international conventions and covenants

8/14/2019 International Conventions and Covenants

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International

Conventions andCovenantsA Supplement

A supplement to the Steel Barrier Wall and Rafah’s Crossing Case. It shows howthe Egyptian government and it accomplices are ostensibly and flagrantlybreaching all conventions and covenants, as regards Gazan, Egyptian, andInternational people. Can they be brought to justice? How can we realize seeingthem having their day in court??!!!



Table of Contents1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees,

adopted on July 28, 1951.

3. Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees,

adopted on January 31, 1967.

4. United Nations Declaration on Territorial Asylum

of December 14, 1967.

5. Convention Relating to the Status of StatelessPersons adopted in September 28, 1954 and in

August 30, 1961.

6. Geneva Convention IV Relative to the Protection

of Civilian Persons in Time of War, adopted on

August 12, 1949.

7. Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Convention

IV Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, of June 8, 1977.

8.The United Nations International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

9. The United Nations International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights

2

9

9

10

12

72

82



93



Universal Declaration of Human RightsPreamble:

• Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienablerights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom,

justice and peace in the world,

• Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted inbarbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and theadvent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and

belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

• Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as alast resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rightsshould be protected by the rule of law,

• Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relationsbetween nations,

• Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of thehuman person and in the equal rights of men and women and havedetermined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger

freedom,

• Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

• Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of thegreatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

• Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSALDECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organof society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedomsand by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoplesof Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Human rights set out in the DeclarationThe following reproduces the articles of the Declaration which set out the specific human rights that are recognized in the Declaration.[14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights

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Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are

endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in

a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this

Declaration, without distinction of any kind , such as race, colour, sex,

language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,

property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on

the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country

or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-

self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall

be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to

equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any

discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to

such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national

tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the

constitution or by law.

Article 9

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No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest , detention or exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an

independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and

obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11

1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he hashad all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier

penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penaloffence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy , family,

home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation.

Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference

or attacks.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the

borders of each state.2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to

return to their country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arisingfrom non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principlesof the United Nations.

Article 15

1. Everyone has the right to a nationality .

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right tochange his nationality.

Article 16

1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled toequal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

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2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of theintending spouses.

3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and isentitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association withothers.

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought , conscience and religion; this

right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either

alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his

religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right

includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive

and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of

frontiers.

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country,directly or through freely chosen representatives.

2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country.

3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; thiswill shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is

entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operationand in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the

economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free

development of his personality.

Article 23

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1. Everyone has the right to work , to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equalwork.

3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remunerationensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity,and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of

working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in theevent of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. Allchildren, whether born in or out of wedlock , shall enjoy the same social

protection.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in theelementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall becompulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basisof merit.

2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among allnations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of theUnited Nations for the maintenance of peace.

3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be givento their children.

Article 271. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the

community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and itsbenefits.

2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interestsresulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is theauthor.

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Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and

freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and fulldevelopment of his personality is possible.

2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only tosuch limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securingdue recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the generalwelfare in a democratic society.

3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State,

group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act

aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.



Declaration on Territorial AsylumXXII. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SIXTH COMMITTEE

2312. Declaration on Territorial AsylumThe General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 1839 (XVII) of 19 December 1962,

2100 (XX) of 20 December 1965 and 2203 (XXI) of 16 December 1966 concerning a

declaration on the right of asylum, Considering the work of codification to be

undertaken by the International Law Commission in accordance with General

Assembly resolution 1400 (XIV) of 21 November 1959, Adopts the following

Declaration:



DECLARATION ON TERRITORIAL ASYLUMThe General Assembly, Noting that the purposes proclaimed in the Charter of the

United Nations are to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly

relations among all nations and to achieve international co-operation in solvinginternational problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character

and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental

freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, Mindful of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which declares in article 14 that:

"1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

"2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non- political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations",

Recalling also article 13, paragraph 2, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

which states: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and

to return to his country", Recognizing that the grant of asylum by a State to persons

entitled to invoke article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a

peaceful and humanitarian act and that, as such, it cannot be regarded as

unfriendly by any other State, Recommends that, without prejudice to existing

instruments dealing with asylum and the status of refugees and stateless persons,

States should base themselves in their practices relating to territorial asylum on the

following principles:

Article 11. Asylum granted by a State, in the exercise of its sovereignty, to persons entitled to invoke

article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including persons struggling againstcolonialism, shall be respected by all other States.

2. The right to seek and to enjoy asylum may not be invoked by any person with respect to whomthere are serious reasons for considering that he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes.

3. It shall rest with the State granting asylum to evaluate the grounds for the grant of asylum.

Article 21. The situation of persons referred to in article 1, paragraph 1, is, without prejudice to the

sovereignty of States and the purposes and principles of the United Nations, of concern to theinternational community.

2. Where a State finds difficulty in granting or continuing to grant asylum, States individually or jointly or through the United Nations shall consider, in a spirit of international solidarity,appropriate measures to lighten the burden on that State.

Article 3



1. No person referred to in article 1, paragraph 1, shall be subjected to measures such as rejectionat the frontier or, if he has already entered the territory in which he seeks asylum, expulsion or compulsory return to any State where he may be subjected to persecution.

2. Exception may be made to the foregoing principle only for overriding reasons of national

security or in order to safeguard the population, as in the case of a mass influx of persons.3. Should a State decide in any case that exception to the principle stated in paragraph 1 of thisarticle would be justified, it shall consider the possibility of granting to the person concerned,under such conditions as it may deem appropriate, an opportunity, whether by way of provisionalasylum or otherwise, of going to another State.

Article 4States granting asylum shall not permit persons who have received asylum to

engage in activities contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

1631st plenary meeting,

14 December 1967.



1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless PersonsKey Substantive Content of Convention (summarised)

Article 1The Convention applies to stateless persons under the protection of the UNHCR but not to thoseunder the protection of other UN Agencies. It does not apply to persons with rights andobligations acknowledged by their country of residence as indistinguishable from those attachedto the possession of that country's nationality. It does not apply to war criminals or to the perpetrators of crimes against humanity or against peace. It does not apply to those who havedemonstrated themselves to have been enemies of international peace and co-operation.Article 7Contracting States shall accord to stateless persons the same treatment as is accorded to aliensgenerally.Article 8 No 'exceptional measures' to be taken against stateless persons in a Contracting State because of their former nationality.Article 9Provisional measures affecting stateless persons may be taken in time of war or grave emergencywhere national security is at issue.Article 10Forcible removal of a stateless person from territory of a Contracting State due to Second WorldWar to count as residence in that territory.Article 11Admonition of States to show sympathy to stateless seaman regularly engaged on ships of that

State's flagArticle 12Personal status (eg. marital status) of a stateless person to be governed by the law of his/her domicile ahead of the law of his/her residence.Article 13Rights to property to be no less than accorded to aliens generally.Article 14Intellectual property rights to be no less than accorded by a Contracting State to its ownnationals.Article 15Right of association to be no less than accorded by each Contracting State to aliens generally.Article 16Stateless persons not to be discriminated against in providing 'security for costs and eventual penalty', or otherwise by courts in Contracting States.Articles 17-19Stateless persons to be treated at least as favourably as aliens generally with regard to participation in wage-earning employment.Articles 20-23Stateless persons to be treated no less favourably than nationals with respect to rationing,housing, public education, and public relief.

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Article 24Extension of Articles 20-23 to labour legislation and social security.Article 27Upon request, Contracting States shall issue travel and identity documents to stateless persons within their territory.Article 29 No discrimination against stateless persons in fiscal charges.Article 30Stateless persons to be permitted to transfer their assets to the place of their resettlement.Article 31Stateless persons not to be expelled except on grounds of national security or public order.Article 34Interpretation disputes between State parties to be finally referable to the ICJRemaining ClausesTerritorial application; federal clause; signature, ratification and entry into force.




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1961 Convention on the Reduction of StatelessnessSubstantive Provisions of the Convention (summarised)

There are 21 Articles, summarised below:

Article 1(1)

Contracting States shall grant their nationality to persons, otherwise

stateless, born in their territory (subject to Article 1(2)).

The grant may be by virtue of the birth, or upon application by or on behalf of

the person so born.

Article 1(2)

An applicant may have up until at least the age of 21 to claim their

citizenship by birth.

For grant of citizenship by birth, a Contracting State may require proof of

habitual residence in their territory for a period not exceeding 5 years

immediately prior to application, or 10 years in total.

Grant of citizenship by birth may be contingent upon the applicant's not

having been convicted of an offence against national security nor having

been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of five years or more. Grant of

citizenship by birth may be contingent upon the applicant having always

been stateless.

Article 1(3)

A child born in wedlock in a Contracting State shall take the nationality of its

mother.

Article 1(4)

A Contracting State shall give its nationality to a person, otherwise stateless,

who is legally precluded from assuming his/her birth nationality, where that

State's nationality was held by either parent at the time of the birth.

Article 1(5)



An applicant has until at least the age of 23 to claim a nationality by Article

1(4).

For conferral of nationality by Article 1(4) a contracting State may impose a

residence requirement not exceeding three years immediately prior to

application.

For conferral of nationality by Article 1(4) it may be required that the

applicant has always been stateless.

Article 2

For the purpose of assigning nationality, a foundling shall be considered to

have been born in the State where it was found and from parents of that

State's nationality. That presumption may be displaced by proof to the

contrary.

Article 3

For the purpose of assigning nationality, birth on a ship or aircraft shall

amount to birth in the territory of the State that gives its flag to that ship or

aircraft.

Article 4

A Contracting State shall grant its nationality to a person, not born in its

territory, if either parent had that State's nationality and the person would be

otherwise stateless.

A person may make such a claim for nationality at least up until the age of

23. They may also be required to have a period of residence up to three

years immediately prior to application. The claim may be refused where a

person has been convicted of an offence against the national security of the

State.

Article 5

If a law entails loss of nationality, such loss shall be conditional upon the

person acquiring another nationality. This only applies to loss by marriage,

legitimation, divorce, recognition or adoption. A child that loses nationality byrecognition or affiliation shall be given opportunity to reacquire by written

application under terms not more rigorous than provided by Article 1(2).

Article 6



Article 15

The Convention applies to all trust, non-self-governing, colonial, and non-

metropolitan territories of Contracting States.

Articles 16-21

Process of signature and ratification.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratification

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Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva,

12 August 1949.

Full text [Display Introduction] [Display articles] [Display commentaries]

Preamble

The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of the Governments represented at theDiplomatic Conference held at Geneva from April 21 to August 12, 1949, for thepurpose of establishing a Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons inTime of War, have agreed as follows:

Part I. General Provisions

Article 1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensurerespect for the present Convention in all circumstances.

Art. 2. In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peace-time, thepresent Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armedconflict 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 theterritory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with noarmed resistance.

Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the presentConvention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in their mutual relations. They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention in relationto 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 inthe territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shallbe bound to apply, as a minimum, the followingprovisions:

(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armedforces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat bysickness, 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 inany place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, crueltreatment and torture;(b) taking of hostages;

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(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degradingtreatment;(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 RedCross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.

The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by meansof special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the presentConvention.

The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the

Parties to the conflict.

Art. 4. Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given momentand in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of whichthey are not nationals.

Nationals of a State which is not bound by the Convention are not protected by it.Nationals of a neutral State who find themselves in the territory of a belligerentState, and nationals of a co-belligerent State, shall not be regarded as protectedpersons while the State of which they are nationals has normal diplomatic

representation in the State in whose hands they are.

The provisions of Part II are, however, wider in application, as defined in Article13.

Persons protected by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of theCondition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August1949, or by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of 12 August1949, or by the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949, shall not be considered as protected persons within themeaning of the present Convention.

Art. 5 Where in the territory of a Party to the conflict, the latter is satisfied that anindividual protected person is definitely suspected of or engaged in activitieshostile to the security of the State, such individual person shall not be entitled toclaim such rights and privileges under the present Convention as would, if exercised in the favour of such individual person, be prejudicial to the security of such State.



Where in occupied territory an individual protected person is detained as a spy or saboteur, or as a person under definite suspicion of activity hostile to the securityof the Occupying Power, such person shall, in those cases where absolutemilitary security so requires, be regarded as having forfeited rights of

communication under the present Convention.

In each case, such persons shall nevertheless be treated with humanity and, incase of trial, shall not be deprived of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribedby the present Convention. They shall also be granted the full rights andprivileges of a protected person under the present Convention at the earliest dateconsistent with the security of the State or Occupying Power, as the case maybe.

Art. 6. The present Convention shall apply from the outset of any conflict or occupation mentioned in Article 2.

In the territory of Parties to the conflict, the application of the present Conventionshall cease on the general close of military operations.

In the case of occupied territory, the application of the present Convention shallcease one year after the general close of military operations; however, theOccupying Power shall be bound, for the duration of the occupation, to the extentthat such Power exercises the functions of government in such territory, by theprovisions of the following Articles of the present Convention: 1 to 12, 27, 29 to34, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 59, 61 to 77, 143.

Protected persons whose release, repatriation or re-establishment may take

place after such dates shall meanwhile continue to benefit by the presentConvention.

Art. 7. In addition to the agreements expressly provided for in Articles 11, 14, 15,17, 36, 108, 109, 132, 133 and 149, the High Contracting Parties may concludeother special agreements for all matters concerning which they may deem itsuitable to make separate provision. No special agreement shall adversely affectthe situation of protected persons, as defined by the present Convention, notrestrict the rights which it confers upon them.

Protected persons shall continue to have the benefit of such agreements as longas the Convention is applicable to them, except where express provisions to the

contrary are contained in the aforesaid or in subsequent agreements, or wheremore favourable measures have been taken with regard to them by one or other of the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 8. Protected persons may in no circumstances renounce in part or in entiretythe rights secured to them by the present Convention, and by the specialagreements referred to in the foregoing Article, if such there be.



Art. 9. The present Convention shall be applied with the cooperation and under the scrutiny of the Protecting Powers whose duty it is to safeguard the interestsof the Parties to the conflict. For this purpose, the Protecting Powers mayappoint, apart from their diplomatic or consular staff, delegates from amongst

their own nationals or the nationals of other neutral Powers. The said delegatesshall 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 taskof the representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers.

The representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall not in any caseexceed 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. 10. The provisions of the present Convention constitute no obstacle to thehumanitarian activities which the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other impartial humanitarian organization may, subject to the consent of theParties to the conflict concerned, undertake for the protection of civilian personsand for their relief.

Art. 11. The High Contracting Parties may at any time agree to entrust to aninternational organization which offers all guarantees of impartiality and efficacythe duties incumbent on the Protecting Powers by virtue of the presentConvention.

When persons protected by the present Convention do not benefit or cease tobenefit, no matter for what reason, by the activities of a Protecting Power or of anorganization provided for in the first paragraph above, the Detaining Power shallrequest a neutral State, or such an organization, to undertake the functionsperformed under the present Convention by a Protecting Power designated bythe Parties to a conflict.

If protection cannot be arranged accordingly, the Detaining Power shall requestor 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 RedCross, 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 offeringitself for these purposes, shall be required to act with a sense of responsibilitytowards the Party to the conflict on which persons protected by the presentConvention depend, and shall be required to furnish sufficient assurances that itis in a position to undertake the appropriate functions and to discharge themimpartially.



Civilian hospitals shall be marked by means of the emblem provided for in Article38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of theWounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949, but only if so

authorized by the State.

The Parties to the conflict shall, in so far as military considerations permit, takethe necessary steps to make the distinctive emblems indicating civilian hospitalsclearly visible to the enemy land, air and naval forces in order to obviate thepossibility of any hostile action.

In view of the dangers to which hospitals may be exposed by being close tomilitary objectives, it is recommended that such hospitals be situated as far aspossible from such objectives.

Art. 19. The protection to which civilian hospitals are entitled shall not cease

unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful tothe enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after due warning has beengiven, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit and after suchwarning has remained unheeded.

The fact that sick or wounded members of the armed forces are nursed in thesehospitals, or the presence of small arms and ammunition taken from suchcombatants and not yet been handed to the proper service, shall not beconsidered to be acts harmful to the enemy.

Art. 20. Persons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and administration

of civilian hospitals, including the personnel engaged in the search for, removaland transporting of and caring for wounded and sick civilians, the infirm andmaternity cases shall be respected and protected.

In occupied territory and in zones of military operations, the above personnelshall be recognizable by means of an identity card certifying their status, bearingthe photograph of the holder and embossed with the stamp of the responsibleauthority, and also by means of a stamped, water-resistant armlet which theyshall wear on the left arm while carrying out their duties. This armlet shall beissued by the State and shall bear the emblem provided for in Article 38 of theGeneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded andSick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949.

Other personnel who are engaged in the operation and administration of civilianhospitals shall be entitled to respect and protection and to wear the armlet, asprovided in and under the conditions prescribed in this Article, while they areemployed on such duties. The identity card shall state the duties on which theyare employed.

The management of each hospital shall at all times hold at the disposal of the



competent national or occupying authorities an up-to-date list of such personnel.

Art. 21. Convoys of vehicles or hospital trains on land or specially providedvessels on sea, conveying wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity

cases, shall be respected and protected in the same manner as the hospitalsprovided for in Article 18, and shall be marked, with the consent of the State, bythe display of the distinctive emblem provided for in Article 38 of the GenevaConvention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick inArmed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949.

