The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. Commentary. Volume IV: Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. PDF
Preview The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. Commentary. Volume IV: Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS O F 12 AUGUST 1949 COMMENTARY published under the general editorship of Jean S. PICTET . Doctor of Laws Director for General Affairj of the International Committee of the Red Cross GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN PERSONS IN TIME OF WAR caritas G E N E V A INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF T H E RED CROSS 1 9 5 8 Printed in Switzerland C O M M E N T A R Y published under the general editorship of Jean S. PICTET Doctor of Laws Director for General Affairs of the International Committee of the Red Cross G E NEVA C O N V E N T I O N RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION O F CIVILIAN PERSONS I N TIME O F WAR by Oscar M. UHLER Henri COURSIER Doctor of Laws Doctor of Laws Former member of the Legal Department Member of the Legal Department of the ICR of the ICRC Claude PILLOUD Fr6dCric SIORDET Advocate Advocate Assistant-Director for General Affairs Member of the ICRC of the ICRC Roger BOPPE R e d -J ean WILHELM Member of the Legal Department of the ICRC Member of the Legal Department of the ICRC Jean-Pierre SCHOENHOLZER Secretary to the Central Management of the ICRC Translated into English from the original French by the late Major Ronald GRIFFIN and Mr. C. W. DUMBLETON G E N E V A INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS 1 9 5 8 C O N T E N T S Page 1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. Gaps in the protection afforded tci civilians . . . . . . . . 3 2. Revision of the Geneva Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . 6 10 PARTI GENERAL PROVISIONS ARTICLE1.-- VI CONTENTS Page ARTICLE4.-- Definition of protected persons . . . . . . . . . . 45 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 A. On the territory of belligerent States . . . . . . . . . 46 B. In occupied territories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Paragraph 1.-Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Paragraph 2. - Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Paragraph 3. - Field of application of Part I1 . . . . . . . 50 Paragraph 4. - Persons protected by other Conventions . . . 50 ARTICLE5.-- Derogations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Historical Background and General Remarks . . . . . . . . 52 Paragraph 1.-- In the territory of Parties to the conflict . . . 55 Paragraph 2. -- Occupied territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Paragraph 3. -- Humane treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 ARTICLE6. - Beginning and end of afifllication . . . . . . . . 58 Paragraph 1. - Beginning of application . . . . . . . . . . 59 Paragraph 2.-End of application in the territory of the Parties to the conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 3.-End of application of the Convention in occupied territories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 4. - Continued application to certain persons . . . ARTICLE7.-- Special agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 1..Nature, form and limitation of special agreements 1. First sentence - Nature and form of special agreements A. Form of the agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. Time of conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Second sentence - Prohibited special agreements . . . A. Agreements in derogation of the Convention . . . . . B. Scope of the safeguard clause . . . . . . . . . . . C. Special problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 2. -Duration of special'agreements . . . . . . . ARTICLE8.-- Non-renunciation of rights . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Renunciation of protection under the Convention . . . A. Reasons for absolute prohibition . . . . . . . . . 5. Thc wishes of protected persons in the application of the Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Nature of the rights conferred upon protected persons . . A. The basic concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. Practical aspect of the rights . . . . . . . . . . . C. Obligation on persons protected . . . . . . . . . . ARTICLE9.- Pzotecting Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Historical background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Discussions a t the Diplomatic Conference of 1949 . . . . CONTENTS VII Page Paragraph 1.-- General r6le of the Protecting Powers . . . . 86 A. First sentence. -Obligatory character . . . . . . . . 8 6 B. Second and third sentences .-Executive agents . . . . . 89 Paragraph 2. - Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Paragraph 3. - Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 0 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 ARTICLE10. - Activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments on the Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Approved organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Activities authorized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Scope of the Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARTICLE11. - Substitutes for Protecting Powers . . . . . . . . General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 1. - Special international organization . . . . . . Paragraph 2. - Absence of Protecting Power . . . . . . . . Paragraph 3. - Absence of a substitute . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 4. - Requisite qualifications . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 5. - Prohibition of derogations . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 7.- Neutrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARTICLE12. - Conciliation #rocedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 1. - Good offices of the Protecting Powers . . . . Paragraph 2. - Meeting of representatives of the Parties to the conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Legal settliment of disputes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GENERAL PROTECTION OF POPULATIONS AGAINST CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES OF WAR ARTICLE13.-- Field of application of Part II . . . . . . . . . 1. Object and field of application . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Prohibited distinctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARTICLE14.-- Hospital and safety zones and Zocalities . . . . . General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Historical background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 1. - Establishment of zones . . . . . . . . . . 1. Time of establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Persons sheltered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII CONTENTS Page Paragraph 2.-- Recognition of zones . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Paragraph 3.-- Good offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 ARTICLE15.-- Neutralized zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Paragraph 1.-- Establishing the zones . . . . . . . . . . . 130 1. Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 2. Those who benefit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Paragraph 2. - Procedure and form of the agreement . . . . 132 ARTICLE16.-- Wom d e d and sick -- General #rotection . . . . . 133 Paragraph 1.-- Protection and respect . