Archive/File: imt/nca/nca-06/nca-06-3738-ps.02 Last-Modified: 1999/11/17 [Page 607] SECTION III-LABOR OF PRISONERS OF WAR CHAPTER 1.-Generalities ARTICLE 27 Belligerents may utilize the labor of able prisoners of war, according to their rank and aptitude., officers and persons of equivalent status excepted. However, if officers or persons of equivalent status request suitable work, it shall be secured for them so far as is possible. Noncommissioned officers who are prisoners of war shall only be required to do supervisory work, unless they expressly request a remunerative occupation. Belligerents shall be bound, during the whole period of captivity, to allow to prisoners of war who are victims of accidents in connection with their work the enjoyment of the benefit of the provisions applicable to laborers of the same class according to the legislation of the detaining Power. With regard to prisoners of war to whom these legal provisions might not be applied by reason of the legislation of that Power, the latter undertakes to recommend to its legislative body all proper measures equitably to idemnify the victims. CHAPTER 2-Organization of the Labor ARTICLE 28 The detaining Power shall assume entire responsibility for the maintenance, care, treatment and payment of wages of prisoners of war working for the account of private persons. ARTICLE 29 No prisoner of war may be employed at labors for which he is physically unfit. ARTICLE 30 The length of the day's work of prisoners of war, including therein the trip going and returning, shall not be excessive and must not, in any case, exceed that allowed for the civil workers in the region employed at the same work. Every, prisoner shall be allowed a rest of twenty-four consecutive hours every week, preferably on Sunday. CHAPTER 3-Prohibited Labor ARTICLE 31 Labor furnished by prisoners of war shall have no direct relation with war operations. It is especially prohibited to use pris- [Page 608] oners for manufacturing and transporting arms or munitions of any kind, or for transporting material intended for combatant units. In case of violation of the provisions of the preceding paragraph, prisoners, after executing or beginning to execute the order, shall be free to have their protests presented through the mediation of the agents whose functions are set forth in Articles 13 and 44, or, in the absence of an agent, through the mediation of representatives of the protecting Power. ARTICLE 32 It is forbidden to use prisoners of war at unhealthful or dangerous work. Any aggravation of the conditions of labor by disciplinary measures is forbidden. CHAPTER 4-Labor Detachments ARTICLE -33 The system of labor detachments must be similar to that of prisoners-of-war camps, particularly with regard to sanitary conditions, food, attention in case of accident or sickness.. correspondence and the receipt of packages. Every labor detachment shall be dependent on a prisoners' camp. The commander of this camp shall be responsible observation, in the labor detachment, of the provisions of the present Convention. CHAPTER 5-Wages ARTICLE 34 Prisoners of war shall not receive wages for work connected with the administration, management and maintenance of the camps. Prisoners utilized for other work shall be entitled to wages to be fixed by agreements between the belligerents. These agreements shall also specify the part which the camp administration may retain, the amount which shall belong to the prisoner of war and the manner in which that amount shall be put at his disposal during the period of his captivity. While awaiting the conclusion of the said agreements, payment for labor of prisoners shall be settled according to the rules given below: a. Work done for the State shall be paid for in accordance with the rates in force for soldiers of the national army doing the same [Page 609] work, or, if none exists, according to a rate in harmony. with the work performed. b. When the work is done for the account of other public administrations or for private persons, conditions shall be regulated by agreement with the military authority. The pay remaining to the credit of the prisoner shall be delivered to him at the end of his captivity. In case of death, it shall be forwarded through the diplomatic channel to the heirs of the deceased. SECTION M-EXTERNAL RELATIONS OF PRISONERS OF WAR ARTICLE 35 Upon the outbreak of hostilities, belligerents shall publish the measures provided for the execution of the provisions of this seetion. ARTICLE 36 Each of the belligerents shall periodically determine the number of letters and postal cards per month which prisoners of war of the various classes shall be allowed to send, and shall inform the other belligerent of this number. These letters and cards shall be transmitted by post by the shortest route. They may not be delayed or retained for disciplinary reasons. Within a period of not more than one week after his arrival at the camp, and likewise in case of sickness, every prisoner shall be enabled to write