Art.22. Aircraft exclusively employed for the removal of wounded and sickcivilians, the infirm and maternity cases or for the transport of medical personneland equipment, shall not be attacked, but shall be respected while flying atheights, times and on routes specifically agreed upon between all the Parties tothe conflict concerned.

They may be marked with the distinctive emblem provided for in Article 38 of theGeneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded andSick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949.

Unless agreed otherwise, flights over enemy or enemy occupied territory areprohibited.

Such aircraft shall obey every summons to land. In the event of a landing thusimposed, the aircraft with its occupants may continue its flight after examination,if any.

Art. 23. Each High Contracting Party shall allow the free passage of allconsignments of medical and hospital stores and objects necessary for religiousworship intended only for civilians of another High Contracting Party, even if thelatter is its adversary. It shall likewise permit the free passage of allconsignments of essential foodstuffs, clothing and tonics intended for childrenunder fifteen, expectant mothers and maternity cases.

The obligation of a High Contracting Party to allow the free passage of theconsignments indicated in the preceding paragraph is subject to the conditionthat this Party is satisfied that there are no serious reasonsfor fearing:

(a) that the consignments may be diverted from their destination,(b) that the control may not be effective, or (c) that a definite advantage may accrue to the military efforts or economy of theenemy through the substitution of the above-mentioned consignments for goodswhich would otherwise be provided or produced by the enemy or through therelease of such material, services or facilities as would otherwise be required for the production of such goods.



The Power which allows the passage of the consignments indicated in the firstparagraph of this Article may make such permission conditional on thedistribution to the persons benefited thereby being made under the localsupervision of the Protecting Powers.

Such consignments shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible, and the Power which permits their free passage shall have the right to prescribe the technicalarrangements under which such passage is allowed.

Art.24. The Parties to the conflict shall take the necessary measures to ensurethat children under fifteen, who are orphaned or are separated from their familiesas a result of the war, are not left to their own resources, and that their maintenance, the exercise of their religion and their education are facilitated in allcircumstances. Their education shall, as far as possible, be entrusted to personsof a similar cultural tradition.

The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate the reception of such children in aneutral country for the duration of the conflict with the consent of the ProtectingPower, if any, and under due safeguards for the observance of the principlesstated in the first paragraph.

They shall, furthermore, endeavour to arrange for all children under twelve to beidentified by the wearing of identity discs, or by some other means.

Art. 25. All persons in the territory of a Party to the conflict, or in a territoryoccupied by it, shall be enabled to give news of a strictly personal nature tomembers of their families, wherever they may be, and to receive news from

them. This correspondence shall be forwarded speedily and without undue delay.

If, as a result of circumstances, it becomes difficult or impossible to exchangefamily correspondence by the ordinary post, the Parties to the conflict concernedshall apply to a neutral intermediary, such as the Central Agency provided for inArticle 140, and shall decide in consultation with it how to ensure the fulfilment of their obligations under the best possible conditions, in particular with thecooperation of the National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun)Societies.

If the Parties to the conflict deem it necessary to restrict family correspondence,such restrictions shall be confined to the compulsory use of standard forms

containing twenty-five freely chosen words, and to the limitation of the number of these forms despatched to one each month.

Art. 26. Each Party to the conflict shall facilitate enquiries made by members of families dispersed owing to the war, with the object of renewing contact with oneanother and of meeting, if possible. It shall encourage, in particular, the work of organizations engaged on this task provided they are acceptable to it andconform to its security regulations.



Part III. Status and Treatment of Protected Persons

Section I. Provisions common to the territories of the parties to the conflict and tooccupied territories

Art. 27. Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices,and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, andshall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof andagainst insults and public curiosity.

Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour, inparticular against rape, enforced prostitutiOn, or any form of indecent assault.

Without prejudice to the provisions relating to their state of health, age and sex,all protected persons shall be treated with the same consideration by the Party tothe conflict in whose power they are, without any adverse distinction based, inparticular, on race, religion or political opinion.

However, the Parties to the conflict may take such measures of control andsecurity in regard to protected persons as may be necessary as a result of thewar.

Art. 28. The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certainpoints or areas immune from military operations.

Art. 29. The Party to the conflict in whose hands protected persons may be, isresponsible for the treatment accorded to them by its agents, irrespective of anyindividual responsibility which may be incurred.

Art. 30. Protected persons shall have every facility for making application to theProtecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the NationalRed Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Society of the country where theymay be, as well as to any organization that might assist them.

These several organizations shall be granted all facilities for that purpose by theauthorities, within the bounds set by military or security considerations.

Apart from the visits of the delegates of the Protecting Powers and of theInternational Committee of the Red Cross, provided for by Article 143, theDetaining or Occupying Powers shall facilitate, as much as possible, visits toprotected persons by the representatives of other organizations whose object isto give spiritual aid or material relief to such persons.

Art. 31. No physical or moral coercion shall be exercised against protected



persons, in particular to obtain information from them or from third parties.

Art. 32. The High Contracting Parties specifically agree that each of them isprohibited from taking any measure of such a character as to cause the physical

suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands. This prohibitionapplies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishments, mutilation and medicalor scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment of a protectedperson, but also to any other measures of brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents.

Art. 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has notpersonally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

Pillage is prohibited.

Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.

Art. 34. The taking of hostages is prohibited.

Section II. Aliens in the territory of a party to the conflict

Art. 35. All protected persons who may desire to leave the territory at the outsetof, or during a conflict, shall be entitled to do so, unless their departure iscontrary to the national interests of the State. The applications of such persons toleave shall be decided in accordance with regularly established procedures and

the decision shall be taken as rapidly as possible. Those persons permitted toleave may provide themselves with the necessary funds for their journey andtake with them a reasonable amount of their effects and articles of personal use.

If any such person is refused permission to leave the territory, he shall be entitledto have refusal reconsidered, as soon as possible by an appropriate court or administrative board designated by the Detaining Power for that purpose.

Upon request, representatives of the Protecting Power shall, unless reasons of security prevent it, or the persons concerned object, be furnished with thereasons for refusal of any request for permission to leave the territory and begiven, as expeditiously as possible, the names of all persons who have been

denied permission to leave.

Art. 36. Departures permitted under the foregoing Article shall be carried out insatisfactory conditions as regards safety, hygiene, sanitation and food. All costsin connection therewith, from the point of exit in the territory of the DetainingPower, shall be borne by the country of destination, or, in the case of accommodation in a neutral country, by the Power whose nationals arebenefited. The practical details of such movements may, if necessary, be settled



by special agreements between the Powers concerned.

The foregoing shall not prejudice such special agreements as may be concludedbetween Parties to the conflict concerning the exchange and repatriation of their

nationals in enemy hands.

Art. 37. Protected persons who are confined pending proceedings or serving asentence involving loss of liberty, shall during their confinement be humanelytreated.

As soon as they are released, they may ask to leave the territory in conformitywith the foregoing Articles.

Art. 38. With the exception of special measures authorized by the presentConvention, in particularly by Article 27 and 41 thereof, the situation of protectedpersons shall continue to be regulated, in principle, by the provisions concerning

aliens in time of peace. In any case, the followingrights shall be granted to them:

(1) they shall be enabled to receive the individual or collective relief that may besent to them.(2) they shall, if their state of health so requires, receive medical attention andhospital treatment to the same extent as the nationals of the State concerned.(3) they shall be allowed to practise their religion and to receive spiritualassistance from ministers of their faith.(4) if they reside in an area particularly exposed to the dangers of war, they shallbe authorized to move from that area to the same extent as the nationals of the

State concerned.(5) children under fifteen years, pregnant women and mothers of children under seven years shall benefit by any preferential treatment to the same extent as thenationals of the State concerned.

Art. 39. Protected persons who, as a result of the war, have lost their gainfulemployment, shall be granted the opportunity to find paid employment. Thatopportunity shall, subject to security considerations and to the provisions of Article 40, be equal to that enjoyed by the nationals of the Power in whoseterritory they are.

Where a Party to the conflict applies to a protected person methods of control

which result in his being unable to support himself, and especially if such aperson is prevented for reasons of security from finding paid employment onreasonable conditions, the said Party shall ensure his support and that of hisdependents.

Protected persons may in any case receive allowances from their home country,the Protecting Power, or the relief societies referred to in Article 30.



Art. 40. Protected persons may be compelled to work only to the same extent asnationals of the Party to the conflict in whose territory they are.

If protected persons are of enemy nationality, they may only be compelled to do

work which is normally necessary to ensure the feeding, sheltering, clothing,transport and health of human beings and which is not directly related to theconduct of military operations.

In the cases mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs, protected personscompelled to work shall have the benefit of the same working conditions and of the same safeguards as national workers in particular as regards wages, hoursof labour, clothing and equipment, previous training and compensation for occupational accidents and diseases.

If the above provisions are infringed, protected persons shall be allowed toexercise their right of complaint in accordance with Article 30.

Art. 41. Should the Power, in whose hands protected persons may be, consider the measures of control mentioned in the present Convention to be inadequate, itmay not have recourse to any other measure of control more severe than that of assigned residence or internment, in accordance with the provisions of Articles42 and 43.

In applying the provisions of Article 39, second paragraph, to the cases of persons required to leave their usual places of residence by virtue of a decisionplacing them in assigned residence elsewhere, the Detaining Power shall beguided as closely as possible by the standards of welfare set forth in Part III,

Section IV of this Convention.

Art. 42. The internment or placing in assigned residence of protected personsmay be ordered only if the security of the Detaining Power makes it absolutelynecessary.

If any person, acting through the representatives of the Protecting Power,voluntarily demands internment, and if his situation renders this step necessary,he shall be interned by the Power in whose hands he may be.

Art. 43. Any protected person who has been interned or placed in assignedresidence shall be entitled to have such action reconsidered as soon as possible

by an appropriate court or administrative board designated by the DetainingPower for that purpose. If the internment or placing in assigned residence ismaintained, the court or administrative board shall periodically, and at least twiceyearly, give consideration to his or her case, with a view to the favourableamendment of the initial decision, if circumstances permit.

Unless the protected persons concerned object, the Detaining Power shall, asrapidly as possible, give the Protecting Power the names of any protected



persons who have been interned or subjected to assigned residence, or whohave been released from internment or assigned residence. The decisions of thecourts or boards mentioned in the first paragraph of the present Article shall also,subject to the same conditions, be notified as rapidly as possible to the

Protecting Power.

Art. 44. In applying the measures of control mentioned in the present Convention,the Detaining Power shall not treat as enemy aliens exclusively on the basis of their nationality de jure of an enemy State, refugees who do not, in fact, enjoy theprotection of any government.

Art. 45. Protected persons shall not be transferred to a Power which is not aparty to the Convention.

This provision shall in no way constitute an obstacle to the repatriation of protected persons, or to their return to their country of residence after the

cessation of hostilities.

Protected persons may be transferred by the Detaining Power only to a Power which is a party to the present Convention and after the Detaining Power hassatisfied itself of the willingness and ability of such transferee Power to apply thepresent Convention. If protected persons are transferred under suchcircumstances, responsibility for the application of the present Convention restson the Power accepting them, while they are in its custody. Nevertheless, if thatPower fails to carry out the provisions of the present Convention in any importantrespect, the Power by which the protected persons were transferred shall, uponbeing so notified by the Protecting Power, take effective measures to correct the

situation or shall request the return of the protected persons. Such request mustbe complied with.

In no circumstances shall a protected person be transferred to a country wherehe or she may have reason to fear persecution for his or her political opinions or religious beliefs.

The provisions of this Article do not constitute an obstacle to the extradition, inpursuance of extradition treaties concluded before the outbreak of hostilities, of protected persons accused of offences against ordinary criminal law.

Art. 46. In so far as they have not been previously withdrawn, restrictive

measures taken regarding protected persons shall be cancelled as soon aspossible after the close of hostilities.

Restrictive measures affecting their property shall be cancelled, in accordancewith the law of the Detaining Power, as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.

Section III. Occupied territories



Art. 47. Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, inany case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Conventionby any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the

institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concludedbetween the authorities of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory.

Art. 48. Protected persons who are not nationals of the Power whose territory isoccupied, may avail themselves of the right to leave the territory subject to theprovisions of Article 35, and decisions thereon shall be taken according to theprocedure which the Occupying Power shall establish in accordance with thesaid Article.

Art. 49. Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protectedpersons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that

of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.

Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area if the security of the population or imperative military reasons sodemand. Such evacuations may not involve the displacement of protectedpersons outside the bounds of the occupied territory except when for materialreasons it is impossible to avoid such displacement. Persons thus evacuatedshall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area inquestion have ceased.

The Occupying Power undertaking such transfers or evacuations shall ensure, to

the greatest practicable extent, that proper accommodation is provided to receivethe protected persons, that the removals are effected in satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety and nutrition, and that members of the same family arenot separated.

The Protecting Power shall be informed of any transfers and evacuations assoon as they have taken place.

The Occupying Power shall not detain protected persons in an area particularlyexposed to the dangers of war unless the security of the population or imperativemilitary reasons so demand.

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilianpopulation into the territory it occupies.

Art. 50. The Occupying Power shall, with the cooperation of the national andlocal authorities, facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the careand education of children.

The Occupying Power shall take all necessary steps to facilitate the identification



of children and the registration of their parentage. It may not, in any case, changetheir personal status, nor enlist them in formations or organizations subordinateto it.

Should the local institutions be inadequate for the purpose, the Occupying Power shall make arrangements for the maintenance and education, if possible bypersons of their own nationality, language and religion, of children who areorphaned or separated from their parents as a result of the war and who cannotbe adequately cared for by a near relative or friend.

A special section of the Bureau set up in accordance with Article 136 shall beresponsible for taking all necessary steps to identify children whose identity is indoubt. Particulars of their parents or other near relatives should always berecorded if available.

The Occupying Power shall not hinder the application of any preferential

measures in regard to food, medical care and protection against the effects of war which may have been adopted prior to the occupation in favour of childrenunder fifteen years, expectant mothers, and mothers of children under sevenyears.

Art. 51. The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to serve in itsarmed or auxiliary forces. No pressure or propaganda which aims at securingvoluntary enlistment is permitted.

The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to work unless theyare over eighteen years of age, and then only on work which is necessary either

for the needs of the army of occupation, or for the public utility services, or for thefeeding, sheltering, clothing, transportation or health of the population of theoccupied country. Protected persons may not be compelled to undertake anywork which would involve them in the obligation of taking part in militaryoperations. The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to employforcible means to ensure the security of the installations where they areperforming compulsory labour.

The work shall be carried out only in the occupied territory where the personswhose services have been requisitioned are. Every such person shall, so far aspossible, be kept in his usual place of employment. Workers shall be paid a fair wage and the work shall be proportionate to their physical and intellectual

capacities. The legislation in force in the occupied country concerning workingconditions, and safeguards as regards, in particular, such matters as wages,hours of work, equipment, preliminary training and compensation for occupational accidents and diseases, shall be applicable to the protectedpersons assigned to the work referred to in this Article.

In no case shall requisition of labour lead to a mobilization of workers in anorganization of a military or semi-military character.



Art. 52. No contract, agreement or regulation shall impair the right of any worker,whether voluntary or not and wherever he may be, to apply to the representativesof the Protecting Power in order to request the said Power's intervention.

All measures aiming at creating unemployment or at restricting the opportunitiesoffered to workers in an occupied territory, in order to induce them to work for theOccupying Power, are prohibited.

Art. 53. Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal propertybelonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, exceptwhere such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.

Art. 54. The Occupying Power may not alter the status of public officials or judges in the occupied territories, or in any way apply sanctions to or take any

measures of coercion or discrimination against them, should they abstain fromfulfilling their functions for reasons of conscience.

This prohibition does not prejudice the application of the second paragraph of Article 51. It does not affect the right of the Occupying Power to remove publicofficials from their posts.

Art. 55. To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; itshould, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate.

The Occupying Power may not requisition foodstuffs, articles or medical suppliesavailable in the occupied territory, except for use by the occupation forces andadministration personnel, and then only if the requirements of the civilianpopulation have been taken into account. Subject to the provisions of other international Conventions, the Occupying Power shall make arrangements toensure that fair value is paid for any requisitioned goods.

The Protecting Power shall, at any time, be at liberty to verify the state of thefood and medical supplies in occupied territories, except where temporaryrestrictions are made necessary by imperative military requirements.

Art. 56. To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the cooperation of national andlocal authorities, the medical and hospital establishments and services, publichealth and hygiene in the occupied territory, with particular reference to theadoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessaryto combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics. Medical personnelof all categories shall be allowed to carry out their duties.



If new hospitals are set up in occupied territory and if the competent organs of the occupied State are not operating there, the occupying authorities shall, if necessary, grant them the recognition provided for in Article 18. In similar circumstances, the occupying authorities shall also grant recognition to hospital

personnel and transport vehicles under the provisions of Articles 20 and 21.

In adopting measures of health and hygiene and in their implementation, theOccupying Power shall take into consideration the moral and ethicalsusceptibilities of the population of the occupied territory.

Art. 57. The Occupying Power may requisition civilian hospitals of hospitals onlytemporarily and only in cases of urgent necessity for the care of military woundedand sick, and then on condition that suitable arrangements are made in due timefor the care and treatment of the patients and for the needs of the civilianpopulation for hospital accommodation.

