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Front Page Titles (by Subject) Section I.: Belligerents. - The Hague Peace Conferences and Other International Conferences concerning the Laws and Usages of War
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Section I.: Belligerents. - A. Pearce Higgins, The Hague Peace Conferences and Other International Conferences concerning the Laws and Usages of War [1909]Edition used:The Hague Peace Conferences and Other International Conferences concerning the Laws and Usages of War. Texts of Conventions with Commentaries, by A. Pearce Higgins, LL.D. (Cambridge University Press, 1909).
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Section I.Belligerents.Chapter I.The Qualifications of Belligerents.Art. 1.The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to the army, but also to militia and corps of volunteers, fulfilling the following conditions:— 1. That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; 2. That of having a distinctive emblem fixed and recognizable at a distance; 3. That of carrying arms openly; and 4. That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. In countries where militia or corps of volunteers constitute the army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomination “army.” Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land.Section I.Belligerents.Chapter I.The Qualifications of Belligerents.Art. 1.(No change.) (Cp. Brussels Draft Declaration, Art. 9.) Art. 2.The population of a territory which has not been occupied who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading troops without having had time to organize themselves in accordance with Article 1, shall be regarded as belligerents if they respect the laws and customs of war. Art. 2.The population of a territory which has not been occupied who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading troops without having had time to organize themselves in accordance with Article 1, shall be regarded as belligerents if they carry arms openly and if they respect the laws and customs of war. (Cp. B. D. Art. 10.) Art. 3.The armed forces of the belligerent parties may consist of combatants and non-combatants. In case of capture by the enemy both have a right to be treated as prisoners of war. Art. 3.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 11.) Chapter II.Prisoners of War.Art. 4.Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile Government, but not in that of the individuals or corps who captured them. They must be humanely treated. All their personal belongings, except arms, horses, and military papers, remain their property. Chapter II.Prisoners of War.Art. 4.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 23.) Art. 5.Prisoners of war may be interned in a town, fortress, camp, or any other locality, and are bound not to go beyond certain fixed limits; but they can only be confined as an indispensable measure of safety. Art. 5.Prisoners of war may be interned in a town, fortress, camp, or any other locality, and are bound not to go beyond certain fixed limits; but they can only be confined as an indispensable measure of safety, and only whilethe circumstances which necessitate the measure continue to exist. (Cp. B. D. Art. 24.) Art. 6.The State may utilize the labour of prisoners of war according to their rank and capacities. Their tasks shall not be excessive, and shall have nothing to do with the operations of war. Prisoners may be authorized to work for the public service, for private persons, or on their own account. Work done for the State shall be paid for according to the tariffs in force for soldiers of the national army employed on similar tasks. When the work is for other branches of the public service or for private persons, the conditions shall be settled in agreement with the military authorities. The earnings of the prisoners shall go towards improving their position, and the balance shall be paid them at the time of their release, after deducting the cost of their maintenance. Art. 6.The State may utilize the labour of prisoners of war, other than officers, according to their rank and capacities. Their tasks shall not be excessive and shall have nothing to do with the operations of the war. Prisoners may be authorized to work for the public service, for private persons, or on their own account. Work done for the State shall be paid for according to the tariffs in force for soldiers of the national army employed on similar tasks, or, if there are no such tariffs in force, at rates proportional to the work executed. When the work is for other branches of the public service or for private persons, the conditions shall be settled in agreement with the military authorities. The earnings of the prisoners shall go towards improving their position, and the balance shall be paid them at the time of their release, after deducting the cost of their maintenance. (Cp. B. D. Arts. 25, 26.) Art. 7.The Government into whose hands prisoners of war have fallen is bound to maintain them. Failing a special agreement between the belligerents, prisoners of war shall be treated as regards food, quarters, and clothing, on the same footing as the troops of the Government which has captured them. Art. 7.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 27.) Art. 8.Prisoners of war shall be subject to the laws, regulations, and orders in force in the army of the State into whose hands they have fallen. Any act of insubordination warrants the adoption, as regards them, of such measures of severity as may be necessary. Escaped prisoners, recaptured before they have succeeded in rejoining their army, or before quitting the territory occupied by the army that captured them, are liable to disciplinary punishment. Prisoners who, after succeeding in escaping, are again taken prisoners, are not liable to any punishment for the previous flight. Art. 8.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 28.) Art. 9.Every prisoner of war, if questioned, is bound to declare his true name and rank, and if he disregards this rule, he is liable to a curtailment of the advantages accorded to the prisoners of war of his class. Art. 9.