his family a postal card informing it of his capture and of the state of his health. The said postal cards shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible and may not be delayed in any manner. As a general rule, correspondence of prisoners shall be written in their native language. Belligerents may allow correspondence in other languages. ARTICLE 37 Prisoners of war shall be allowed individually to receive parcels by mail, containing foods and other articles intended to supply them with f ood or clothing. Packages shall be delivered to the addresses and a receipt given. ARTICLE 38 Letters and consignments of money or valuables, as well as parcels by post intended for prisoners of war or dispatched by them, either directly, or by the mediation of the information bureaus provided for in Article 77, shall be exempt from all postal duties in the countries of origin and destination, as well as in the countries they pass through. [Page 610] Presents and relief in kind for prisoners shall be likewise exempt from all import and other duties, as well as of payments for carriage by the State railways. Prisoners may, in cases of acknowledged urgency, be allowed to send telegrams, paying the usual charges. ARTICLE 39 Prisoners of war shall be allowed to receive shipmentsof books individually, which may be subject to censorship. Representatives of the protecting Powers and duly recognized and authorized aid societies may send books and collections of books to the libraries of prisoners' camps. The transmission of these shipments to libraries may not be delayed under the pretext of censorship difficulties. ARTICLE 40 Censorship of' correspondence must be effected within the shortest possible time. Furthermore, inspection of parcels post must be effected under proper conditions to guarantee the preservation of the product,,, which they- may contain and, if possible, in the presence of the addressee or an agent duly, recognized by him. Prohibitions of correspondence promulgated by the belligerents for military or political reasons, must be transient in character and as short as possible. ARTICLE 41 Belligerents shall assure all facilities for the transmission of instruments, papers or documents intended for prisoners of war or signed by them, particularly of powers of attorney and wills. They shall take the necessary measures to assure, in case of necessity, the authentication of signatures made by prisoners. SECTION V-PRISONERS' RELATIONS WITH THE AUTHORITIES CHAPTER 1-Complaints of Prisoners of War Because of the Conditions of Captivity ARTICLE 42 Prisoners of war shall have the right to inform the military authorities in whose power they are of their requests with regard to the conditions of captivity to which they are subjected. They shall also have the right to address themselves to representatives of the protecting Powers to indicate to them the points on which they have complaints to formulate with regard to the conditions of captivity. [Page 611] These requests and complaints must be transmitted immediately. Even if they are recognized to be unfounded, they, may not occasion any punishment. CHAPTER 2-Representatives of Prisoners of War ARTICLE 43 In every place where there are prisoners of war, they shall be allowed to appoint agents entrusted with representing them directly with military authorities and protecting Powers. This appointment shall be subject to the approval of the military authority. The agents shall be entrusted with the reception and distribution of collective shipments. Likewise, in case the prisoners should decide to organize a mutual assistance system among themselves, this organization would be in the sphere of the agents. Further, they may lend their offices to prisoners to facilitate their relations with the aid societies mentioned in Article 78. In camps of officers and persons of equivalent status, the senior officer prisoner of the highest rank shall be recognized as intermediary between the camp authorities and the officers and persons of equivalent status who are prisoners. For this purpose, he shall have the power to appoint a prisoner officer to assist him as an interpreter during the conferences with the camp authorities. ARTICLE 44 When the agents are employed as laborers, their activity as representatives of prisoners of war must be counted in the compulsory period of labor. All facilities shall be accorded the agents for their intercourse with the military authorities and with the protecting Power. This intercourse shall not be limited. No representative of the prisoners may be transferred without the necessary time being allowed him to inform his successors about affairs under consideration. CHAPTER 3.