The material and stores of civilian hospitals cannot be requisitioned so long asthey are necessary for the needs of the civilian population.

Art. 58. The Occupying Power shall permit ministers of religion to give spiritualassistance to the members of their religious communities.

The Occupying Power shall also accept consignments of books and articlesrequired for religious needs and shall facilitate their distribution in occupiedterritory.

Art. 59. If the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory is

inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to relief schemes onbehalf of the said population, and shall facilitate them by all the means at itsdisposal.

Such schemes, which may be undertaken either by States or by impartialhumanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the RedCross, shall consist, in particular, of the provision of consignments of foodstuffs,medical supplies and clothing.

All Contracting Parties shall permit the free passage of these consignments andshall guarantee their protection.

A Power granting free passage to consignments on their way to territoryoccupied by an adverse Party to the conflict shall, however, have the right tosearch the consignments, to regulate their passage according to prescribedtimes and routes, and to be reasonably satisfied through the Protecting Power that these consignments are to be used for the relief of the needy population andare not to be used for the benefit of the Occupying Power.

Art. 60. Relief consignments shall in no way relieve the Occupying Power of any



of its responsibilities under Articles 55, 56 and 59. The Occupying Power shall inno way whatsoever divert relief consignments from the purpose for which theyare intended, except in cases of urgent necessity, in the interests of thepopulation of the occupied territory and with the consent of the Protecting Power.

Art. 61. The distribution of the relief consignments referred to in the foregoingArticles shall be carried out with the cooperation and under the supervision of theProtecting Power. This duty may also be delegated, by agreement between theOccupying Power and the Protecting Power, to a neutral Power, to theInternational Committee of the Red Cross or to any other impartial humanitarianbody.

Such consignments shall be exempt in occupied territory from all charges, taxesor customs duties unless these are necessary in the interests of the economy of the territory. The Occupying Power shall facilitate the rapid distribution of theseconsignments.

All Contracting Parties shall endeavour to permit the transit and transport, free of charge, of such relief consignments on their way to occupied territories.

Art. 62. Subject to imperative reasons of security, protected persons in occupiedterritories shall be permitted to receive the individual relief consignments sent tothem.

Art. 63. Subject to temporary and exceptional measures imposed for urgentreasons of security by the Occupying Power:

(a) recognized National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societiesshall be able to pursue their activities in accordance with Red Cross principles,as defined by the International Red Cross Conferences. Other relief societiesshall be permitted to continue their humanitarian activities under similar conditions;(b) the Occupying Power may not require any changes in the personnel or structure of these societies, which would prejudice the aforesaid activities.

The same principles shall apply to the activities and personnel of specialorganizations of a non-military character, which already exist or which may beestablished, for the purpose of ensuring the living conditions of the civilianpopulation by the maintenance of the essential public utility services, by the

distribution of relief and by the organization of rescues.

Art. 64. The penal laws of the occupied territory shall remain in force, with theexception that they may be repealed or suspended by the Occupying Power incases where they constitute a threat to its security or an obstacle to theapplication of the present Convention.

Subject to the latter consideration and to the necessity for ensuring the effective



administration of justice, the tribunals of the occupied territory shall continue tofunction in respect of all offences covered by the said laws.

The Occupying Power may, however, subject the population of the occupied

territory to provisions which are essential to enable the Occupying Power to fulfilits obligations under the present Convention, to maintain the orderly governmentof the territory, and to ensure the security of the Occupying Power, of themembers and property of the occupying forces or administration, and likewise of the establishments and lines of communication used by them.

Art. 65. The penal provisions enacted by the Occupying Power shall not comeinto force before they have been published and brought to the knowledge of theinhabitants in their own language. The effect of these penal provisions shall notbe retroactive.

Art. 66. In case of a breach of the penal provisions promulgated by it by virtue of

the second paragraph of Article 64 the Occupying Power may hand over theaccused to its properly constituted, non-political military courts, on condition thatthe said courts sit in the occupied country. Courts of appeal shall preferably sit inthe occupied country.

Art. 67. The courts shall apply only those provisions of law which were applicableprior to the offence, and which are in accordance with general principles of law,in particular the principle that the penalty shall be proportionate to the offence.They shall take into consideration the fact the accused is not a national of theOccupying Power.

Art. 68. Protected persons who commit an offence which is solely intended toharm the Occupying Power, but which does not constitute an attempt on the lifeor limb of members of the occupying forces or administration, nor a gravecollective danger, nor seriously damage the property of the occupying forces or administration or the installations used by them, shall be liable to internment or simple imprisonment, provided the duration of such internment or imprisonmentis proportionate to the offence committed. Furthermore, internment or imprisonment shall, for such offences, be the only measure adopted for deprivingprotected persons of liberty. The courts provided for under Article 66 of thepresent Convention may at their discretion convert a sentence of imprisonment toone of internment for the same period.

The penal provisions promulgated by the Occupying Power in accordance withArticles 64 and 65 may impose the death penalty against a protected person onlyin cases where the person is guilty of espionage, of serious acts of sabotageagainst the military installations of the Occupying Power or of intentional offenceswhich have caused the death of one or more persons, provided that suchoffences were punishable by death under the law of the occupied territory inforce before the occupation began.



The death penalty may not be pronounced against a protected person unless theattention of the court has been particularly called to the fact that since theaccused is not a national of the Occupying Power, he is not bound to it by anyduty of allegiance.

In any case, the death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected personwho was under eighteen years of age at the time of the offence.

Art. 69. In all cases the duration of the period during which a protected personaccused of an offence is under arrest awaiting trial or punishment shall bededucted from any period of imprisonment of awarded.

Art. 70. Protected persons shall not be arrested, prosecuted or convicted by theOccupying Power for acts committed or for opinions expressed before theoccupation, or during a temporary interruption thereof, with the exception of breaches of the laws and customs of war.

Nationals of the occupying Power who, before the outbreak of hostilities, havesought refuge in the territory of the occupied State, shall not be arrested,prosecuted, convicted or deported from the occupied territory, except for offences committed after the outbreak of hostilities, or for offences under common law committed before the outbreak of hostilities which, according to thelaw of the occupied State, would have justified extradition in time of peace.

Art. 71. No sentence shall be pronounced by the competent courts of theOccupying Power except after a regular trial.

Accused persons who are prosecuted by the Occupying Power shall be promptlyinformed, in writing, in a language which they understand, of the particulars of thecharges preferred against them, and shall be brought to trial as rapidly aspossible. The Protecting Power shall be informed of all proceedings instituted bythe Occupying Power against protected persons in respect of charges involvingthe death penalty or imprisonment for two years or more; it shall be enabled, atany time, to obtain information regarding the state of such proceedings.Furthermore, the Protecting Power shall be entitled, on request, to be furnishedwith all particulars of these and of any other proceedings instituted by theOccupying Power against protected persons.

The notification to the Protecting Power, as provided for in the second paragraph

above, shall be sent immediately, and shall in any case reach the ProtectingPower three weeks before the date of the first hearing. Unless, at the opening of the trial, evidence is submitted that the provisions of this Article are fully compliedwith, the trial shall not proceed. The notification shall include the followingparticulars:(a) description of the accused;(b) place of residence or detention;(c) specification of the charge or charges (with mention of the penal provisions



under which it is brought);(d) designation of the court which will hear the case;(e) place and date of the first hearing.

Art. 72. Accused persons shall have the right to present evidence necessary totheir defence and may, in particular, call witnesses. They shall have the right tobe assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel of their own choice, who shall beable to visit them freely and shall enjoy the necessary facilities for preparing thedefence.

Failing a choice by the accused, the Protecting Power may provide him with anadvocate or counsel. When an accused person has to meet a serious charge andthe Protecting Power is not functioning, the Occupying Power, subject to theconsent of the accused, shall provide an advocate or counsel.

Accused persons shall, unless they freely waive such assistance, be aided by an

interpreter, both during preliminary investigation and during the hearing in court.They shall have the right at any time to object to the interpreter and to ask for hisreplacement.

Art.73. A convicted person shall have the right of appeal provided for by the lawsapplied by the court. He shall be fully informed of his right to appeal or petitionand of the time limit within which he may do so.

The penal procedure provided in the present Section shall apply, as far as it isapplicable, to appeals. Where the laws applied by the Court make no provisionfor appeals, the convicted person shall have the right to petition against the

finding and sentence to the competent authority of the Occupying Power.

Art. 74. Representatives of the Protecting Power shall have the right to attend thetrial of any protected person, unless the hearing has, as an exceptional measure,to be held in camera in the interests of the security of the Occupying Power,which shall then notify the Protecting Power. A notification in respect of the dateand place of trial shall be sent to the Protecting Power.

Any judgement involving a sentence of death, or imprisonment for two years or more, shall be communicated, with the relevant grounds, as rapidly as possibleto the Protecting Power. The notification shall contain a reference to thenotification made under Article 71 and, in the case of sentences of imprisonment,

the name of the place where the sentence is to be served. A record of judgements other than those referred to above shall be kept by the court andshall be open to inspection by representatives of the Protecting Power. Anyperiod allowed for appeal in the case of sentences involving the death penalty, or imprisonment of two years or more, shall not run until notification of judgementhas been received by the Protecting Power.

Art. 75. In no case shall persons condemned to death be deprived of the right of



petition for pardon or reprieve.

No death sentence shall be carried out before the expiration of a period of a leastsix months from the date of receipt by the Protecting Power of the notification of

the final judgment confirming such death sentence, or of an order denyingpardon or reprieve.

The six months period of suspension of the death sentence herein prescribedmay be reduced in individual cases in circumstances of grave emergencyinvolving an organized threat to the security of the Occupying Power or its forces,provided always that the Protecting Power is notified of such reduction and isgiven reasonable time and opportunity to make representations to the competentoccupying authorities in respect of such death sentences.

Art. 76. Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupiedcountry, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein. They shall, if

possible, be separated from other detainees and shall enjoy conditions of foodand hygiene which will be sufficient to keep them in good health, and which willbe at least equal to those obtaining in prisons in the occupied country.

They shall receive the medical attention required by their state of health.

They shall also have the right to receive any spiritual assistance which they mayrequire.

Women shall be confined in separate quarters and shall be under the directsupervision of women.

Proper regard shall be paid to the special treatment due to minors.

Protected persons who are detained shall have the right to be visited bydelegates of the Protecting Power and of the International Committee of the RedCross, in accordance with the provisions of Article 143.

Such persons shall have the right to receive at least one relief parcel monthly.

Art. 77. Protected persons who have been accused of offences or convicted bythe courts in occupied territory, shall be handed over at the close of occupation,with the relevant records, to the authorities of the liberated territory.

Art. 78. If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning protected persons, it may, at themost, subject them to assigned residence or to internment.

Decisions regarding such assigned residence or internment shall be madeaccording to a regular procedure to be prescribed by the Occupying Power inaccordance with the provisions of the present Convention. This procedure shall



include the right of appeal for the parties concerned. Appeals shall be decidedwith the least possible delay. In the event of the decision being upheld, it shall besubject to periodical review, if possible every six months, by a competent bodyset up by the said Power.

Protected persons made subject to assigned residence and thus required toleave their homes shall enjoy the full benefit of Article 39 of the presentConvention.

Section IV. Regulations for the treatment of internees

Chapter I. General provisions

Art. 79. The Parties to the conflict shall not intern protected persons, except inaccordance with the provisions of Articles 41, 42, 43, 68 and 78.

Art. 80. Internees shall retain their full civil capacity and shall exercise suchattendant rights as may be compatible with their status.

Art. 81. Parties to the conflict who intern protected persons shall be bound toprovide free of charge for their maintenance, and to grant them also the medicalattention required by their state of health.

No deduction from the allowances, salaries or credits due to the internees shallbe made for the repayment of these costs.

The Detaining Power shall provide for the support of those dependent on theinternees, if such dependents are without adequate means of support or areunable to earn a living.

Art.82. The Detaining Power shall, as far as possible, accommodate theinternees according to their nationality, language and customs. Internees whoare nationals of the same country shall not be separated merely because theyhave different languages.

Throughout the duration of their internment, members of the same family, and inparticular parents and children, shall be lodged together in the same place of internment, except when separation of a temporary nature is necessitated for

reasons of employment or health or for the purposes of enforcement of theprovisions of Chapter IX of the present Section. Internees may request that their children who are left at liberty without parental care shall be interned with them.

Wherever possible, interned members of the same family shall be housed in thesame premises and given separate accommodation from other internees,together with facilities for leading a proper family life.



Chapter II. Places of Internment

Art. 83. The Detaining Power shall not set up places of internment in areasparticularly exposed to the dangers of war.

The Detaining Power shall give the enemy Powers, through the intermediary of the Protecting Powers, all useful information regarding the geographical locationof places of internment.

Whenever military considerations permit, internment camps shall be indicated bythe letters IC, placed so as to be clearly visible in the daytime from the air. ThePowers concerned may, however, agree upon any other system of marking. Noplace other than an internment camp shall be marked as such.

Art.84. Internees shall be accommodated and administered separately fromprisoners of war and from persons deprived of liberty for any other reason.

Art. 85. The Detaining Power is bound to take all necessary and possiblemeasures to ensure that protected persons shall, from the outset of their internment, be accommodated in buildings or quarters which afford everypossible safeguard as regards hygiene and health, and provide efficientprotection against the rigours of the climate and the effects of the war. In no caseshall permanent places of internment be situated in unhealthy areas or indistricts, the climate of which is injurious to the internees. In all cases where thedistrict, in which a protected person is temporarily interned, is in an unhealthyarea or has a climate which is harmful to his health, he shall be removed to amore suitable place of internment as rapidly as circumstances permit.

The premises shall be fully protected from dampness, adequately heated andlighted, in particular between dusk and lights out. The sleeping quarters shall besufficiently spacious and well ventilated, and the internees shall have suitablebedding and sufficient blankets, account being taken of the climate, and the age,sex, and state of health of the internees.

Internees shall have for their use, day and night, sanitary conveniences whichconform to the rules of hygiene, and are constantly maintained in a state of cleanliness. They shall be provided with sufficient water and soap for their dailypersonal toilet and for washing their personal laundry; installations and facilitiesnecessary for this purpose shall be granted to them. Showers or baths shall also

be available. The necessary time shall be set aside for washing and for cleaning.

Whenever it is necessary, as an exceptional and temporary measure, toaccommodate women internees who are not members of a family unit in thesame place of internment as men, the provision of separate sleeping quartersand sanitary conveniences for the use of such women internees shall beobligatory.



Art. 86. The Detaining Power shall place at the disposal of interned persons, of whatever denomination, premises suitable for the holding of their religiousservices.

Art. 87. Canteens shall be installed in every place of internment, except whereother suitable facilities are available. Their purpose shall be to enable interneesto make purchases, at prices not higher than local market prices, of foodstuffsand articles of everyday use, including soap and tobacco, such as wouldincrease their personal well-being and comfort.

Profits made by canteens shall be credited to a welfare fund to be set up for eachplace of internment, and administered for

the benefit of the internees attached to such place of internment. The InterneeCommittee provided for in Article 102 shall have the right to check themanagement of the canteen and of the said fund.

When a place of internment is closed down, the balance of the welfare fund shallbe transferred to the welfare fund of a place of internment for internees of thesame nationality, or, if such a place does not exist, to a central welfare fundwhich shall be administered for the benefit o

f all internees remaining in the custody of the Detaining Power. In case of ageneral release, the said profits shall be kept by the Detaining Power, subject toany agreement to the contrary between the Powers concerned.

Art. 88. In all places of internment exposed to air raids and other hazards of war,shelters adequate in number and structure to ensure the necessary protectionshall be installed. In case of alarms, the measures internees shall be free to enter such shelters as quickly as possible, excepting those who remain for theprotection of their quarters against the aforesaid hazards. Any protectivemeasures taken in favour of the population shall also apply to them.

All due precautions must be taken in places of internment against the danger of fire.

Chapter III. Food and Clothing

Art. 89. Daily food rations for internees shall be sufficient in quantity, quality andvariety to keep internees in a good state of health and prevent the development

of nutritional deficiencies. Account shall also be taken of the customary diet of the internees.

Internees shall also be given the means by which they can prepare for themselves any additional food in their possession.

Sufficient drinking water shall be supplied to internees. The use of tobacco shallbe permitted.



Internees who work shall receive additional rations in proportion to the kind of labour which they perform.

Expectant and nursing mothers and children under fifteen years of age, shall begiven additional food, in proportion to their physiological needs.

Art. 90. When taken into custody, internees shall be given all facilities to providethemselves with the necessary clothing, footwear and change of underwear, andlater on, to procure further supplies if required. Should any internees not havesufficient clothing, account being taken of the climate, and be unable to procureany, it shall be provided free of charge to them by the Detaining Power.

The clothing supplied by the Detaining Power to internees and the outwardmarkings placed on their own clothes shall not be ignominious nor expose themto ridicule.

Workers shall receive suitable working outfits, including protective clothing,whenever the nature of their work so requires.

Chapter IV. Hygiene and Medical Attention

Art. 91. Every place of internment shall have an adequate infirmary, under thedirection of a qualified doctor, where internees may have the attention theyrequire, as well as an appropriate diet. Isolation wards shall be set aside for cases of contagious or mental diseases.