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 29.) Art. 10.Prisoners of war may be set at liberty on parole if the laws of their country authorize it, and, in such a case, they are bound, on their personal honour, scrupulously to fulfil, both as regards their own Government and the Government by which they were made prisoners, the engagements they have contracted. In such cases, their own Government is bound not to require of nor to accept from them any service incompatible with the parole given. Art. 10.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 31.) Art. 11.A prisoner of war cannot be forced to accept his liberty on parole; similarly the hostile Government is not obliged to assent to the prisoner’s request to be set at liberty on parole. Art. 11.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 32.) Art. 12.Any prisoner of war, who is liberated on parole and recaptured bearing arms against the Government to which he had pledged his honour, or against the allies of that Government, forfeits his right to be treated as a prisoner of war, and can be brought before the Courts. Art. 12.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 33.) Art. 13.Individuals who follow an army without directly belonging to it, such as newspaper correspondents and reporters, sutlers, contractors, who fall into the enemy’s hands, and whom the latter thinks fit to detain, have a right to be treated as prisoners of war, provided they can produce a certificate from the military authorities of the army they were accompanying. Art. 13.(No change.) (Cp. B. D. Art. 34.) Art. 14.A Bureau for information relative to prisoners of war is instituted, on the commencement of hostilities, in each of the belligerent States and, should it so happen, in the neutral countries in whose territory belligerents have been received. The duty of this Bureau is to answer all inquiries about prisoners of war, it is furnished by the various services concerned with all the information to enable it to keep an individual return for each prisoner of war. It is kept informed of internments and changes, as well as of admissions into hospital and deaths. It is also the duty of the Information Bureau to gather and keep together all objects of personal use, valuables, letters, &c., found on the battlefields or left by prisoners who have died in hospitals or ambulances, and to forward them to those interested. Art. 14.A bureau for information relative to prisoners of war is instituted on the commencement of hostilities in each of the belligerent States, and, should it so happen, in the neutral countries in whose territory belligerents have been received. The duty of this bureau is to answer all inquiries about prisoners of war, it is furnished by the various services concerned with all the information respecting internments and transfers, releases on parole, exchanges, escapes, admissions into hospital, deaths, as well as all other information necessary to enable it to make out and keep up to date an individual return for each prisoner of war. The bureau must state in this return the regimental number, surname and name, age, place of origin, rank, unit, wounds, date and place of capture, of internment, the wounds, and the death, as well as any observations of a special character. The individual return shall be sent to the Government of the other belligerent after the conclusion of peace. It is also the duty of the Information Bureau to gather and keep together all objects of personal use, valuables, letters, &c., found on the battlefields or left by prisoners who have been released on parole, or exchanged, or who have escaped, or died in hospitals or ambulances, and to forward them to those interested. Art. 15.Relief Societies for prisoners of war, regularly constituted in accordance with the law of their country with the object of serving as the intermediaries for charity, shall receive from the belligerents, for themselves and their duly accredited agents, every facility, within the bounds of military necessities and administrative regulations, for the effective accomplishment of their humane task. Delegates of these Societies may be admitted to distribute relief at the places of internment, as also at the halting places of repatriated prisoners, if furnished with a personal permit by the military authorities, and on giving an engagement in writing to comply with all regulations for order and police which the latter may prescribe. Art. 15.(No change.) Art. 16.The Information Bureaux shall have the privilege of free postage. Letters, money orders, and valuables, as well as postal parcels destined for the prisoners of war or dispatched by them, shall be free of all postal rates, alike in the countries of origin and destination, as well as in those they pass through. Gifts and relief in kind for prisoners of war shall be admitted free of all duties of entry and others, as well as of payments for carriage by the Government railways. Art. 16.(No change.) Art. 17.Officers taken prisoners shall receive, in proper cases, the full pay allowed them in this position by their country’s regulations, the amount to be repaid by their Government. Art. 17.Officers taken prisoners shall receive the same pay as officers of corresponding rank in the country where they are detained; the amount shall be repaid by their Government. Art. 18.Prisoners of war shall enjoy every latitude for the exercise of their religion, including attendance at their own church services, provided only they comply with the regulations for order and police issued by the military authority. Art. 18.(No change.) Art. 19.The wills of prisoners of war are received or drawn up on the same conditions as for soldiers of the national army. The same rules shall be observed regarding certificates of death, as well as for the burial of prisoners of war, due regard being paid to their grade and rank. Art. 19.(No change.) Art. 20.After the conclusion of peace, the repatriation of prisoners of war shall take place as speedily as possible. Art. 20.(No change.) Chapter III.The Sick and Wounded.Art. 21.The obligations of belligerents with regard to the sick and wounded are governed by the Geneva Convention of the 22nd August, 1864, subject to any modifications which may be introduced into it. Chapter III.The Sick and Wounded.Art. 21.The obligations of belligerents with regard to the sick and wounded are governed by the Geneva Convention. (Cp. B. D. Art. 35.) Section II. |

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