The President of the United States of America: Mr. William Cary Sanger, former Assistant Secretary of Vice-Admiral Charles S. Sperry, President of the Naval Brigadier-General George B. Davis, Judge-Advocate General Brigadier-General Robert M. O'Reilly, Surgeon-General of the Army; The President of the United States of Brazil: Dr. Carlos Lemgruber-Kropf, Chargé d'Affaires at Berne, .The President of the United Mexican States: General of Brigade José Maria Perez; The President of the French Republic: His Excellency Mr. Révoil, Ambassador to Berne, Mr. Louis Renault, Member of the Institute of France, Chief Surgeon Pauzat of the Second Class; His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India: Major-General Sir John Charles Ardagh, K. C. M. G., K. C. Professor Thomas Erskine Holland, K. C., D. C. L., Sir John Furley, C. B., Lieutenant-Colonel William Grant Macpherson, C. M. G., His Majesty the King of the Hellenes: Mr. Michel Kebedgy, Professor of International Law at the The President of the Republic of Guatemala: Mr. Manuel Arroyo, Chargé d'Affaires at Paris, Mr. Henri Wiswald, Consul-General to Berne, residing at The President of the Republic of Honduras: Mr. Oscar Hoepfl, Consul-General to Berne; His Majesty the King of Italy: Marquis Roger Maurigi di Castel Maurigi, Colonel in His Army, Grand Officer of His Royal Order of the SS. Maurice and Lazare, Major-General Giovanni Randone, Military Medical Inspector, Commander of His Royal Order of the Crown of Italy; His Majesty the Emperor of Japan: His Excellency Mr. Tsunetada Kato, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Brussels; His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxemburg, Duke of Staff Colonel Count de T'Serclaes, Chief of Staff of the His Highness the Prince of Montenegro: Mr. E. Odier, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation in Russia, Colonel Mürset, Chief Surgeon of the Swiss Federal Army; His Majesty the King of Norway: Captain Daae, of the Medical Corps of the Norwegian Army; Lieutenant-General (retired) Jonkheer J. C. C. den Beer Colonel A. A. J. Quanjer, Chief Medical Officer, First Class; Mr. Gustavo de la Fuente, First Secretary of the Legation of His Imperial Majesty the Shah of Persia: His Excellency Mr. Samad Khan Momtaz-os-Saltaneh, His Majesty the King of Portugal and of the Algarves, etc.: Mr. José Nicolau Raposo-Botelho, Colonel of Infantry, former Deputy, Superintendent of the Royal Military College at Lisbon; His Majesty the King of Roumania: Dr. Sache Stephanesco, Colonel of Reserve; His Excellency Privy Councilor de Martens, Permanent His Majesty the King of Servia: Mr. Milan St. Markovitch, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice, Colonel Dr. Sondermayer, Chief of the Medical Division of the War Ministry; His Majesty the King of Siam: Prince Charoon, Chargé d'Affaires at Paris, Mr. Corragioni d'Orelli, Counselor of Legation at Paris; M. Sörensen, Chief Surgeon of the Second Division of the The Swiss Federal Council: Mr. E. Odier, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Russia, Colonel Mürset, Chief Surgeon of the Federal Army; The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay: Mr. Alexandre Herosa, Chargé d'Affaires at Paris, Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed on the following: CHAPTER I The sick and wounded ARTICLE 1. Officers, soldiers, and other persons officially attached to armies who are sick or wounded shall be respected and cared for, without distinction of nationality, by the belligerent in whose power they are. However, a belligerent, when compelled to leave his wounded in the hands of the enemy, shall leave with them, so far as military conditions permit, a portion of the personnel and matériel of his sanitary service to assist in caring for them. ART. 2. Subject to the care that must be taken of them under the preceding article, the sick and wounded of an army who fall into the power of the other belligerent become prisoners of war, and the general rules of international law in respect to prisoners become applicable to them. The belligerents remain free, however, to enter into such mutual stipulations in regard to sick and wounded prisoners as they may deem appropriate. They shall have special authority to agree: 1. To mutually restore the sick and wounded left on the field of battle after an engagement. 2. To send back to their own country the sick and wounded who have recovered, or who are in a condition to be transported, and whom they do not desire to retain as prisoners. 3. To send the sick and wounded of the enemy to a neutral state, with its consent and on condition that they shall be interned until the close of hostilities. ART. 3. After every engagement the belligerent who remains in possession of the field of battle shall take measures to search for the wounded and to protect the wounded and dead from spoliation and ill treatment. He will see that a careful examination is made of the bodies of the dead prior to their interment or incineration. ART. 4. As soon as possible each belligerent shall forward to the authorities of their country or army the military tokens, or badges of identification, found upon the bodies of the dead, together with a list of the sick and wounded taken in charge by him. Belligerents will keep each other mutually advised of internments and transfers, together with admissions to hospitals and deaths which occur among the sick and wounded in their hands. They will collect all valuable personal belongings, letters, etc., which are found upon the field of battle, or have been left by the wounded, or by those who have died in sanitary formations or other establishments, for transmission to interested persons through the authorities of their own country. ART. 