Maternity cases and internees suffering from serious diseases, or whosecondition requires special treatment, a surgical operation or hospital care, mustbe admitted to any institution where adequate treatment can be given and shallreceive care not inferior to that provided for the general population.

Internees shall, for preference, have the attention of medical personnel of their own nationality.

Internees may not be prevented from presenting themselves to the medicalauthorities for examination. The medical authorities of the Detaining Power shall,upon request, issue to every internee who has undergone treatment an official

certificate showing the nature of his illness or injury, and the duration and natureof the treatment given. A duplicate of this certificate shall be forwarded to theCentral Agency provided for in Article 140.

Treatment, including the provision of any apparatus necessary for themaintenance of internees in good health, particularly dentures and other artificialappliances and spectacles, shall be free of charge to the internee.



Art. 92. Medical inspections of internees shall be made at least once a month.Their purpose shall be, in particular, to supervise the general state of health,nutrition and cleanliness of internees, and to detect contagious diseases,especially tuberculosis, malaria, and venereal diseases. Such inspections shall

include, in particular, the checking of weight of each internee and, at least once ayear, radioscopic examination.

Chapter V. Religious, Intellectual and Physical Activities

Art. 93. Internees shall enjoy complete latitude in the exercise of their religiousduties, including attendance at the services of their faith, on condition that theycomply with the disciplinary routine prescribed by the detaining authorities.

Ministers of religion who are interned shall be allowed to minister freely to themembers of their community. For this purpose the Detaining Power shall ensure

their equitable allocation amongst the various places of internment in which thereare internees speaking the same language and belonging to the same religion.Should such ministers be too few in number, the Detaining Power shall providethem with the necessary facilities, including means of transport, for moving fromone place to another, and they shall be authorized to visit any internees who arein hospital. Ministers of religion shall be at liberty to correspond on mattersconcerning their ministry with the religious authorities in the country of detentionand, as far as possible, with the international religious organizations of their faith.Such correspondence shall not be considered as forming a part of the quotamentioned in Article 107. It shall, however, be subject to the provisions of Article112.

When internees do not have at their disposal the assistance of ministers of their faith, or should these latter be too few in number, the local religious authorities of the same faith may appoint, in agreement with the Detaining Power, a minister of the internees' faith or, if such a course is feasible from a denominational point of view, a minister of similar religion or a qualified layman. The latter shall enjoy thefacilities granted to the ministry he has assumed. Persons so appointed shallcomply with all regulations laid down by the Detaining Power in the interests of discipline and security.

Art. 94. The Detaining Power shall encourage intellectual, educational andrecreational pursuits, sports and games amongst internees, whilst leaving them

free to take part in them or not. It shall take all practicable measures to ensurethe exercice thereof, in particular by providing suitable premises.

All possible facilities shall be granted to internees to continue their studies or totake up new subjects. The education of children and young people shall beensured; they shall be allowed to attend schools either within the place of internment or outside.



Internees shall be given opportunities for physical exercise, sports and outdoor games. For this purpose, sufficient open spaces shall be set aside in all places of internment. Special playgrounds shall be reserved for children and young people.

Art. 95. The Detaining Power shall not employ internees as workers, unless theyso desire. Employment which, if undertaken under compulsion by a protectedperson not in internment, would involve a breach of Articles 40 or 51 of thepresent Convention, and employment on work which is of a degrading or humiliating character are in any case prohibited.

After a working period of six weeks, internees shall be free to give up work at anymoment, subject to eight days' notice.

These provisions constitute no obstacle to the right of the Detaining Power toemploy interned doctors, dentists and other medical personnel in their professional capacity on behalf of their fellow internees, or to employ internees

for administrative and maintenance work in places of internment and to detailsuch persons for work in the kitchens or for other domestic tasks, or to requiresuch persons to undertake duties connected with the protection of interneesagainst aerial bombardment or other war risks. No internee may, however, berequired to perform tasks for which he is, in the opinion of a medical officer,physically unsuited.

The Detaining Power shall take entire responsibility for all working conditions, for medical attention, for the payment of wages, and for ensuring that all employedinternees receive compensation for occupational accidents and diseases. Thestandards prescribed for the said working conditions and for compensation shall

be in accordance with the national laws and regulations, and with the existingpractice; they shall in no case be inferior to those obtaining for work of the samenature in the same district. Wages for work done shall be determined on anequitable basis by special agreements between the internees, the DetainingPower, and, if the case arises, employers other than the Detaining Power toprovide for free maintenance of internees and for the medical attention whichtheir state of health may require. Internees permanently detailed for categories of work mentioned in the third paragraph of this Article, shall be paid fair wages bythe Detaining Power. The working conditions and the scale of compensation for occupational accidents and diseases to internees, thusdetailed, shall not be inferior to those applicable to work of the same nature in thesame district.

Art.96. All labour detachments shall remain part of and dependent upon a placeof internment. The competent authorities of the Detaining Power and thecommandant of a place of internment shall be responsible for the observance ina labour detachment of the provisions of the present Convention. Thecommandant shall keep an up-to-date list of the labour detachments subordinateto him and shall communicate it to the delegates of the Protecting Power, of theInternational Committee of the Red Cross and of other humanitarian



organizations who may visit the places of internment.

Chapter VI. Personal Property and Financial Resources

Art. 97. Internees shall be permitted to retain articles of personal use. Monies,cheques, bonds, etc., and valuables in their possession may not be taken fromthem except in accordance with established procedure. Detailed receipts shall begiven therefor.

The amounts shall be paid into the account of every internee as provided for inArticle 98. Such amounts may not be converted into any other currency unlesslegislation in force in the territory in which the owner is interned so requires or theinternee gives his consent.

Articles which have above all a personal or sentimental value may not be taken

away.

A woman internee shall not be searched except by a woman.

On release or repatriation, internees shall be given all articles, monies or other valuables taken from them during internment and shall receive in currency thebalance of any credit to their accounts kept in accordance with Article 98, withthe exception of any articles or amounts withheld by the Detaining Power byvirtue of its legislation in force. If the property of an internee is so withheld, theowner shall receive a detailed receipt.

Family or identity documents in the possession of internees may not be takenaway without a receipt being given. At no time shall internees be left withoutidentity documents. If they have none, they shall be issued with specialdocuments drawn up by the detaining authorities, which will serve as their identity papers until the end of their internment.

Internees may keep on their persons a certain amount of money, in cash or in theshape of purchase coupons, to enable them to make purchases.

Art. 98. All internees shall receive regular allowances, sufficient to enable them topurchase goods and articles, such as tobacco, toilet requisites, etc. Suchallowances may take the form of credits or purchase coupons.

Furthermore, internees may receive allowances from the Power to which theyowe allegiance, the Protecting Powers, the organizations which may assist them,or their families, as well as the income on their property in accordance with thelaw of the Detaining Power. The amount of allowances granted by the Power towhich they o~e allegiance shall be the same for each category of internees(infirm, sick, pregnant women, etc.) but may not be allocated by that Power or distributed by the Detaining Power on the basis of discriminations between



internees which are prohibited by Article 27 of the present Convention.

The Detaining Power shall open a regular account for every internee, to whichshall be credited the allowances named in the present Article, the wages earned

and the remittances received, together with such sums taken from him as may beavailable under the legislation in force in the territory in which he is interned.Internees shall be granted all facilities consistent with the legislation in force insuch territory to make remittances to their families and to other dependants. Theymay draw from their accounts the amounts necessary for their personalexpenses, within the limits fixed by the Detaining Power. They shall at all timesbe afforded reasonable facilities for consulting and obtaining copies of their accounts. A statement of accounts shall be furnished to the Protecting Power, onrequest, and shall accompany the internee in case of transfer.

Chapter VII. Administration and Discipline

Art. 99. Every place of internment shall be put under the authority of aresponsible officer, chosen from the regular military forces or the regular civiladministration of the Detaining Power. The officer in charge of the place of internment must have in his possession a copy of the present Convention in theofficial language, or one of the official languages, of his country and shall beresponsible for its application. The staff in control of internees shall be instructedin the provisions of the present Convention and of the administrative measuresadopted to ensure its application.

The text of the present Convention and the texts of special agreementsconcluded under the said Convention shall be posted inside the place of

internment, in a language which the internees understand, or shall be in thepossession of the Internee Committee.

Regulations, orders, notices and publications of every kind shall becommunicated to the internees and posted inside the places of internment, in alanguage which they understand.

Every order and command addressed to internees individually must, likewise, begiven in a language which they understand.

Art. 100. The disciplinary regime in places of internment shall be consistent withhumanitarian principles, and shall in no circumstances include regulations

imposing on internees any physical exertion dangerous to their health or involving physical or moral victimization. Identification by tattooing or imprintingsigns or markings on the body, is prohibited.

In particular, prolonged standing and roll-calls, punishment drill, military drill andmanoeuvres, or the reduction of food rations, are prohibited.

Art. 101. Internees shall have the right to present to the authorities in whose



power they are, any petition with regard to the conditions of internment to whichthey are subjected.

They shall also have the right to apply without restriction through the Internee

Committee or, if they consider it necessary, direct to the representatives of theProtecting Power, in order to indicate to them any points on which they may havecomplaints to make with regard to the conditions of internment.

Such petitions and complaints shall be transmitted forthwith and withoutalteration, and even if the latter are recognized to be unfounded, they may notoccasion any punishment.

Periodic reports on the situation in places of internment and as to the needs of the internees may be sent by the Internee Committees to the representatives of the Protecting Powers.

Art. 102. In every place of internment, the internees shall freely elect by secretballot every six months, the members of a Committee empowered to representthem before the Detaining and the Protecting Powers, the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross and any other organization which may assist them.The members of the Committee shall be eligible for re-election.

Internees so elected shall enter upon their duties after their election has beenapproved by the detaining authorities. The reasons for any refusals or dismissalsshall be communicated to the Protecting Powers concerned.

Art. 103. The Internee Committees shall further the physical, spiritual and

intellectual well-being of the internees.

In case the internees decide, in particular, to organize a system of mutualassistance amongst themselves, this organization would be within thecompetence of the Committees in addition to the special duties entrusted to themunder other provisions of the present Convention.

Art. 104. Members of Internee Committees shall not be required to perform anyother work, if the accomplishment of their duties is rendered more difficultthereby.

Members of Internee Committees may appoint from amongst the internees such

assistants as they may require. All material facilities shall be granted to them,particularly a certain freedom of movement necessary for the accomplishment of their duties (visits to labour detachments, receipt of supplies, etc.).

All facilities shall likewise be accorded to members of Internee Committees for communication by post and telegraph with the detaining authorities, theProtecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross and their delegates, and with the organizations which give assistance to internees.



Committee members in labour detachments shall enjoy similar facilities for communication with their Internee Committee in the principal place of internment.Such communications shall not be limited, nor considered as forming a part of the quota mentioned in Article 107.

Members of Internee Committees who are transferred shall be allowed areasonable time to acquaint their successors with current affairs.

Chaper VIII. Relations with the Exterior

Art. 105. Immediately upon interning protected persons, the Detaining Powersshall inform them, the Power to which they owe allegiance and their ProtectingPower of the measures taken for executing the provisions of the present Chapter.The Detaining Powers shall likewise inform the Parties concerned of anysubsequent modifications of such measures.

Art. 106. As soon as he is interned, or at the latest not more than one week after his arrival in a place of internment, and likewise in cases of sickness or transfer to another place of internment or to a hospital, every internee shall be enabled tosend direct to his family, on the one hand, and to the Central Agency provided for by Article 140, on the other, an internment card similar, if possible, to the modelannexed to the present Convention, informing his relatives of his detention,address and state of health. The said cards shall be forwarded as rapidly aspossible and may not be delayed in any way.

Art. 107. Internees shall be allowed to send and receive letters and cards. If the

Detaining Power deems it necessary to limit the number of letters and cards sentby each internee, the said number shall not be less than two letters and four cards monthly; these shall be drawn up so as to conform as closely as possibleto the models annexed to the present Convention. If limitations must be placedon the correspondence addressed to internees, they may be ordered only by thePower to which such internees owe allegiance, possibly at the request of theDetaining Power. Such letters and cards must be conveyed with reasonabledespatch; they may not be delayed or retained for disciplinary reasons.

Internees who have been a long time without news, or who find it impossible toreceive news from their relatives, or to give them news by the ordinary postalroute, as well as those who are at a considerable distance from their homes,

shall be allowed to send telegrams, the charges being paid by them in thecurrency at their disposal. They shall likewise benefit by this provision in caseswhich are recognized to be urgent.

As a rule, internees' mail shall be written in their own language. The Parties tothe conflict may authorize correspondence in other languages.

Art. 108. Internees shall be allowed to receive, by post or by any other means,



individual parcels or collective shipments containing in particular foodstuffs,clothing, medical supplies, as well as books and objects of a devotional,educational or recreational character which may meet their needs. Suchshipments shall in no way free the Detaining Power from the obligations imposed

upon it by virtue of the present Convention.

Should military necessity require the quantity of such shipments to be limited,due notice thereof shall be given to the Protecting Power and to the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross, or to any other organization giving assistance tothe internees and responsible for the forwarding of such shipments.

The conditions for the sending of individual parcels and collective shipmentsshall, if necessary, be the subject of special agreements between the Powersconcerned, which may in no case delay the receipt by the internees of relief supplies. Parcels of clothing and foodstuffs may not include books. Medical relief supplies shall, as a rule, be sent in collective parcels.

Art. 109. In the absence of special agreements between Parties to the conflictregarding the conditions for the receipt and distribution of collective relief shipments, the regulations concerning collective relief which are annexed to thepresent Convention shall be applied.

The special agreements provided for above shall in no case restrict the right of Internee Committees to take possession of collective relief shipments intendedfor internees, to undertake their distribution and to dispose of them in theinterests of the recipients. Nor shall such agreements restrict the right of representatives of the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red

Cross, or any other organization giving assistance to internees and responsiblefor the forwarding of collective shipments, to supervise their distribution to therecipients.

Art. 110. An relief shipments for internees shall be exempt from import, customsand other dues.

All matter sent by mail, including relief parcels sent by parcel post andremittances of money, addressed from other countries to internees or despatched by them through the post office, either direct or through theInformation Bureaux provided for in Article 136 and the Central InformationAgency provided for in Article 140, shall be exempt from all postal dues both in

the countries of origin and destination and in intermediate countries. To this end,in particular, the exemption provided by the Universal Postal Convention of 1947and by the agreements of the Universal Postal Union in favour of civilians of enemy nationality detained in camps or civilian prisons, shall be extended to theother interned persons protected by the present Convention. The countries notsignatory to the above-mentioned agreements shall be bound to grant freedomfrom charges in the same circumstances.



The cost of transporting relief shipments which are intended for internees andwhich, by reason of their weight or any other cause, cannot be sent through thepost office, shall be borne by the Detaining Power in all the territories under itscontrol. Other Powers which are Parties to the present Convention shall bear the

cost of transport in their respective territories.

Costs connected with the transport of such shipments, which are not covered bythe above paragraphs, shall be charged to the senders.

The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to reduce, so far as possible, thecharges for telegrams sent by internees, or addressed to them.

Art. 111. Should military operations prevent the Powers concerned from fulfillingtheir obligation to ensure the conveyance of the mail and relief shipmentsprovided for in Articles 106, 107, 108 and 113, the Protecting Powers concerned,the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other organization duly

approved by the Parties to the conflict may undertake the conveyance of suchshipments by suitable means (rail, motor vehicles, vessels or aircraft, etc.). For this purpose, the High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to supply them withsuch transport, and to allow its circulation, especially by granting the necessarysafe-conducts.

Such transport may also be used to convey:(a) correspondence, lists and reports exchanged between the Central InformationAgency referred to in Article 140 and the National Bureaux referred to in Article136;(b) correspondence and reports relating to internees which the Protecting

Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other organizationassisting the internees exchange either with their own delegates or with theParties to the conflict.

These provisions in no way detract from the right of any Party to the conflict toarrange other means of transport if it should so prefer, nor preclude the grantingof safe-conducts, under mutually agreed conditions, to such means of transport.

The costs occasioned by the use of such means of transport shall be borne, inproportion to the importance of the shipments, by the Parties to the conflictwhose nationals are benefited thereby.

Art. 112. The censoring of correspondence addressed to internees or despatched by them shall be done as quickly as possible.

The examination of consignments intended for internees shall not be carried outunder conditions that will expose the goods contained in them to deterioration. Itshall be done in the presence of the addressee, or of a fellow-internee dulydelegated by him. The delivery to internees of individual or collectiveconsignments shall not be delayed under the pretext of difficulties of censorship.



Any prohibition of correspondence ordered by the Parties to the conflict either for military or political reasons, shall be only temporary and its duration shall be asshort as possible.

Art. 113. The Detaining Powers shall provide all reasonable execution facilitiesfor the transmission, through the Protecting Power or the Central Agencyprovided for in Article 140, or as otherwise required, of wills, powers of attorney,letters of authority, or any other documents intended for internees or despatchedby them.

In all cases the Detaining Powers shall facilitate the execution and authenticationin due legal form of such documents on behalf of internees, in particular byallowing them to consult a lawyer.

Art. 114. The Detaining Power shall afford internees all facilities to enable them

to manage their property, provided this is not incompatible with the conditions of internment and the law which is applicable. For this purpose, the said Power maygive them permission to leave the place of internment in urgent cases and if circumstances allow.