-Penalties Applicable to Prisoners of War 1. General Provisions ARTICLE 45 Prisoners of war shall be subject to the laws. regulations, and orders in force in the armies of the detaining Power. [Page 612] An act of insubordination shall justify the adoption towards them of the measures provided by such laws, regulations and orders. The provisions of the present chapter, however, are reserved. ARTICLE 46 Punishments other than those provided for the same acts for soldiers of the national armies may not be imposed upon prisoners of war by the military authorities and courts of the detaining Power. Rank being identical, officers, non-commissioned officers or solders who are prisoners of war undergoing a disciplinary punishment, shall not be subject to less favorable treatment than that provided in the armies of the detaining Power with regard to the same punishment. Any corporal punishment, any imprisonment in quarters without daylight and, in generalf any form of cruelty, is forbidden. Collective punishment for individual acts is also forbidden. ARTICLE 47 Acts constituting an offense against discipline, and particularly attempted escape, shall be verified immediately; for all prisoners of war, commissioned or not, preventive arrest shall be reduced to the absolute minimum. Judicial proceedings against prisoners of war shall be conducted as rapidly as the circumstances permit; preventive imprisonment shall be limited as much as possible. In all cases, the duration of preventive imprisonment shall be deducted from the disciplinary or judicial punishment inflicted, provided that this deduction is allowed for national soldiers. ARTICLE 48 Prisoners of war may not be treated differently from other prisoners after having sulTered the judicial or disciplinary punishment which has been imposed on them. However, prisoners punished as a result of attempted escape may be subjected to special surveillance, which, however, may not entail the suppression of the guarantees granted prisoners by the present Convention. ARTICLE 49 No prisoner of war may be deprived of his rank by the detaining Power. Prisoners given disciplinary punishment may not be deprived of the prerogatives attached to their rank. In particular, officers and persons of equivalent status wo suffer punishment involving [Page 613] deprivation of liberty shall not be placedin in the same quarters as noncommissioned officers or privates being punished. ARTICLE 50 Escaped prisoners of war who are retaken before being able to rejoin their own army or to leave the territory occupied by the army which captured them shall be liable only to disciplinary punishment. Prisoners who, after having succeeded in rejoining their army or in leaving the territory occupied by the army which captured them, may- again be taken prisoners, shall not be liable to any, punishment on account of their previous flight. ARTICLE 51 Attempted escape, even if it is a repetition of the otfense, shall not be considered as an aggravating circumstance in case the prisoner of war should be given over to the courts on account of crimes or offenses against persons or property committed in the course of that attempt. After an attempted or accomplished escape, the comrades of the person escaping who assisted in the escape may incur only, disciplinary punishment on this account. ARTICLE 52 Belligerents shall see that the competent authorities exercise the greatest leniency in deciding the question of whether an infraction committed by a prisoner of war should be punished by disciplinary or judicial measures. This shall be the case especially when it is a question of deciding on acts in connection with escape or attempted escape. A prisoner may not be punished more than once because of the same act or the same count. ARTICLE 53 No prisoner of war on whom a disciplinary punishment has been imposed, who might be eligible for repatriation, may be kept back because he has not undergone the punishment. Prisoners to be repatriated who might be threatened with a penal prosecution may be excluded from repatriation until the end of the proceedings and, if necessary, until the completion of the punishment; those who might already be imprisoned by reason of a sentence may be detained until the end of their imprisonment. Belligerents shall communicate to each other the lists of those who may not be repatriated for the reasons given in the preceding Paragraph. [Page 614] 2. Disciplinary Punishments ARTICLE 54 Arrest is the most severe disciplinary punishment which may be imposed on a prisoner of war. The duration of a single punishment may not exceed thirty days. This maximum of thirty days may not, further, be exceeded in the case of several acts for which the prisoner has to undergo discipline at the time when it is ordered for him, whether or not these acts are connected. When, during or after the end of a period of arrest, a prisoner shall have a new disciplinary punishment imposed upon him, a space of at least three days shall separate each of the periods of arrest, if one of them is ten days or more. ARTICLE 55 Subject to the provisions given in the last paragraph of Article 11, food restrictions allowed in the armies of the detaining Power are applicable, as an increase in punishment, to prisoners of war given disciplinary punishment. However, these restrictions may be ordered only if