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Paragraph 2.-- Search and protection . . . . . . . . . . . 135 1. Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 2. Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 ARTICLE17.-- Evacuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 1. Besieged or encircled areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 2. Evacuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 A. Beneficiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 B. Local agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 C. Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 3. Ministers of religion and medical personnel and equipment 140 ARTICLE18. - - Protection of civilian hosfiitals . . . . . . . . . 141 General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Paragraph 1.-- Definition and protection . . . . . . . . . . 143 1. Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 A. General principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 B. Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 2. Respect and protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Paragraph 2. - Official recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Paragraph 3. - Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 1. Authorization by the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 2. Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Paragraph 4. - Visibility of the marking . . . . . . . . . . 152 Paragraph 5. - Distance from military objectives . . . . . . 152 ARTICLE1 9. Discontinuance of firotection of hosfiitals . . . . . 154 Paragraph 1..Conditions under which protection is discontinued 154 1. Basic condition .-Acts harmful to the enemy . . . . . 154 2. Formal condition - Warning and time limit . . . . . 155 Paragraph 2. - Acts not causing protection to cease . . . . 155 ARTICLE20. Hosfiital sta8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Paragraph 1.-- Permanent staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 1. Status and duties i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 2. Respect and protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 CONTENTS IX Page Paragraph 2. -- Identification of permanent staff . . . . . . 161 1. Identity card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 2. The armlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Paragraph 3. - Temporary staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 1. Status and duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 2. Respect and protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 3. Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 I. The armlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 I1. Identity card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Paragraph 4. - Nominal list of hospital staff . . . . . . . . 169 ARTICLE 21. - Larad and sea transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 1. Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 2. Respect and protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 3. Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 ARTICLE 22. - Air transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Paragraph 1. -General principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 1. Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 2. Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Paragraph 2. - Marking and recognition . . . . . . . . . . 174 Paragraph 3. - Prohibition of flight over enemy territory . . 175 Paragraph 4. - Summons to land . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 ARTICLE 23. - Consignments of medical supplies, food and clothing . 177 General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Paragraph 1. - Right to free passage . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 1. Principle - Distinction between two kinds of consign- ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 2. Scope of the provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Paragraph 2. - Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 A. Danger of misappropriation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 B. Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 C. Ban on undue advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Paragraph 3. - Protecting Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Paragraph 4. - Methods of forwarding . . . . . . . . . . 184 ARTICLE 24. - Measures relating to child welfare . . . . . . . . 184 General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Paragraph 1. - Maintenance and education . . . . . . . . . 186 Paragraph 2 . - Reception in a neutral country . . . . . . 188 Paragraph 3. - Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 ARTICLE 25. - Family news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Paragraph 1. - Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 1. Extent of the right to news . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 2. Forwarding of family news . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Paragraph 2. - Neutral intermediary . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Paragraph 3. - Use of standard forms . . . . . . . . . . 194 X CONTENTS Page ARTICLE26.-- Dis#ersed families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 General Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 1. Obligation to facilitate enquiries . . . . . . . . . . . 196 2. Assistance from humanitarian organizations . . . . . . 197 STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS P R O V I S I O N S COMMON TO T H E T E R R I T O R I E S OF T H E P A R T I E S T O T H E CONFLICT AND T O OCCUPIED T E R R I T O R I E S ARTICLE27.-- Treatment: General observations . . . . . . . . . General Remarks . Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 1. - General principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. First sentence - Respect for fundamental rights . . . A. Respect for the person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. Respect for honour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Respect for family rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. Respect for religious convictions and practices . . . E. Respect for manners and customs . . . . . . . . . 2. Second sentence - Humane treatment . . . . . . . . Paragraph 2.- Treatment of women . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph 3. - Equality of treatment -Non-discrimination . Paragraph 4.- Reservation in regard to security measures . . ARTICLE28.-- Danger zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Distinction between ruses of war (which are permissible) and acts of barbarity (which are unlawful) . . . . . . 2. Scope of the provision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARTICLE2 9. Res#onsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Responsibility of the State and of the individual . . . . 2. Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Scope of the provision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARTICLE30..APpZication to Protectiizg Pozctevs and relief organizations Paragraph 1.-- Right of communication . . . . . . . . . . 1. Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Organizatiohs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. The Protecting Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. Humanitarian organizations . . . . . . . . . . .
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