Art. 115. In all cases where an internee is a party to proceedings in any court, theDetaining Power shall, if he so requests, cause the court to be informed of hisdetention and shall, within legal limits, ensure that all necessary steps are takento prevent him from being in any way prejudiced, by reason of his internment, asregards the preparation and conduct of his case or as regards the execution of any judgment of the court.

Art.116. Every internee shall be allowed to receive visitors, especially near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as possible.

As far as is possible, internees shall be permitted to visit their homes in urgentcases, particularly in cases of death or serious illness of relatives.

Chapter IX. Penal and Disciplinary Sanctions

Art. 117. Subject to the provisions of the present Chapter, the laws in force in theterritory in which they are detained will continue to apply to internees who commit

offences during internment.

If general laws, regulations or orders declare acts committed by internees to bepunishable, whereas the same acts are not punishable when committed bypersons who are not internees, such acts shall entail disciplinary punishmentsonly.

No internee may be punished more than once for the same act, or on the same



count.

Art. 118. The courts or authorities shall in passing sentence take as far aspossible into account the fact that the defendant is not a national of the Detaining

Power. They shall be free to reduce the penalty prescribed for the offence withwhich the internee is charged and shall not be obliged, to this end, to apply theminimum sentence prescribed.

Imprisonment in premises without daylight, and, in general, all forms of crueltywithout exception are forbidden.

Internees who have served disciplinary or judicial sentences shall not be treateddifferently from other internees.

The duration of preventive detention undergone by an internee shall be deductedfrom any disciplinary or judicial penalty involving confinement to which he may be

sentenced.

Internee Committees shall be informed of all judicial proceedings institutedagainst internees whom they represent, and of their result.

Art. 119. The disciplinary punishments applicable to internees shall be thefollowing:

(1) a fine which shall not exceed 50 per cent of the wages which the interneewould otherwise receive under the provisions of Article 95 during a period of notmore than thirty days.

(2) discontinuance of privileges granted over and above the treatment providedfor by the present Convention(3) fatigue duties, not exceeding two hours daily, in connection with themaintenance of the place of internment.(4) confinement.

In no case shall disciplinary penalties be inhuman, brutal or dangerous for thehealth of internees. Account shall be taken of the internee's age, sex and state of health.

The duration of any single punishment shall in no case exceed a maximum of thirty consecutive days, even if the internee is answerable for several breaches

of discipline when his case is dealt with, whether such breaches are connectedor not.

Art. 120. Internees who are recaptured after having escaped or when attemptingto escape, shall be liable only to disciplinary punishment in respect of this act,even if it is a repeated offence.

Article 118, paragraph 3, notwithstanding, internees punished as a result of



escape or attempt to escape, may be subjected to special surveillance, oncondition that such surveillance does not affect the state of their health, that it isexercised in a place of internment and that it does not entail the abolition of anyof the safeguards granted by the present Convention.

Internees who aid and abet an escape or attempt to escape, shall be liable onthis count to disciplinary punishment only.

Art. 121. Escape, or attempt to escape, even if it is a repeated offence, shall notbe deemed an aggravating circumstance in cases where an internee isprosecuted for offences committed during his escape.

The Parties to the conflict shall ensure that the competent authorities exerciseleniency in deciding whether punishment inflicted for an offence shall be of adisciplinary or judicial nature, especially in respect of acts committed inconnection with an escape, whether successful or not.

Art. 122. Acts which constitute offences against discipline shall be investigatedimmediately. This rule shall be applied, in particular, in cases of escape or attempt to escape. Recaptured internees shall be handed over to the competentauthorities as soon as possible.

In cases of offences against discipline, confinement awaiting trial shall bereduced to an absolute minimum for all internees, and shall not exceed fourteendays. Its duration shall in any case be deducted from any sentence of confinement.

The provisions of Articles 124 and 125 shall apply to internees who are inconfinement awaiting trial for offences against discipline.

Art. 123. Without prejudice to the competence of courts and higher authorities,disciplinary punishment may be ordered only by the commandant of the place of internment, or by a responsible officer or official who replaces him, or to whom hehas delegated his disciplinary powers.

Before any disciplinary punishment is awarded, the accused internee shall begiven precise information regarding the offences of which he is accused, andgiven an opportunity of explaining his conduct and of defending himself. He shallbe permitted, in particular, to call witnesses and to have recourse, if necessary,

to the services of a qualified interpreter. The decision shall be announced in thepresence of the accused and of a member of the Internee Committee.

The period elapsing between the time of award of a disciplinary punishment andits execution shall not exceed one month.

When an internee is awarded a further disciplinary punishment, a period of atleast three days shall elapse between the execution of any two of the



punishments, if the duration of one of these is ten days or more.

A record of disciplinary punishments shall be maintained by the commandant of the place of internment and shall be open to inspection by representatives of the

Protecting Power.

Art. 124. Internees shall not in any case be transferred to penitentiaryestablishments (prisons, penitentiaries, convict prisons, etc.) to undergodisciplinary punishment therein.

The premises in which disciplinary punishments are undergone shall conformto sanitary requirements: they shall in particular be provided with adequatebedding. Internees undergoing punishment shall be enabled to keep themselvesin a state of cleanliness.

Women internees undergoing disciplinary punishment shall be confined in

separate quarters from male internees and shall be under the immediatesupervision of women.

Art. 125. Internees awarded disciplinary punishment shall be allowed to exerciseand to stay in the open air at least two hours daily.

They shall be allowed, if they so request, to be present at the daily medicalinspections. They shall receive the attention which their state of health requiresand, if necessary, shall be removed to the infirmary of the place of internment or to a hospital.

They shall have permission to read and write, likewise to send and receiveletters. Parcels and remittances of money, however, may be withheld from themuntil the completion of their punishment; such consignments shall meanwhile beentrusted to the Internee Committee, who will hand over to the infirmary theperishable goods contained in the parcels.

No internee given a disciplinary punishment may be deprived of the benefit of theprovisions of Articles 107 and 143 of the present Convention.

Art. 126. The provisions of Articles 71 to 76 inclusive shall apply, by analogy, toproceedings against internees who are in the national territory of the DetainingPower.

Chapter X. Transfers of Internees

Art. 127. The transfer of internees shall always be effected humanely. As ageneral rule, it shall be carried out by rail or other means of transport, and under conditions at least equal to those obtaining for the forces of the Detaining Power in their changes of station. If, as an exceptional measure, such removals have tobe effected on foot, they may not take place unless the internees are in a fit state



of health, and may not in any case expose them to excessive fatigue.

The Detaining Power shall supply internees during transfer with drinking water and food sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to maintain them in good

health, and also with the necessary clothing, adequate shelter and the necessarymedical attention. The Detaining Power shall take all suitable precautions toensure their safety during transfer, and shall establish before their departure acomplete list of all internees transferred.

Sick, wounded or infirm internees and maternity cases shall not be transferred if the journey would be seriously detrimental to them, unless their safetyimperatively so demands.

If the combat zone draws close to a place of internment, the internees in the saidplace shall not be transferred unless their removal can be carried out in adequateconditions of safety, or unless they are exposed to greater risks by remaining on

the spot than by being transferred.

When making decisions regarding the transfer of internees, the Detaining Power shall take their interests into account and, in particular, shall not do anything toincrease the difficulties of repatriating them or returning them to their own homes.

Art. 128. In the event of transfer, internees shall be officially advised of their departure and of their new postal address. Such notification shall be given in timefor them to pack their luggage and inform their next of kin.

They shall be allowed to take with them their personal effects, and the

correspondence and parcels which have arrived for them. The weight of suchbaggage may be limited if the conditions of transfer so require, but in no case toless than twenty-five kilograms per internee.

Mail and parcels addressed to their former place of internment shall be forwardedto them without delay.

The commandant of the place of internment shall take, in agreement with theInternee Committee, any measures needed to ensure the transport of theinternees' community property and of the luggage the internees are unable totake with them in consequence of restrictions imposed by virtue of the secondparagraph.

Chapter XI. Deaths

Art. 129. The wills of internees shall be received for safe-keeping by theresponsible authorities; and if the event of the death of an internee his will shallbe transmitted without delay to a person whom he has previously designated.Deaths of internees shall be certified in every case by a doctor, and a deathcertificate shall be made out, showing the causes of death and the conditions



under which it occurred.

An official record of the death, duly registered, shall be drawn up in accordancewith the procedure relating thereto in force in the territory where the place of

internment is situated, and a duly certified copy of such record shall betransmitted without delay to the Protecting Power as well as to the CentralAgency referred to in Article 140.

Art. 130. The detaining authorities shall ensure that internees who die whileinterned are honourably buried, if possible according to the rites of the religion towhich they belonged and that their graves are respected, properly maintained,and marked in such a way that they can always be recognized.

Deceased internees shall be buried in individual graves unless unavoidablecircumstances require the use of collective graves. Bodies may be cremated onlyfor imperative reasons of hygiene, on account of the religion of the deceased or

in accordance with his expressed wish to this effect. In case of cremation, thefact shall be stated and the reasons given in the death certificate of thedeceased. The ashes shall be retained for safe-keeping by the detainingauthorities and shall be transferred as soon as possible to the next of kin on their request.

As soon as circumstances permit, and not later than the close of hostilities, theDetaining Power shall forward lists of graves of deceased internees to thePowers on whom deceased internees depended, through the InformationBureaux provided for in Article 136. Such lists shall include all particularsnecessary for the identification of the deceased internees, as well as the exact

location of their graves.

Art. 131. Every death or serious injury of an internee, caused or suspected tohave been caused by a sentry, another internee or any other person, as well asany death the cause of which is unknown, shall be immediately followed by anofficial enquiry by the Detaining Power.

A communication on this subject shall be sent immediately to the ProtectingPower. The evidence of any witnesses shall be taken, and a report includingsuch evidence shall be prepared and forwarded to the said Protecting Power.

If the enquiry indicates the guilt of one or more persons, the Detaining Power

shall take all necessary steps to ensure the prosecution of the person or personsresponsible.

Chapter XIII. Release, Repatriation and Accommodation in Neutral Countries

Art. 132. Each interned person shall be released by the Detaining Power as soonas the reasons which necessitated his internment no longer exist.



The Parties to the conflict shall, moreover, endeavour during the course of hostilities, to conclude agreements for the release, the repatriation, the return toplaces of residence or the accommodation in a neutral country of certain classesof internees, in particular children, pregnant women and mothers with infants and

young children, wounded and sick, and internees who have been detained for along time.

Art. 133. Internment shall cease as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.

Internees in the territory of a Party to the conflict against whom penalproceedings are pending for offences not exclusively subject to disciplinarypenalties, may be detained until the close of such proceedings and, if circumstances require, until the completion of the penalty. The same shall applyto internees who have been previously sentenced to a punishment deprivingthem of liberty.

By agreement between the Detaining Power and the Powers concerned,committees may be set up after the close of hostilities, or of the occupation of territories, to search for dispersed internees.

Art. 134. The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour, upon the close of hostilities or occupation, to ensure the return of all internees to their last place of residence, or to facilitate their repatriation.

Art. 135. The Detaining Power shall bear the expense of returning releasedinternees to the places where they were residing when interned, or, if it took theminto custody while they were in transit or on the high seas, the cost of completing

their journey or of their return to their point of departure.

Where a Detaining Power refuses permission to reside in its territory to areleased internee who previously had his permanent domicile therein, suchDetaining Power shall pay the cost of the said internee's repatriation. If, however,the internee elects to return to his country on his own responsibility or inobedience to the Government of the Power to which he owes allegiance, theDetaining Power need not pay the expenses of his journey beyond the point of his departure from its territory. The Detaining Power need not pay the cost of repatriation of an internee who was interned at his own request.

If internees are transferred in accordance with Article 45, the transferring and

receiving Powers shall agree on the portion of the above costs to be borne byeach.

The foregoing shall not prejudice such special agreements as may be concludedbetween Parties to the conflict concerning the exchange and repatriation of their nationals in enemy hands.

Section V. Information Bureaux and Central Agency



direct, or, if necessary, through the Central Agency. Such articles shall be sentby the Bureau in sealed packets which shall be accompanied by statementsgiving clear and full identity particulars of the person to whom the articlesbelonged, and by a complete list of the contents of the parcel. Detailed records

shall be maintained of the receipt and despatch of all such valuables.

Art. 140. A Central Information Agency for protected persons, in particular for internees, shall be created in a neutral country. The International Committee of the Red Cross shall, if it deems necessary, propose to the Powers concerned theorganization of such an Agency, which may be the same as that provided for inArticle 123 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949.

The function of the Agency shall be to collect all information of the type set forthin Article 136 which it may obtain through official or private channels and totransmit it as rapidly as possible to the countries of origin or of residence of the

persons concerned, except in cases where such transmissions might bedetrimental to the persons whom the said information concerns, or to their relatives. It shall receive from the Parties to the conflict all reasonable facilities for effecting such transmissions.

The High Contracting Parties, and in particular those whose nationals benefit bythe services of the Central Agency, are requested to give the said Agency thefinancial aid it may require.

The foregoing provisions shall in no way be interpreted as restricting thehumanitarian activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of

the relief Societies described in Article 142.

Art. 141. The national Information Bureaux and the Central Information Agencyshall enjoy free postage for all mail, likewise the exemptions provided for inArticle 110, and further, so far as possible, exemption from telegraphic chargesor, at least, greatly reduced rates.

Part IV. Execution of the Convention

Section I. General Provisions

Art. 142. Subject to the measures which the Detaining Powers may consider essential to ensure their security or to meet any other reasonable need, therepresentatives of religious organizations, relief societies, or any other organizations assisting the protected persons, shall receive from these Powers,for themselves or their duly accredited agents, all facilities for visiting theprotected persons, for distributing relief supplies and material from any source,intended for educational, recreational or religious purposes, or for assisting themin organizing their leisure time within the places of internment. Such societies or



organizations may be constituted in the territory of the Detaining Power, or in anyother country, or they may have an international character.

The Detaining Power may limit the number of societies and organizations whose

delegates are allowed to carry out their activities in its territory and under itssupervision, on condition, however, that such limitation shall not hinder thesupply of effective and adequate relief to all protected persons.

The special position of the International Committee of the Red Cross in this fieldshall be recognized and respected at all times.

Art. 143. Representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall havepermission to go to all places where protected persons are, particularly to placesof internment, detention and work.

They shall have access to all premises occupied by protected persons and shall

be able to interview the latter without witnesses, personally or through aninterpreter.

Such visits may not be prohibited except for reasons of imperative militarynecessity, and then only as an exceptional and temporary measure. Their duration and frequency shall not be restricted.

Such representatives and delegates shall have full liberty to select the placesthey wish to visit. The Detaining or Occupying Power, the Protecting Power andwhen occasion arises the Power of origin of the persons to be visited, may agreethat compatriots of the internees shall be permitted to participate in the visits.

The delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross shall also enjoythe above prerogatives. The appointment of such delegates shall be submitted tothe approval of the Power governing the territories where they will carry out their duties.

Art. 144. The High Contracting Parties undertake, in time of peace as in time of war, to disseminate the text of the present Convention as widely as possible intheir respective countries, and, in particular, to include the study thereof in their programmes of military and, if possible, civil instruction, so that the principlesthereof may become known to the entire population.

Any civilian, military, police or other authorities, who in time of war assumeresponsibilities in respect of protected persons, must possess the text of theConvention and be specially instructed as to its provisions.

Art. 145. The High Contracting Parties shall communicate to one another throughthe Swiss Federal Council and, during hostilities, through the Protecting Powers,the official translations of the present Convention, as well as the laws andregulations which they may adopt to ensure the application thereof.



Art. 146. The High Contracting Parties undertake to enact any legislationnecessary to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering to be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present Convention

defined in the following Article.

Each High Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for personsalleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such gravebreaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before itsown courts. It may also, if it prefers, and in accordance with the provisions of itsown legislation, hand such persons over for trial to another High ContractingParty concerned, provided such High Contracting Party has made out a primafacie case.

Each High Contracting Party shall take measures necessary for the suppressionof all acts contrary to the provisions of the present Convention other than the

grave breaches defined in the following Article.

In all circumstances, the accused persons shall benefit by safeguards of proper trial and defence, which shall not be less favourable than those provided byArticle 105 and those following of the Geneva Convention relative to theTreatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949.

Art. 147. Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be thoseinvolving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or property protected by the present Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhumantreatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or

serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawfulconfinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in theforces 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 andextensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by militarynecessity 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 HighContracting 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 allegedviolation of the Convention.

If agreement has not been reached concerning the procedure for the enquiry, theParties should agree on the choice of an umpire who will decide upon theprocedure 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. Bothtexts are equally authentic.

The Swiss Federal Council shall arrange for official translations of theConvention to be made in the Russian and Spanish languages.

Art. 151. The present Convention, which bears the date of this day, is open tosignature until 12 February 1950, in the name of the Powers represented at theConference which opened at Geneva on 21 April 1949.

Art. 152. The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible and theratifications shall be deposited at Berne.

A record shall be drawn up of the deposit of each instrument of ratification andcertified copies of this record shall be transmitted by the Swiss Federal Council toall the Powers in whose name the Convention has been signed, or whoseaccession has been notified.

Art. 153. The present Convention shall come into force six months after not lessthan two instruments of ratification have been deposited.

