and only while the circumstances which necessitate the measure continue to exist. Prisoners captured in unhealthful regions or where the climate is injurious for persons coming from temperate regions, shall be transported, as soon as possible, to a more favorable climate. Belligerents shall, so far as possible, avoid assembling in a single camp prisoners of different races or nationalities. No prisoner may, at any time, be sent into a region where he might be exposed to the fire of the combat zone, nor used to give protection from bombardment to certain points or certain regions by his presence. CHAPTER 1. Installation of Camps. ARTICLE 10. Prisoners of war shall be lodged in buildings or in barracks affording all possible guarantees of hygiene and healthfulness. The quarters must be fully protected from dampness, sufficiently heated and lighted. All precautions must be taken against danger of fire. With regard to dormitories--the total surface, minimum cubic amount of air, arrangement and material of bedding--the conditions shall be the same as for the troops at base camps of the detaining Power. CHAPTER 2. Food and Clothing of Prisoners of War. ARTICLE 11. The food ration of prisoners of war shall be equal in quantity and quality to that of troops at base camps. Furthermore, prisoners shall receive facilities for preparing, themselves, additional food which they might have. A sufficiency of potable water shall be furnished them. The use of tobacco shall be permitted. Prisoners may be employed in the kitchens. All collective disciplinary measures affecting the food are prohibited. ARTICLE 12. Clothing, linen and footwear shall be furnished prisoners of war by the detaining Power. Replacement and repairing of these effects must be assured regularly. In addition, laborers must receive work clothes wherever the nature of the work requires it. Canteens shall be installed in all camps where prisoners may obtain, at the local market price, food products and ordinary objects. Profits made by the canteens for camp administrations shall be used for the benefit of prisoners. Belligerents shall be bound to take all sanitary measures necessary to assure the cleanliness and healthfulness of camps and to prevent epidemics. Prisoners of war shall have at their disposal, day and night, installations conforming to sanitary rules and constantly maintained in a state of cleanliness. Furthermore, and without prejudice to baths and shower, with which the camp shall be as well provided as possible, prisoners shall be furnished a sufficient quantity of water for the care of their own bodily cleanliness. It shall be possible for them to take physical exercise and enjoy the open air. ARTICLE 14. Every camp shall have an infirmary, where prisoners of war shall receive every kind of attention. they need. If necessary, isolated quarters shall be reserved for the sick-affected with contagious diseases. Expenses of treatment, including therein those of temporary prostnetic equipment, shall be bor ie by the detaining Power. Upon request, belligerents shall be found to deliver to every prisoner treated an official statement showing the nature and duration of his illness as well as the attention received. It shall be lawful for belligerents reciprocally to authorize, by means of private arrangements, the retention in the camps of physicians and attendants to care for prisoners of their own country. Prisoners affected with a serious illness or whose condition necessitates and important surgical operation, must be admitted, at the expense of the detaining Power, to any military or civil medical unit qualified to treat them. ARTICLE 15. Medical inspections of prisoners of war shall be arranged at least once a month. Their purpose shall be the supervision of the general state of health and cleanliness, and the detection of contagious diseases, particularly tuberculosis and venereal diseases. CHAPTER 4, Intellectual and Moral Needs of Prisoners of War. ARTICLE 16. Prisoners of war shall enjoy complete liberty in the exercise of their religion, including attendance at the services of their faith, on the sole condition that they comply with the measures of order and police issued by the military authorities. Ministers of a religion, prisoners of war, whatever their religious denomination, shall be allowed to minister fully to members of the same religion. ARTICLE 17. So far as possible, belligerents shall encourage intellectual diversions and sports organized by prisoners of war. CHAPTER 5. Internal Discipline of Camps. ARTICLE 18. Every camp of prisoners of war shall be placed under the command of a responsible officer. Besides the external marks of respect provided by the regulations in force in their armies with regard to their nationals, prisoners of war must salute all officers of the detaining Power. Officers who are prisoners of war are bound to salute only officers of a higher or equal rank of that Power. ARTICLE 19. The wearing of insignia of rank and of decorations shall be permitted. ARTICLE 20. Regulations, orders, notices and proclamations of every kind must be communicated to prisoners of war in a language which they understand. The same principle shall be applied in examinations. CHAPTER 6. Special Provisions Regarding Officers and Persons of Equivalent Status. ARTICLE 21. Upon the beginning of hostilities, belligerents shall be bound to communicate to one another the titles and ranks in use in their respective armies, with a view to assuring equality of treatment between corresponding ranks of officers and persons of equivalent status. Officers and persons of equivalent status who are prisoners of war shall be treated with the regard due their rank and age. ARTICLE 22. In order to assure service in officer s camps, soldiers of the same army who are prisoners of war and, wherever possible, who speak the same language, shall be assigned thereto, in sufficient numbers, considering the rank of the officers and persons of equivalent status. The latter shall secure their food and clothing from the pay which shall be granted them by the detaining Power. Administraion of the mess-fund by the officers themselves must be facilitated in every way. CHAPTER 7. Financial Resources of Prisoners of War. ARTICLE 23. Subject to private arrangements between belligerent Powers, and particularly those provided in Article 24, officers and persons of equivalent status who are prisoners of war shall receive from the detaining Power the same pay as officers of corresponding rank in the armies of that Power, on the condition, however, that this pay does not exceed that to which they are entitled in the armies of the country which they have served. This pay shall be granted them in full, once a month if possible, and without being liable to any deduction for expenses incumbent on the detaining Power, even when they are in favor of the prisoners. An agreement between the belligerents shall fix the rate of exchange applicable to this payment; in the absence of such an agreement, the rate adopted shall be that in force at the opening of hostilities. All payments made to prisoners of war as pay must be reimbursed, at the end of hostilities, by the Power which they have served. |