the state of health of the prisoners punished permits it. ARTICLE 56 In no case may prisoners of war be transferred to penitentiary establishments (prison, penitentiaries, convict prisons, etc.) there to undergo disciplinary punishment. The quarters in which they undergo disciplinary punishment shall conform to sanitary requirements. Prisoners punished shall be enabled to keep themselves in a state of cleanliness. These prisoners shall every day be allowed to exercise or to stay in the open air at least two hours. ARTICLE 57 Prisoners of war given disciplinary punishment shall be allowed to read and write, as well as to send and receive letters. On the other hand, packages and money sent may not be delivered to the addressees until the expiration of the punishment. If the packages not distributed contain perishable products, these shall be turned over to the camp infirmary or kitchen. ARTICLE 58 Prisoners of war given disciplinary punishment shall be allowed, on their request, to be present at the daily medical inspec- [Page 615] tion. They shall receive the care consicterect necessary by the doctors and, if necessary, shall be removed to the camp infirmary or to hospitals. ARTICLE 59 Excepting the competence of courts and higher military authorities, disciplinary punishment may be ordered only by an officer provided with disciplinary powers in his capacity as commander of a camp or detachment, or by the responsible otlicer replacing him. 3. Judicial Suits ARTICLE 60 At the opening of a judicial proceeding directed against a prisoner of war, the detaining Power shall advise the representative of the protecting Power thereof as soon as possible, and always before the date set for the opening of the trial. This advice shall contain the following information: a. Civil state and rank of prisoner; b. Place of sojourn or imprisonment; c. Specification of the [count] or counts of the indictment, giving the legal provisions applicable. If it is not possible to mention in that advice the court which will pass upon the matter. the date of opening the trial and the place where it will take place, this information must be furnished to the representative of the protecting Power later, as soon as possible, and at all events, at least three weeks before the opening of the trial. ARTICLE 61 No prisoner of war may be sentenced without having had an opportunity to defend himself. No prisoner may be obliged to admit himself guilty of the act of which he is accused. ARTICLE 62 The prisoner of war shall be entitled to assistance by a qualified counsel of his choice, and, if necessary, to have recourse to the services of a competent interpreter. He shall be advised of his right by the detaining Power, in due time before the trial. In default of a choice by the prisoner, the protecting Power may obtain a counsel for him. The detaining Power shall deliver to the protecting Power, on its request, a list of persons qualified to present the defense. Representatives of the protecting Power shall he entitled to attend the trial of the case. [Page 616] The only exception to this rule is the case where the trial of the case must be secret in the interest of the safety of the State. The detaining Power should so advise the protecting Power. ARTICLE 63 Sentence may be pronounced against a prisoner of war only by the same courts and according to the same procedure as in the case of persons belonging to the armed forces of the detaining Power. ARTICLE 64 Every prisoner of war shall have the right of appeal against any sentence rendered with regard to him, in the same way as individuals to the protecting Power immediately. ARTICLE 65 Sentences pronounced against prisoners of war shall be communicated to the protecting Power immediately. ARTICLE 66 If the death penalty is pronounced against a prisoner of war, a communication setting forth in detail the nature and circumstances of the ofTense shall be sent as soon as possible to the representative of the protecting Power, for transmission to the Power in whose armies the prisoner served. The sentence shall not be executed before the expiration of a period of at least three months after this communication. ARTICLE 67 No prisoner of war may be deprived of the benefit of the provisions of Article 42 of the present Convention as a result of a sentence or otherwise.
Home ·
Site Map ·
What's New? ·
Search
Nizkor
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2012
This site is intended for educational purposes to teach about the Holocaust and
to combat hatred.
Any statements or excerpts found on this site are for educational purposes only.
As part of these educational purposes, Nizkor may
include on this website materials, such as excerpts from the writings of racists and antisemites. Far from approving these writings, Nizkor condemns them and
provides them so that its readers can learn the nature and extent of hate and antisemitic discourse. Nizkor urges the readers of these pages to condemn racist
and hate speech in all of its forms and manifestations.