Thereafter, it shall come into force for each High Contracting Party six monthsafter the deposit of the instrument of ratification.

Art. 154. In the relations between the Powers who are bound by the HagueConventions 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 presentConvention, 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 inwhose name the present Convention has not been signed, to accede to thisConvention.

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 Powersin whose name the Convention has been signed, or whose accession has beennotified.

Art. 157. The situations provided for in Articles 2 and 3 shall effective immediateeffect to ratifications deposited and accessions notified by the Parties to the



conflict before or after the beginning of hostilities or occupation. The SwissFederal 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 thepresent Convention.

The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal Council, whichshall transmit it to the Governments of all the High Contracting Parties.

The denunciation shall take effect one year after the notification thereof has beenmade to the Swiss Federal Council. However, a denunciation of whichnotification has been made at a time when the denouncing Power is involved in aconflict shall not take effect until peace has been concluded, and until after operations connected with the release, repatriation and re-establishment of thepersons protected by the present Convention have been terminated.

The denunciation shall have effect only in respect of the denouncing Power. Itshall in no way impair the obligations which the Parties to the conflict shallremain bound to fulfil by virtue of the principles of the law of nations, as theyresult from the usagAes 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 withthe Secretariat of the United Nations. The Swiss Federal Council shall alsoinform the Secretariat of the United Nations of all ratifications, accessions anddenunciations received by it with respect to the present Convention.

In witness whereof the undersigned, having deposited their respective fullpowers, have signed the present Convention.

Done at Geneva this twelfth day of August 1949, in the English and Frenchlanguages. The original shall be deposited in the Archives of the SwissConfederation. 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 theCondition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August1949, 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 personnelentrusted 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 zoneshall 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 necessarymeasures 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(d) they shall not be situated in areas which, according to every probability, maybecome important for the conduct of the war.

Art. 5. Hospital and safety zones shall be subject to the following obligations:(a) the lines of communication and means of transport which they possess shallnot be used for the transport of military personnel or material, even in transit(b) they shall in no case be defended by military means.

Art. 6. Hospital and safety zones shall be marked by means of oblique red bandson a white ground, placed on the buildings and outer precincts.

Zones reserved exclusively for the wounded and sick may be marked by meansof the Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) emblem on a white ground.

They may be similarly marked at night by means of appropriate illumination.

Art. 7. The Powers shall communicate to all the High Contracting Parties inpeacetime or on the outbreak of hostilities, a list of the hospital and safety zonesin the territories governed by them. They shall also give notice of any new zonesset up during hostilities.

As soon as the adverse party has received the above-mentioned notification, the

zone shall be regularly established.

If, however, the adverse party considers that the conditions of the presentagreement have not been fulfilled, it may refuse to recognize the zone by givingimmediate notice thereof to the Party responsible for the said zone, or may makeits recognition of such zone dependent upon the institution of the control providedfor in Article 8.



Art. 8. Any Power having recognized one or several hospital and safety zonesinstituted by the adverse Party shall be entitled to demand control by one or moreSpecial Commissions, for the purpose of ascertaining if the zones fulfil theconditions and obligations stipulated in the present agreement.

For this purpose, members of the Special Commissions shall at all times havefree access to the various zones and may even reside there permanently. Theyshall be given all facilities for their duties of inspection.

Art. 9. Should the Special Commissions note any facts which they consider contrary to the stipulations of the present agreement, they shall at once draw theattention of the Power governing the said zone to these facts, and shall fix a timelimit of five days within which the matter should be rectified. They shall duly notifythe Power which has recognized the zone.

If, when the time limit has expired, the Power governing the zone has not

complied with the warning, the adverse Party may declare that it is no longer bound by the present agreement in respect of the said zone.

Art. 10. Any Power setting up one or more hospital and safety zones, and theadverse Parties to whom their existence has been notified, shall nominate or have nominated by the Protecting Powers or by other neutral Powers, personseligible to be members of the Special Commissions mentioned in Articles 8 and9.

Art. 11. In no circumstances may hospital and safety zones be the object of attack. They shall be protected and respected at all times by the Parties to the

conflict.

Art. 12. In the case of occupation of a territory, the hospital and safety zonestherein shall continue to be respected and utilized as such.

Their purpose may, however, be modified by the Occupying Power, on conditionthat all measures are taken to ensure the safety of the persons accommodated.

Art. 13. The present agreement shall also apply to localities which the Powersmay utilize for the same purposes as hospital and safety zones.

Annex II. Draft Regulations concerning Collective Relief

Article 1. The Internee Committees shall be allowed to distribute collective relief shipments for which they are responsible to all internees who are dependent for administration on the said Committee's place of internment, including thoseinternees who are in hospitals, or in prison or other penitentiary establishments.

Art. 2. The distribution of collective relief shipments shall be effected in



accordance with the instructions of the donors and with a plan drawn up by theInternee Committees. The issue of medical stores shall, however, be made for preference in agreement with the senior medical officers, and the latter may, inhospitals and infirmaries, waive the said instructions, if the needs of their patients

so demand. Within the limits thus defined, the distribution shall always be carriedout equitably.

Art. 3. Members of Internee Committees shall be allowed to go to the railwaystations or other points of arrival of relief supplies near their places of internmentso as to enable them to verify the quantity as well as the quality of the goodsreceived and to make out detailed reports thereon for the donors.

Art. 4. Internee Committees shall be given the facilities necessary for verifyingwhether the distribution of collective relief in all subdivisions and annexes of their places of internment has been carried out in accordance with their instructions.

Art. 5. Internee Committees shall be allowed to complete, and to cause to becompleted by members of the Internee Committees in labour detachments or bythe senior medical officers of infirmaries and hospitals, forms or questionnairesintended for the donors, relating to collective relief supplies (distribution,requirements, quantities, etc.). Such forms and questionnaires, duly completed,shall be forwarded to the donors without delay.

Art. 6. In order to secure the regular distribution of collective relief supplies to theinternees in their place of internment, and to meet any needs that may arisethrough the arrival of fresh parties of internees, the Internee Committees shall beallowed to create and maintain sufficient reserve stocks of collective relief. For

this purpose, they shall have suitable warehouses at their disposal; eachwarehouse shall be provided with two locks, the Internee Committee holding thekeys of one lock, and the commandant of the place of

nternment the keys of the other.

Art. 7. The High Contracting Parties, and the Detaining Powers in particular,shall, so far as is in any way possible and subject to the regulations governingthe food supply of the population, authorize purchases of goods to be made intheir territories for the distribution of collective relief to the internees. They shalllikewise facilitate the transfer of funds and other financial measures of a technicalor administrative nature taken for the purpose of maki

ng such purchases.

Art. 8. The foregoing provisions shall not constitute an obstacle to the right of internees to receive collective relief before their arrival in a place of internment or in the course of their transfer, nor to the possibility of representatives of theProtecting Power, or of the International Committee of the Red Cross or anyother humanitarian organization giving assistance to internees and responsiblefor forwarding such supplies, ensuring the distribution thereof to the recipients by



any other means they may deem suitable.

ANNEX III

I. Internment Card

II.Letter



III. Correspondence Card



http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/385ec082b509e76c41256739003e636d/6756482d86146898c125641e004aa3c5#top



Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of

12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of

Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts

(Protocol II), 8 June 1977.

Preamble

The High Contracting Parties, Recalling that the humanitarian principlesenshrined in Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949,constitute the foundation of respect for the human person in cases of armedconflict not of an international character,

Recalling furthermore that international instruments relating to human rights offer a basic protection to the human person,

Emphasizing the need to ensure a better protection for the victims of thosearmed conflicts,

Recalling that, in cases not covered by the law in force, the human personremains under the protection of the principles of humanity and the dictates of thepublic conscience,

Have agreed on the following:

Part I. Scope of this Protocol

Art 1. Material field of application

1. This Protocol, which develops and supplements Article 3 common to theGeneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 without modifying its existing conditionsof application, shall apply to all armed conflicts which are not covered by Article 1of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, andrelating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I)and which take place in the territory of a High Contracting Party between its

armed forces and dissident armed forces or other organized armed groupswhich, under responsible command, exercise such control over a part of itsterritory as to enable them to carry out sustained and concerted militaryoperations and to implement this Protocol.

2. This Protocol shall not apply to situations of internal disturbances andtensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence and other acts of asimilar nature, as not being armed conflicts.



Art 2. Personal field of application

1. This Protocol shall be applied without any adverse distinction founded on race,colour, sex, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, national or social origin, wealth, birth or other status, or on any other similar criteria(hereinafter referred to as "adverse distinction") to all persons affected by anarmed conflict as defined in Article 1.

2. At the end of the armed conflict, all the persons who have been deprived of their liberty or whose liberty has been restricted for reasons related to suchconflict, as well as those deprived of their liberty or whose liberty is restrictedafter the conflict for the same reasons, shall enjoy the protection of Articles 5 and6 until the end of such deprivation or restriction of liberty.

Art 3. Non-intervention

1. Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked for the purpose of affecting thesovereignty of a State or the responsibility of the government, by all legitimatemeans, to maintain or re-establish law and order in the State or to defend thenational unity and territorial integrity of the State.

2. Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked as a justification for intervening,directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the armed conflict or in theinternal or external affairs of the High Contracting Party in the territory of which

that conflict occurs.

Part II. Humane TreatmentArt 4 Fundamental guarantees

1. All persons who do not take a direct part or who have ceased to take part inhostilities, whether or not their liberty has been restricted, are entitled to respectfor their person, honour and convictions and religious practices. They shall in allcircumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction. It isprohibited to order that there shall be no survivors.

2. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the following acts againstthe persons referred to in paragraph I are and shall remain prohibited at any timeand in any place whatsoever:(a) violence to the life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, inparticular murder as well as cruel treatment such as torture, mutilation or anyform of corporal punishment;(b) collective punishments;(c) taking of hostages;



(d) acts of terrorism;(e) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degradingtreatment, rape, enforced prostitution and any form or indecent assault;(f) slavery and the slave trade in all their forms;

(g) pillage;(h) threats to commit any or the foregoing acts.

3. Children shall be provided with the care and aid they require, and in particular:(a) they shall receive an education, including religious and moral education, inkeeping with the wishes of their parents, or in the absence of parents, of thoseresponsible for their care;(b) all appropriate steps shall be taken to facilitate the reunion of familiestemporarily separated;(c) children who have not attained the age of fifteen years shall neither berecruited in the armed forces or groups nor allowed to take part in hostilities;(d) the special protection provided by this Article to children who have not

attained the age of fifteen years shall remain applicable to them if they take adirect part in hostilities despite the provisions of subparagraph (c) and arecaptured;(e) measures shall be taken, if necessary, and whenever possible with theconsent of their parents or persons who by law or custom are primarilyresponsible for their care, to remove children temporarily from the area in whichhostilities are taking place to a safer area within the country and ensure that theyare accompanied by persons responsible for their safety and well-being.

Art 5. Persons whose liberty has been restricted

1. In addition to the provisions of Article 4 the following provisions shall berespected as a minimum with regard to persons deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict, whether they are interned or detained;(a) the wounded and the sick shall be treated in accordance with Article 7;(b) the persons referred to in this paragraph shall, to the same extent as the localcivilian population, be provided with food and drinking water and be affordedsafeguards as regards health and hygiene and protection against the rigours of the climate and the dangers of the armed conflict;(c) they shall be allowed to receive individual or collective relief;(d) they shall be allowed to practise their religion and, if requested andappropriate, to receive spiritual assistance from persons, such as chaplains,

performing religious functions;(e) they shall, if made to work, have the benefit of working conditions andsafeguards similar to those enjoyed by the local civilian population.

2. Those who are responsible for the internment or detention of the personsreferred to in paragraph 1 shall also, within the limits of their capabilities, respectthe following provisions relating to such persons:(a) except when men and women of a family are accommodated together,



women shall be held in quarters separated from those of men and shall be under the immediate supervision of women;(b) they shall be allowed to send and receive letters and cards, the number of which may be limited by competent authority if it deems necessary;

(c) places of internment and detention shall not be located close to the combatzone. The persons referred to in paragraph 1 shall be evacuated when theplaces where they are interned or detained become particularly exposed todanger arising out of the armed conflict, if their evacuation can be carried outunder adequate conditions of safety;(d) they shall have the benefit of medical examinations;(e) their physical or mental health and integrity shall not be endangered by anyunjustified act or omission. Accordingly, it is prohibited to subject the personsdescribed in this Article to any medical procedure which is not indicated by thestate of health of the person concerned, and which is not consistent with thegenerally accepted medical standards applied to free persons under similar medical circumstances.

3. Persons who are not covered by paragraph 1 but whose liberty has beenrestricted in any way whatsoever for reasons related to the armed conflict shallbe treated humanely in accordance with Article 4 and with paragraphs 1 (a), (c)and (d), and 2 (b) of this Article.

4. If it is decided to release persons deprived of their liberty, necessary measuresto ensure their safety shall be taken by those so deciding.

Art 6. Penal prosecutions

1. This Article applies to the prosecution and punishment of criminal offencesrelated to the armed conflict.

2. No sentence shall be passed and no penalty shall be executed on a personfound guilty of an offence except pursuant to a conviction pronounced by a courtoffering the essential guarantees of independence and impartiality.In particular:(a) the procedure shall provide for an accused to be informed without delay of theparticulars of the offence alleged against him and shall afford the accused beforeand during his trial all necessary rights and means of defence;(b) no one shall be convicted of an offence except on the basis of individual

penal responsibility;(c) no one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under the law, at the timewhen it was committed; nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than that whichwas applicable at the time when the criminal offence was committed; if, after thecommission of the offence, provision is made by law for the imposition of a lighter penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby;(d) anyone charged with an offence is presumed innocent until proved guilty



according to law;(e) anyone charged with an offence shall have the right to be tried in hispresence;(f) no one shall be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.

3. A convicted person shall be advised on conviction of his judicial and other remedies and of the time-limits within which they may be exercised.

4. The death penalty shall not be pronounced on persons who were under theage of eighteen years at the time of the offence and shall not be carried out onpregnant women or mothers of young children.

5. At the end of hostilities, the authorities in power shall endeavour to grant thebroadest possible amnesty to persons who have participated in the armedconflict, or those deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict,whether they are interned or detained.

Part III. Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked

Art 7. Protection and care

1. All the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, whether or not they have taken part inthe armed conflict, shall be respected and protected.

2. In all circumstances they shall be treated humanely and shall receive to thefullest extent practicable and with the least possible delay, the medical care and

attention required by their condition. There shall be no distinction among themfounded on any grounds other than medical ones.

Art 8. Search

Whenever circumstances permit and particularly after an engagement, allpossible measures shall be taken, without delay, to search for and collect thewounded, sick and shipwrecked, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment,to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead, prevent their beingdespoiled, and decently dispose of them.

Art 9. Protection of medical and religious personnel

1. Medical and religious personnel shall be respected and protected and shall begranted all available help for the performance of their duties. They shall not becompelled to carry out tasks which are not compatible with their humanitarianmission.



2. In the performance of their duties medical personnel may not be required togive priority to any person except on medical grounds.

Art 10. General protection of medical duties

1. Under no circumstances shall any person be punished for having carried outmedical activities compatible with medical ethics, regardless of the personbenefiting therefrom.

2. Persons engaged in medical activities shall neither be compelled to performacts or to carry out work contrary to, nor be compelled to refrain from actsrequired by, the rules of medical ethics or other rules designed for the benefit of the wounded and sick, or this Protocol.

3. The professional obligations of persons engaged in medical activities

regarding information which they may acquire concerning the wounded and sickunder their care shall, subject to national law, be respected.

4. Subject to national law, no person engaged in medical activities may bepenalized in any way for refusing or failing to give information concerning thewounded and sick who are, or who have been, under his care.

Art 11. Protection of medical units and transports

1. Medical units and transports shall be respected and protected at all times and

shall not be the object of attack.

2. The protection to which medical units and transports are entitled shall notcease unless they are used to commit hostile acts, outside their humanitarianfunction. Protection may, however, cease only after a warning has been given,setting, whenever appropriate, a reasonable time-limit, and after such warninghas remained unheeded.

Art 12. The distinctive emblem

Under the direction of the competent authority concerned, the distinctive emblem

of the red cross, red crescent or red lion and sun on a white ground shall bedisplayed by medical and religious personnel and medical units, and on medicaltransports. It shall be respected in all circumstances. It shall not be usedimproperly.

Part IV. Civilian Population



Art 13. Protection of the civilian population

1. The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection

against the dangers arising from military operations. To give effect to thisprotection, the following rules shall be observed in all circumstances.

2. The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be theobject of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is tospread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.

3. Civilians shall enjoy the protection afforded by this part, unless and for suchtime as they take a direct part in hostilities.

Art 14. Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian

population

Starvation of civilians as a method of combat is prohibited. It is thereforeprohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless for that purpose, objectsindispensable to the survival of the civilian population such as food-stuffs,agricultural areas for the production of food-stuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works.

Art 15. Protection of works and installations containing dangerous forces

Works or installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes andnuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack,even where these objects are military objectives, if such attack may cause therelease of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilianpopulation.

Art 16. Protection of cultural objects and of places of worship

Without prejudice to the provisions of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 14 May 1954, it is prohibitedto commit any acts of hostility directed against historic monuments, works of art

or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples,and to use them in support of the military effort.