5. Military authority may make an appeal to the charitable zeal of the inhabitants to receive and, under his supervision, to care for the sick and wounded of the armies, by granting to persons responding to such appeals special protection and certain immunities. CHAPTER II Sanitary formations and establishments ART. 6. Movable sanitary formations (i. e., those which are intended to accompany armies in the field) and the fixed establishments belonging to the sanitary service shall be protected and respected by belligerents. ART. 7. The protection due to sanitary formations and establishments ceases if they are used to commit acts injurious to the enemy. ART. 8. A sanitary formation or establishment shall not be deprived of the protection accorded by article 6 by the fact that: 1. The personnel of a formation or establishment is armed and uses its arms in self-defense or in defense of its sick and wounded. 2. In the absence of armed hospital attendants, the formation is guarded by an armed detachment or by sentinels regularly established. 3. Arms or cartridges, taken from the wounded and not yet turned over to the proper authorities, are found in the formation or estab lishment. CHAPTER III Personnel ART. 9. The personnel exclusively charged with the removal, transportation, and treatment of the sick and wounded, as well as with the administration of sanitary formations and establishments, and the chaplains attached to armies shall be respected and protected under all circumstances. If they fall into the hands of the enemy they shall not be regarded as prisoners of war. These provisions apply to the personnel of the guard of sanitary formations and establishments in the case provided for in paragraph 2 of article 8. ART. 10. The personnel of volunteer aid societies, duly recognized and authorized by their respective governments, who are employed in the sanitary formations and establishments of armies, are assimilated to the personnel described in the preceding article, upon condition that the said personnel shall be subject to military laws and regulations. Each state shall make known to the other, either in time of peace or at the opening, or during the progress of hostilities-in any case, before actual employment-the names of the societies which it has authorized to render assistance, under its responsibility, in the official sanitary service of its armies. ART. 11. A recognized society of a neutral state cannot lend the services of its sanitary personnel and formations to a belligerent except with the prior consent of its own government and the authority of such belligerent. The belligerent who has accepted such assistance is required to notify the enemy before making any use thereof. ART. 12. Persons described in articles 9, 10, and 11 will continue in the exercise of their functions after they have fallen into the power of the enemy and under his direction. When their cooperation is no longer indispensable they will be sent back to their army or country, within such period and by such route as may accord with military necessity. They will carry with them such effects, instruments, arms, and horses as are their private property.. ART. 13. While they remain in his power, the enemy will secure to the personnel mentioned in article 9 the same pay and allowances to which persons of the same grade in his own army are entitled. CHAPTER IV Matériel ART. 14. Mobile sanitary formations that have fallen into the power of the enemy shall retain their matériel and means of transportation of whatever kind, including teams and the personnel charged with their management. Competent military authority, however, shall have the right to employ them in caring for the sick and wounded. The restoration of the matériel shall take place in accordance with the conditions prescribed for the sanitary personnel, and, as far as possible, at the same time. ART. 15. Buildings and matériel pertaining to fixed establishments shall remain subject to the laws of war, but can not be diverted from their use so long as they are necessary for the sick and wounded. Commanders of troops engaged in operations, however, may use them, in case of important military necessity, if, before such use, the sick and wounded found in them have been provided for. ART. 16. The matériel of aid societies, admitted to the benefits of this convention in conformity to the conditions herein prescribed, is regarded as private property and, as such, will be respected under all circumstances, save that it is subject to the right of requisition by belligerents in conformity to the laws and usages of war. CHAPTER V Convoys of evacuation ART. 17. Convoys of evacuation shall be treated as movable sanitary formations with the following exceptions: 1. A belligerent intercepting a convoy may, if required by military necessity, vacate such convoy by charging himself with the care of the sick and wounded whom it contains. 2. In this case the obligation to restore the sanitary personnel, as provided for in article 12, shall be extended to include the entire military personnel employed, under proper authority, in the transportation and protection of the convoy. The obligation to return the sanitary matériel as provided for in article 14 shall apply to railway trains and vessels intended for interior navigation which have been especially equipped for evacuation purposes, together with the equipment of such vehicles, trains, and vessels which belong to the sanitary service. Military vehicles, with their teams, other than those belonging to the sanitary service, may be captured. Civilians and means of transportation obtained by requisition, including railway matériel and vessels utilized for convoys, are subject to the general rules of international law. |