Art 17. Prohibition of forced movement of civilians

1. The displacement of the civilian population shall not be ordered for reasonsrelated to the conflict unless the security of the civilians involved or imperativemilitary reasons so demand. Should such displacements have to be carried out,



all possible measures shall be taken in order that the civilian population may bereceived under satisfactory conditions of shelter, hygiene, health, safety andnutrition.

2. Civilians shall not be compelled to leave their own territory for reasonsconnected with the conflict.

Art 18. Relief societies and relief actions

1. Relief societies located in the territory of the High Contracting Party, such asRed Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) organizations may offer their services for the performance of their traditional functions in relation to the victimsof the armed conflict. The civilian population may, even on its own initiative, offer to collect and care for the wounded, sick and shipwrecked.

2. If the civilian population is suffering undue hardship owing to a lack of thesupplies essential for its survival, such as food-stuffs and medical supplies, relief actions for the civilian population which are of an exclusively humanitarian andimpartial nature and which are conducted without any adverse distinction shall beundertaken subject to the consent of the High Contracting Party concerned.

Part V. Final Provisions

Art 19. Dissemination

This Protocol shall be disseminated as widely as possible.

Art 20. Signature

This Protocol shall be open for signature by the Parties to the Conventions sixmonths after the signing of the Final Act and will remain open for a period of twelve months.

Art 21. Ratification

This Protocol shall be ratified as soon as possible. The instruments of ratificationshall be deposited with the Swiss Federal Council, depositary of theConventions.

Art 22. Accession



This Protocol shall be open for accession by any Party to the Conventions whichhas not signed it. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with thedepositary.

Art 23. Entry into force

1. This Protocol shall enter into force six months after two instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited.

2. For each Party to the Conventions thereafter ratifying or acceding to thisProtocol, it shall enter into force six months after the deposit by such Party of itsinstrument of ratification or accession.

Art 24. Amendment

1. Any High Contracting Party may propose amendments to this Protocol. Thetext of any proposed amendment shall be communicated to the depositary whichshall decide, after consultation with all the High Contracting Parties and theInternational Committee of the Red Cross, whether a conference should beconvened to consider the proposed amendment.

2. The depositary shall invite to that conference all the High Contracting Partiesas well as the Parties to the Conventions, whether or not they are signatories of this Protocol.

Art 25. Denunciation

1. In case a High Contracting Party should denounce this Protocol, thedenunciation shall only take effect six months after receipt of the instrument of denunciation. If, however, on the expiry of six months, the denouncing Party isengaged in the situation referred to in Article 1, the denunciation shall not takeeffect before the end of the armed conflict. Persons who have been deprived of liberty, or whose liberty has been restricted, for reasons related to the conflictshall nevertheless continue to benefit from the provisions of this Protocol untiltheir final release.

2. The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the depositary, which shall

transmit it to all the High Contracting Parties.

Art 26. Notifications

The depositary shall inform the High Contracting Parties as well as the Parties tothe Conventions, whether or not they are signatories of this Protocol, of:(a) signatures affixed to this Protocol and the deposit of instruments of ratification



and accession under Articles 21 and 22;(b) the date of entry into force of this Protocol under Article 23; and(c) communications and declarations received under Article 24.

Art 27. Registration

1. After its entry into force, this Protocol shall be transmitted by the depositary tothe Secretariat of the United Nations for registration and publication, inaccordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

2. The depositary shall also inform the Secretariat of the United Nations of allratifications, accessions and denunciations received by it with respect to thisProtocol.

Art 28. - Authentic texts

The original of this Protocol, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French,Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with thedepositary, which shall transmit certified true copies thereof to all the Parties tothe Conventions.

http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/d67c3971bcff1c10c125641e0052b545#top



International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly

resolution 2200A (XXI)

of 16 December 1966

entry into force 3 January 1976, in accordance with article 27

Preamble

The States Parties to the present Covenant,

Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United

Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of allmembers of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Recognizing that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person,

Recognizing that, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions arecreated whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social and cultural rights, as well as his civiland political rights,

Considering the obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promoteuniversal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms,

Realizing that the individual, having duties to other individuals and to the community to which

he belongs, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance of the rightsrecognized in the present Covenant,

Agree upon the following articles:

PART I

Article 1

1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determinetheir political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

2. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources

without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, basedupon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprivedof its own means of subsistence.

3. The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for theadministration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of theright of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of theCharter of the United Nations.



PART II

Article 2

1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through

international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rightsrecognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoptionof legislative measures.

2. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated inthe present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex,language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

3. Developing countries, with due regard to human rights and their national economy, maydetermine to what extent they would guarantee the economic rights recognized in the presentCovenant to non-nationals.

Article 3

The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and womento the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in the present Covenant.

Article 4

The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, in the enjoyment of those rights provided by the State in conformity with the present Covenant, the State may subject such rightsonly to such limitations as are determined by law only in so far as this may be compatible withthe nature of these rights and solely for the purpose of promoting the general welfare in ademocratic society.

Article 5

1. Nothing in the present Covenant may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or personany right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of therights or freedoms recognized herein, or at their limitation to a greater extent than is provided for in the present Covenant.

2. No restriction upon or derogation from any of the fundamental human rights recognized or existing in any country in virtue of law, conventions, regulations or custom shall be admitted onthe pretext that the present Covenant does not recognize such rights or that it recognizes them toa lesser extent.

PART III

Article 6

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes theright of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.

2. The steps to be taken by a State Party to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include technical and vocational guidance and training programmes, policies and



techniques to achieve steady economic, social and cultural development and full and productiveemployment under conditions safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to theindividual.

Article 7

The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work which ensure, in particular:

(a) Remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with:

(i) Fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, in particular women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed by men,with equal pay for equal work;

(ii) A decent living for themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions of the present Covenant;

(b) Safe and healthy working conditions;

(c) Equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an appropriate higher level, subject to no considerations other than those of seniority and competence;

(d ) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, aswell as remuneration for public holidays

Article 8

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure:

(a) The right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice, subject onlyto the rules of the organization concerned, for the promotion and protection of his economic andsocial interests. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those

prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of nationalsecurity or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others;

(b) The right of trade unions to establish national federations or confederations and the right of the latter to form or join international trade-union organizations;

(c) The right of trade unions to function freely subject to no limitations other than those prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of nationalsecurity or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others;

(d) The right to strike, provided that it is exercised in conformity with the laws of the particular country.

2. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise

of these rights by members of the armed forces or of the police or of theadministration of the State.

3. Nothing in this article shall authorize States Parties to the International Labour OrganisationConvention of 1948 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organizeto take legislative measures which would prejudice, or apply the law in such a manner as would prejudice, the guarantees provided for in that Convention.



Article 9

The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to social security,including social insurance.

Article 10The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that:

1. The widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, which is thenatural and fundamental group unit of society, particularly for its establishment and while it isresponsible for the care and education of dependent children. Marriage must be entered into withthe free consent of the intending spouses.

2. Special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth. During such period working mothers should be accorded paid leave or leave withadequate social security benefits.

3. Special measures of protection and assistance should be taken on behalf of all children and

young persons without any discrimination for reasons of parentage or other conditions. Childrenand young persons should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable by law. States should also set age limits belowwhich the paid employment of child labour should be prohibited and punishable by law.

Article 11

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequatestandard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, andto the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate stepsto ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of

international co-operation based on free consent.2. The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international co-operation, themeasures, including specific programmes, which are needed:

(a) To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full useof technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutritionand by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficientdevelopment and utilization of natural resources;

(b) Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, toensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.

Article 12

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the fullrealization of this right shall include those necessary for:

(a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthydevelopment of the child;



(b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene;

(c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases;

(d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention inthe event of sickness.

Article 13

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education. Theyagree that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and thesense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a freesociety, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnicor religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

2. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, with a view to achieving the fullrealization of this right:

(a) Primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all;(b) Secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondaryeducation, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means,and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education;

(c) Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by everyappropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education;

(d) Fundamental education shall be encouraged or intensified as far as possible for those personswho have not received or completed the whole period of their primary education;

(e) The development of a system of schools at all levels shall be actively pursued, an adequatefellowship system shall be established, and the material conditions of teaching staff shall be

continuously improved.3. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parentsand, when applicable, legal guardians to choose for their children schools, other than thoseestablished by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards asmay be laid down or approved by the State and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.

4. No part of this article shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance of the principles set forth in paragraph I of this article and to the requirement that the education givenin such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.

Article 14Each State Party to the present Covenant which, at the time of becoming a Party, has not beenable to secure in its metropolitan territory or other territories under its jurisdiction compulsory primary education, free of charge, undertakes, within two years, to work out and adopt a detailed plan of action for the progressive implementation, within a reasonable number of years, to befixed in the plan, of the principle of compulsory education free of charge for all.



Article 15

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone:

(a) To take part in cultural life;

(b) To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications;(c) To benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from anyscientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve

the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for the conservation,

the development and the diffusion of science and culture.

3. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity.

4. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the benefits to be derived from theencouragement and development of international contacts and co-operation in the scientific andcultural fields.

PART IV

Article 16

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to submit in conformity with this part of the Covenant reports on the measures which they have adopted and the progress made inachieving the observance of the rights recognized herein.

2.

(a) All reports shall be submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall

transmit copies to the Economic and Social Council for consideration in accordance with the provisions of the present Covenant;

(b) The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall also transmit to the specialized agenciescopies of the reports, or any relevant parts therefrom, from States Parties to the present Covenantwhich are also members of these specialized agencies in so far as these reports, or partstherefrom, relate to any matters which fall within the responsibilities of the said agencies inaccordance with their constitutional instruments.

Article 17

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant shall furnish their reports in stages, in accordancewith a programme to be established by the Economic and Social Council within one year of the

entry into force of the present Covenant after consultation with the States Parties and thespecialized agencies concerned.

2. Reports may indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfilment of obligationsunder the present Covenant.

3. Where relevant information has previously been furnished to the United Nations or to anyspecialized agency by any State Party to the present Covenant, it will not be necessary toreproduce that information, but a precise reference to the information so furnished will suffice.



Article 18

Pursuant to its responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations in the field of humanrights and fundamental freedoms, the Economic and Social Council may make arrangementswith the specialized agencies in respect of their reporting to it on the progress made in achieving

the observance of the provisions of the present Covenant falling within the scope of their activities. These reports may include particulars of decisions and recommendations on suchimplementation adopted by their competent organs.

Article 19

The Economic and Social Council may transmit to the Commission on Human Rights for studyand general recommendation or, as appropriate, for information the reports concerning humanrights submitted by States in accordance with articles 16 and 17, and those concerning humanrights submitted by the specialized agencies in accordance with article 18.

Article 20

The States Parties to the present Covenant and the specialized agencies concerned may submitcomments to the Economic and Social Council on any general recommendation under article 19or reference to such general recommendation in any report of the Commission on Human Rightsor any documentation referred to therein.

Article 21

The Economic and Social Council may submit from time to time to the General Assemblyreports with recommendations of a general nature and a summary of the information receivedfrom the States Parties to the present Covenant and the specialized agencies on the measurestaken and the progress made in achieving general observance of the rights recognized in the present Covenant.

Article 22

The Economic and Social Council may bring to the attention of other organs of the United Nations, their subsidiary organs and specialized agencies concerned with furnishing technicalassistance any matters arising out of the reports referred to in this part of the present Covenantwhich may assist such bodies in deciding, each within its field of competence, on the advisabilityof international measures likely to contribute to the effective progressive implementation of the present Covenant.

Article 23

The States Parties to the present Covenant agree that international action for the achievement of

the rights recognized in the present Covenant includes such methods as the conclusion of conventions, the adoption of recommendations, the furnishing of technical assistance and theholding of regional meetings and technical meetings for the purpose of consultation and studyorganized in conjunction with the Governments concerned.

Article 24

Nothing in the present Covenant shall be interpreted as impairing the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and of the constitutions of the specialized agencies which define the



respective responsibilities of the various organs of the United Nations and of the specializedagencies in regard to the matters dealt with in the present Covenant.

Article 25

Nothing in the present Covenant shall be interpreted as impairing the inherent right of all peoplesto enjoy and utilize fully and freely their natural wealth and resources.

PART V

Article 26

1. The present Covenant is open for signature by any State Member of the United Nations or member of any of its specialized agencies, by any State Party to the Statute of the InternationalCourt of Justice, and by any other State which has been invited by the General Assembly of theUnited Nations to become a party to the present Covenant.

2. The present Covenant is subject to ratification. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited

with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.3. The present Covenant shall be open to accession by any State referred to in paragraph 1 of thisarticle.

4. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

5. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States which have signed the present Covenant or acceded to it of the deposit of each instrument of ratification or accession.

Article 27

1. The present Covenant shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit with the

Secretary-General of the United Nations of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.

2. For each State ratifying the present Covenant or acceding to it after the deposit of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession, the present Covenant shall enter intoforce three months after the date of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or instrumentof accession.

Article 28

The provisions of the present Covenant shall extend to all parts of federal States without anylimitations or exceptions.

Article 29

1. Any State Party to the present Covenant may propose an amendment and file it with theSecretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall thereupon communicateany proposed amendments to the States Parties to the present Covenant with a request that theynotify him whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering andvoting upon the proposals. In the event that at least one third of the States Parties favours such aconference, the Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices of the United



Nations. Any amendment adopted by a majority of the States Parties present and voting at theconference shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations for approval.

2. Amendments shall come into force when they have been approved by the General Assemblyof the United Nations and accepted by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties to the present

Covenant in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.3. When amendments come into force they shall be binding on those States Parties which haveaccepted them, other States Parties still being bound by the provisions of the present Covenantand any earlier amendment which they have accepted.

Article 30

Irrespective of the notifications made under article 26, paragraph 5, the Secretary-General of theUnited Nations shall inform all States referred to in paragraph I of the same article of thefollowing particulars:

(a) Signatures, ratifications and accessions under article 26;

(b) The date of the entry into force of the present Covenant under article 27 and the date of theentry into force of any amendments under article 29.

Article 31

1. The present Covenant, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts areequally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations.

2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit certified copies of the presentCovenant to all States referred to in article 26.



The United NationsINTERNATIONAL COVENANT ONCIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

PREAMBLEThe States Parties to the present Covenant,

Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of allmembers of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Recognizing that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person,

Recognizing that, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights,as well as his economic, social and cultural rights,

Considering the obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promoteuniversal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms,

Realizing that the individual, having duties to other individuals and to the community to whichhe belongs, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance of the rightsrecognized in the present Covenant,

Agree upon the following articles:

PART 1

Article 1

1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely

determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and culturaldevelopment.

2. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resourceswithout prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.



3. The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for theadministration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realizationof the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

PART IIArticle 2

1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to allindividuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language,religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

2. Where not already provided for by existing legislative or other measures, each State Partyto the present Covenant undertakes to take the necessary steps. in accordance with itsconstitutional processes and with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such

legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights recognizedin the present Covenant.

3. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes:

1. To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized areviolated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity; to ensure that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his rights thereto determined bycompetent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the legal system of the State, and to developthe possibilities of judicial remedy;

2. To ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce such remedies whengranted.

Article 3

The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and womento the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant.

Article 4

1. In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States Parties to the present Covenant may takemeasures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant to the extentstrictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not

inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do not involvediscrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or socialorigin.

2. No derogation from articles 6, 7, 8 (paragraphs 1 and 2), 11, 15, 16 and 18 may be madeunder this provision.

3. Any State Party to the present Covenant availing itself of the right of derogation shallimmediately inform the other States Parties to the present Covenant, through the



intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of the provisions fromwhich it has derogated and of the reasons by which it was actuated. A further communication shall be made, through the same intermediary, on the date on which itterminates such derogation.

Article 51. Nothing in the present Covenant may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or

person any right to engage in any activity or perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms recognized herein or at their limitation to a greater extentthan is provided for in the present Covenant.

2. There shall be no restriction upon or derogation from any of the fundamental humanrights recognized or existing in any State Party to the present Covenant pursuant to law,conventions, regulations or custom on the pretext that the present Covenant does notrecognize such rights or that it recognizes them to a lesser extent.

PART III

Article 6

1. Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. Noone shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.

2. In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may beimposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the timeof the commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present Covenantand to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a competentcourt.

3. When deprivation of life constitutes the crime of genocide, it is understood that nothing

in this article shall authorize any State Party to the present Covenant to derogate in anyway from any obligation assumed under the provisions of the Convention on thePrevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

4. Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of thesentence. Amnesty, pardon or commutation of the sentence of death may be granted in allcases.

5. Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteenyears of age and shall not be carried out on pregnant women.

6. Nothing in this article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the present Covenant.

Article 7

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientificexperimentation.

Article 8

1. No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave-trade in all their forms shall be prohibited.



2. No one shall be held in servitude.

3.

1. No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour;

2. Paragraph 3(a) shall not be held to preclude, in countries where imprisonmentwith hard labour may be imposed as a punishment for a crime, the performance of hard labour in pursuance of a sentence to such punishment by a competent court;

3. For the purpose of this paragraph the term "forced or compulsory labour" shallnot include:

1. Any work or service, not referred to in subparagraph (b), normallyrequired of a person who is under detention in consequence of a lawfulorder of a court, or of a person during conditional release from suchdetention;

2. Any service of a military character and, in countries where conscientiousobjection is recognized, any national service required by law of

conscientious objectors;

3. Any service exacted in cases of emergency or calamity threatening the lifeor well-being of the community;

4. Any work or service which forms part of normal civil obligations.

Article 9

1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected toarbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on suchgrounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.

2. Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his

arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.3. Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a

judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled totrial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that personsawaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees toappear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise,for execution of the judgment.

4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on thelawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful.

5. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceableright to compensation.

Article 10

1. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

2.



3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to thefollowing minimum guarantees, in full equality:

1. To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of thenature and cause of the charge against him;

2. To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and tocommunicate with counsel of his own choosing;

3. To be tried without undue delay;

4. To be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through legalassistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legalassistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any casewhere the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any suchcase if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it;

5. To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain theattendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions

as witnesses against him;6. To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the

language used in court;

7. Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.

4. In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such as will take account of their age and the desirability of promoting their rehabilitation.

5. Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and sentence beingreviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.

6. When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence and whensubsequently his conviction has been reversed or he has been pardoned on the ground that

a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall becompensated according to law, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknownfact in time is wholly or partly attributable to him.

7. No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he hasalready been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.

Article 15

1. No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omissionwhich did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the

time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one thatwas applicable at the time when the criminal offence was committed. if, subsequent to thecommission of the offence, provision is made by law for the imposition of a lighter penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby.

2. Nothing in this article shall prejudice the trial and punishment of any person for any actor omission which, at the time when it was committed, was criminal according to thegeneral principles of law recognized by the community of nations.



Article 16

Everyone shall have the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 17

1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family,home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.

2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 18

1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This rightshall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom,either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest hisreligion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt areligion or belief of his choice.

3. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations asare prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or moralsor the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

4. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral educationof their children in conformity with their own convictions.

Article 19

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to

seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it specialduties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but theseshall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:

1. For respect of the rights or reputations of others;

2. For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.

Article 20

1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.

2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement todiscrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.

Article 21

The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on theexercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which arenecessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public



order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights andfreedoms of others.

Article 22

1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right toform and join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

2. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those which are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of publichealth or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This article shallnot prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on members of the armed forces and of the police in their exercise of this right.

3. Nothing in this article shall authorize States Parties to the International Labour Organization Convention of 1948 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize to take legislative measures which would prejudice, or to apply the

law in such a manner as to prejudice, the guarantees provided for in that Convention.Article 23

1. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

2. The right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to found a family shall berecognized.

3. No marriage shall be entered into without the free and full consent of the intendingspouses.

4. States Parties to the present Covenant shall take appropriate steps to ensure equally of rights and responsibilities of spouses as to marriage, during marriage and at its

dissolution. In the case of dissolution, provision shall be made for the necessary protection of any children.

Article 24

1. Every child shall have, without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex, language,religion, national or social origin, property or birth, the right to such measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, society andthe State.

2. Every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have a name.

3. Every child has the right to acquire a nationality.

Article 25Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentionedin article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions:

1. To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosenrepresentatives;



2. To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal andequal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of thewill of the electors;

3. To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country.

Article 26

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee toall persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race,colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birthor other status.

Article 27

In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to suchminorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, toenjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.

PART IV

Article 28

1. There shall be established a Human Rights Committee (hereafter referred to in the present Covenant as the Committee). It shall consist of eighteen members and shall carryout the functions hereinafter provided.

2. The Committee shall be composed of nationals of the States Parties to the presentCovenant who shall be persons of high moral character and recognized competence in thefield of human rights, consideration being given to the usefulness of the participation of some persons having legal experience.

3. The members of the Committee shall be elected and shall serve in their personal capacity.

Article 29

1. The members of the Committee shall be elected by secret ballot from a list of persons possessing the qualifications prescribed in article 28 and nominated for the purpose bythe States Parties to the present Covenant.

2. Each State Party to the present Covenant may nominate not more than two persons.These persons shall be nationals of the nominating State.

3. A person shall be eligible for renomination.

Article 30

1. The initial election shall be held no later than six months after the date of the entry intoforce of the present Covenant.

2. At least four months before the date of each election to the Committee, other than anelection to fill a vacancy declared in accordance with article 34, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall address a written invitation to the States Parties to the presentCovenant to submit their nominations for membership of the Committee within threemonths.



3. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall prepare a list in alphabetical order of all the persons thus nominated, with an indication of the States Parties which havenominated them, and shall submit it to the States Parties to the present Covenant no later than one month before the date of each election.

4. Elections of the members of the Committee shall be held at a meeting of the StatesParties to the present Covenant convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nationsat the Headquarters of the United Nations. At that meeting, for which two thirds of theStates Parties to the present Covenant shall constitute a quorum, the persons elected tothe Committee shall be those nominees who obtain the largest number of votes and anabsolute majority of the votes of the representatives of States Parties present and voting.

Article 31

1. The Committee may not include more than one national of the same State.

2. In the election of the committee, consideration shall be given to equitable geographicaldistribution of membership and to the representation of the different forms of civilization

and of the principal legal systems.Article 32

1. The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term of four years. They shall beeligible for re-election if renominated. However, the terms of nine of the memberselected at the first election shall expire at the end of two years; immediately after the firstelection, the names of these nine members shall be chosen by lot by the chairman of themeeting referred to in article 30, paragraph 4.

2. Elections at the expiry of office shall be held in accordance with the preceding articles of this part of the present Covenant.

Article 33

1. If, in the unanimous opinion of the other members, a member of the Committee hasceased to carry out his functions for any cause other than absence of a temporarycharacter, the Chairman of the Committee shall notify the Secretary-General of theUnited Nations, who shall then declare the seat of that member to be vacant.

2. In the event of the death or the resignation of a member of the Committee, the Chairmanshall immediately notify the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall declarethe seat vacant from the date of death or the date on which the resignation takes effect.

Article 34

1. When a vacancy is declared in accordance with article 33 and if the term of office of themember to be replaced does not expire within six months of the declaration of the

vacancy, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall notify each of the StatesParties to the present Covenant, which may within two months submit nominations inaccordance with article 29 for the purpose of filling the vacancy.

2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall prepare a list in alphabetical order of the persons thus nominated and shall submit it to the States Parties to the presentCovenant. The election to fill the vacancy shall then take place in accordance with therelevant provisions of this part of the present Covenant.



3. A member of the Committee elected to fill a vacancy declared in accordance with article33 shall hold office for the remainder of the term of the member who vacated the seat onthe Committee under the provisions of that article.

Article 35

The members of the Committee shall, with the approval of the General Assembly of the United Nations, receive emoluments from United Nations resources on such terms and conditions as theGeneral Assembly may decide, having regard to the importance of the Committee'sresponsibilities.

Article 36

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance of the functions of the Committee under the present Covenant.

Article 37

1. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall convene the initial meeting of the

Committee at the Headquarters of the United Nations.2. After its initial meeting, the Committee shall meet at such time as shall be provided in its

rules of procedure.

3. The Committee shall normally meet at the Headquarters of the United Nations or at theUnited Nations Office at Geneva.

Article 38

Every member of the Committee shall, before taking up his duties, make a solemn declaration inopen committee that he will perform his functions impartially and conscientiously.

Article 39

1. The Committee shall elect its officers for a term of two years. They may be re-elected.2. The Committee shall establish its own rules of procedure, but these rules shall provide,

inter alia, that:

1. Twelve members shall constitute a quorum;

2. Decisions of the committee shall be made by a majority vote of the members present.

Article 40

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to submit reports on the measuresthey have adopted which give effect to the rights recognized herein and on the progressmade in the enjoyment of those rights:

1. Within one year of the entry into force of the present Covenant for the StatesParties concerned;

2. Thereafter whenever the Committee so requests.

2. All reports shall be submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shalltransmit them to the Committee for consideration. Reports shall indicate the factors anddifficulties, if any, affecting the implementation of the present Covenant.



3. The Secretary-General of the United Nations may, after consultation with the Committee,transmit to the specialized agencies concerned copies of such parts of the reports as mayfall within their field of competence.

4. The Committee shall study the reports submitted by the States Parties to the present

Covenant. It shall transmit its reports, and such general comments as it may consider appropriate, to the States Parties. The Committee may also transmit to the Economic andSocial Council these comments along with the copies of the reports it has received fromStates Parties to the present Covenant.

5. The States Parties to the present Covenant may submit to the Committee observations onany comments that may be made in accordance with paragraph 4 of this article.

Article 41

1. A State Party to the present Covenant may at any time declare under this article that itrecognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications tothe effect that a State Party claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations

under the present Covenant. Communications under this article may be received andconsidered only if submitted by a State Party which has made a declaration recognizingin regard to itself the competence of the Committee. No communication shall be received by the Committee if it concerns a State Party which has not made such a declaration.Communications received under this article shall be dealt with in accordance with thefollowing procedure:

1. If a State Party to the present Covenant considers that another State Party is notgiving effect to the provisions of the present Covenant, it may, by writtencommunication, bring the matter to the attention of that State Party. Within threemonths after the receipt of the communication, the receiving State shall afford theState which sent the communication an explanation or any other statement in

writing clarifying the matter, which should include, to the extent possible and pertinent, reference to domestic procedures and remedies taken, pending, or available in the matter.

2. If the matter in not adjusted to the satisfaction of both States Parties concernedwithin six months after the receipt by the receiving State of the initialcommunication, either State shall have the right to refer the matter to theCommittee, by notice given to the Committee and to the other State.

3. The Committee shall deal with a matter referred to it only after it has ascertainedthat all available domestic remedies have been invoked and exhausted in thematter, in conformity with the generally recognized principles of internationallaw. This shall not be the rule where the application of the remedies is

unreasonably prolonged.4. The Committee shall hold closed meetings when examining communications

under this article.

5. Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (c), the Committee shall make availableits good offices to the States Parties concerned with a view to a friendly solutionof the matter on the basis of respect for human rights and fundamental freedomsas recognized in the present Covenant.



6. In any matter referred to it, the Committee may call upon the States Partiesconcerned, referred to in subparagraph (b), to supply any relevant information.

7. The States Parties concerned, referred to in subparagraph (b), shall have the rightto be represented when the matter is being considered in the Committee and to

make submissions orally and/or in writing.8. The Committee shall, within twelve months after the date of receipt of notice

under subparagraph (b), submit a report:

1. If a solution within the terms of subparagraph (e) is reached, theCommittee shall confine its report to a brief statement of the facts and of the solution reached;

2. If a solution within the terms of subparagraph (e) is not reached, theCommittee shall confine its report to a brief statement of the facts thewritten submissions and record of the oral submissions made by the StatesParties concerned shall be attached to the report.

In every matter, the report shall be communicated to the States Partiesconcerned.

2. The provisions of this article shall come into force when ten States Parties to the presentCovenant have made declarations under paragraph 1 of this article. Such declarationsshall be deposited by the States Parties with the Secretary-General of the United Nations,who shall transmit copies thereof to the other States Parties. A declaration may bewithdrawn at any time by notification to the Secretary-General. Such a withdrawal shallnot prejudice the consideration of any matter which is the subject of a communicationalready transmitted under this article; no further communication by any State Party shall be received after the notification of withdrawal of the declaration has been received bythe Secretary-General, unless the State Party concerned has made a new declaration.

Article 42

1.

1. If a matter referred to the Committee in accordance with article 41 is not resolvedto the satisfaction of the States Parties concerned, the Committee may, with the prior consent of the States Parties concerned, appoint an ad hoc ConciliationCommission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission). The good offices of theCommission shall be made available to the States Parties concerned with a viewto an amicable solution of the matter on the basis of respect for the presentCovenant;

2. The Commission shall consist of five persons acceptable to the States Parties

concerned. If the States Parties concerned fail to reach agreement within threemonths on all or part of the composition of the Commission, the members of theCommission concerning whom no agreement has been reached shall be elected bysecret ballot by a two-thirds majority vote of the Committee from among itsmembers.

2. The members of the Commission shall serve in their personal capacity. They shall not benationals of the States Parties concerned, or of a State not party to the present Covenant,or of a State Party which has not made a declaration under Article 41.



3. The Commission shall elect its own Chairman and adopt its own rules of procedure.

4. The meetings of the Commission shall normally be held at the Headquarters of the United Nations or at the United Nations Office at Geneva. However, they may be held at suchother convenient places as the Commission may determine in consultation with the

Secretary-General of the United Nations and the States Parties concerned.5. The secretariat provided in accordance with article 36 shall also service the commissions

appointed under this article.

6. The information received and collated by the Committee shall be made available to theCommission and the Commission may call upon the States Parties concerned to supplyany other relevant information.

7. When the Commission has fully considered the matter, but in any event not later thantwelve months after having been seized of the matter, it shall submit to the Chairman of the Committee a report for communication to the States Parties concerned:

1. If the Commission is unable to complete its consideration of the matter within

twelve months, it shall confine its report to a brief statement of the status of itsconsideration of the matter.

2. If an amicable solution to the matter on the basis of respect for human rights asrecognized in the present Covenant is reached, the Commission shall confine itsreport to a brief statement of the facts and of the solution reached;

3. If a solution within the terms of subparagraph (b) is not reached, theCommission's report shall embody its findings on all questions of fact relevant tothe issues between the States Parties concerned, and its views on the possibilitiesof an amicable solution of the matter. This report shall also contain the writtensubmissions and a record of the oral submissions made by the States Partiesconcerned;

4. If the Commission's report is submitted under subparagraph (c), the States Partiesconcerned shall, within three months of the receipt of the report, notify theChairman of the Committee whether or not they accept the contents of the reportof the Commission.

8. The provisions of this article are without prejudice to the responsibilities of theCommittee under article 41.

9. The States Parties concerned shall share equally all the expenses of the members of theCommission in accordance with estimates to be provided by the Secretary-General of theUnited Nations.

10. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be empowered to pay the expenses of

the members of the Commission, if necessary, before reimbursement by the States Partiesconcerned, in accordance with paragraph 9 of this article.

Article 43

The members of the Committee, and of the ad hoc conciliation commissions which may beappointed under article 42, shall be entitled to the facilities, privileges and immunities of expertson mission for the United Nations as laid down in the relevant sections of the Convention on thePrivileges and Immunities of the United Nations.



Article 44

The provisions for the implementation of the present Covenant shall apply without prejudice tothe procedures prescribed in the field of human rights by or under the constituent instrumentsand the conventions of the United Nations and of the specialized agencies and shall not prevent

the States Parties to the present Covenant from having recourse to other procedures for settling adispute in accordance with general or special international agreements in force between them.

Article 45

The Committee shall submit to the General Assembly of the United Nations, through theEconomic and Social council, an annual report on its activities.

PART V

Article 46

Nothing in the present Covenant shall be interpreted as impairing the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and of the constitutions of the specialized agencies which define the

respective responsibilities of the various organs of the United Nations and of specializedagencies in regard to the matters dealt with in the present Covenant.

Article 47

Nothing in the present Covenant shall be interpreted as impairing the inherent right of all peoplesto enjoy and utilize fully and freely their natural wealth and resources.

PART VI

Article 48

1. The present Covenant is open for signature by any State Member of the United Nationsor member of any of its specialized agencies, by any State Party to the Statute of the

International Court of Justice, and by any other State which has been invited by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations to become a party to the present Covenant.

2. The present Covenant is subject to ratification. Instruments of ratification shall bedeposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

3. The present Covenant shall be open to accession by any State referred to in paragraph 1of this article.

4. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with theSecretary-General of the United Nations.

5. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States which have signedthis Covenant or acceded to it of the deposit of each instrument of ratification or

accession.

Article 49

1. The present Covenant shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit withthe Secretary-General of the United Nations of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.

2. For each State ratifying the present Covenant or acceding to it after the deposit of thethirty-fifth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession, the present Covenant



shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.

Article 50

The provisions of the present Covenant shall extend to all parts of federal States without anylimitations or exceptions.

Article 51

1. Any State Party to the present Covenant may propose an amendment and file it with theSecretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General of the United Nationsshall thereupon communicate any proposed amendments to the States Parties to the present Covenant with a request that they notify him whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering and voting upon the proposals. In the eventthat at least on third of the States Parties favours such a conference, the Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices of the United Nations. Anyamendment adopted by a majority of the States Parties present and voting at the

conference shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations for approval.

2. Amendments shall come into force when they have been approved by the GeneralAssembly of the United Nations and accepted by a two-thirds majority of the StateParties to the present Covenant in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.

3. When amendments come into force, they shall be binding on those States Parties whichhave accepted them, other States Parties still being bound by the provisions of the presentCovenant and any earlier amendment which they have accepted.

Article 52

Irrespective of the notifications made under article 48, paragraph 5, the Secretary-General of theUnited Nations shall inform all States referred to in paragraph 1 of the same article of thefollowing particulars:

1. Signatures, ratifications and accessions under article 48;

2. The date of the entry into force of the present Covenant under article 49 and the date of the entry into force of any amendments under article 51.

Article 53

1. The present Covenant, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish textsare equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations.

2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit certified copies of the presentCovenant to all States referred to in article 48.

(Signatures)

Document text from United Nations Gopher.

Created on July 7, 1994 / Last edited on January 25, 1997

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