20. Relief Societies Article 138 Each party to this agreement shall be free to designate to the other party relief societies, and these societies shall be given all facilities for the performance of their humane tasks within the bounds imposed by military necessities and administrative regulations. 21. War Correspondents, Etc. Article 139 Individuals who follow an army without belonging directly to it, such as war correspondents, reporters, and purveyors, shall be treated as prisoners of war when captured by the enemy and when detention seems expedient, provided they are in possession of a certificate from the commander of the army which they accompany. In this case they are entitled to the same treatment as subaltern officers with the exception of pay. B. SANITARY PERSONNEL I. REPATRIATION OF SANITARY PERSONNEL Article 140 All sanitary personnel and chaplains mentioned in Articles 9, 10, and 11 of the Geneva Convention of July 6th, 1906, and in the Hague Convention No. X, of October 18th, 1907, relative to the application to naval warfare of the principles laid down in the Geneva Convention, including the sanitary personnel of the interned crews of ships of war, shall be repatriated as soon as their services are no longer necessary for the proper care of the captured sick and wounded of their own State of Origin. None of the sanitary personnel of the Contracting Parties who fall into the power of the armed forces of the other either on the continent of Europe or in European waters, shall be removed from Europe or transferred to another State which is at war with the other Contracting Party. Article 141 The term "Sanitary Personnel" shall be held to comprise the following: (a) To be recognized immediately. 1. Army and navy chaplains, medical officers, sanitary administration officers, doctors of noncommissioned rank (hospital inspectors, apothecaries, etc.), both male and female doctors, nurses and assistants, who are clearly recognizable by their special uniforms or otherwise. 2. Every other wearer of the brassard described in Article 20 of the Geneva Convention of July 6th, 1906, who can show his or her right to wear this brassard by an officially stamped certificate issued by the commanding officer of the organization and signed in his own hand by the bearer. These certificates may not be taken away either at the time of capture or later. 3. Persons incontestably identified as members of the sanitary personnel by the evidence of third parties. (b) To be recognized upon presentation of further evidence. Others the identification of whom shall be accomplished, subject to examination by the Captor State, by a subsequent certification issued by the Ministry of War or Navy of the State of Origin; or in the case of American sanitary personnel, by the Commander in Chief of the expeditionary force. Article 142 In the case of sanitary personnel belonging to organizations the records and archives of which have been destroyed or are in the hands of the enemy, it shall suffice that the State of Origin attest the probability of their character; such attestation shall be accepted as sufficient evidence. Article 143 The State of Origin shall transmit to the Captor State by diplomatic channels the names of the sanitary personnel whose repatriation is desired, and the certificate required by Article 141, b. The return to their homes of the sanitary personnel specified in Article 141, a, shall not be conditioned on their inclusion in these lists. If the Captor State believes it has grounds for declining repatriation of any person on these lists, the reasons must be stated in full. Article 144 The release of sanitary personnel held awaiting trial or serving sentence is subject to the provisions of Article 20. Article 145 The taking home of personal effects by released sanitary personnel shall be governed by Article 22; and private property, including instruments and weapons, which they brought with them into captivity, shall be excepted from any prohibitions of export. Article 146 The persons repatriated in accordance with the stipulations in Articles 140 to 144, inclusive, shall be employed only on medical or religious duty. II. TREATMENT OF SANITARY PERSONNEL Article 147 The appropriate stipulations of Articles 23 to 40, inclusive, 52 to 123, inclusive, and 133 to 137, inclusive, apply to the treatment of the sanitary personnel in the power of the Captor State. When captured they shall be allowed to retain, or to deposit against receipt, such instruments, implements, drugs and other belongings as can be proved to be their personal property. Utilization of sanitary personnel on work other than sanitary or medical duty is prohibited. Article 148 Sanitary personnel of either of the Contracting Parties while in the hands of the other shall be paid by the latter at the same rates as are paid by the German Government to members of its armed forces of similar ranks and ratings. The corresponding ranks and ratings of the sanitary personnel of the two Contracting Parties are shown in Annex 6. When such sanitary personnel would receive a lower rate of pay according to the preceding paragraph than prisoners of war of the same rank, they shall be paid at the rate authorized for the latter. The provisions of Articles 128 to 131 inclusive, for the payment of prisoners of war shall govern payments to sanitary personnel. Upon identification as such, they shall receive back pay due them. Article 149 The sanitary personnel of the armed forces of the two Contracting Parties captured while serving with the armed forces of an ally or cobelligerent shall be embraced in this agreement as though taken while serving with their own armed forces. Article 150 The provisions of Articles 140 to 147 inclusive and 149 shall apply to all members of the designated relief societies mentioned in Article 138 captured by either of the Contracting Parties. C. CIVILIAN CITIZENS AND CIVIL PRISONERS I. REPATRIATION AND INTERNMENT IN A NEUTRAL COUNTRY OF CIVILIAN CITIZENS AND CIVIL PRISONERS Article 151 Of the civil prisoners in the custody of the Contracting Parties at the time when this Agreement goes into effect, the following shall be repatriated upon their wish, and without regard to number: (a) Women and children. (b) Males, other than the officers of merchant ships, who, on the day when this Agreement goes into effect, have not completed their seventeenth year or have passed their forty-fifth year. (c) Males of any age who, on the day when this Agreement goes into effect, are within the invalid classes specified in Annex I, Sections I A, II A and III, or described in Article 6, of this Agreement. Article 152 Male civil prisoners who, on the day when this Agreement goes into effect, have not completed their forty-fifth year shall, upon their wish, be repatriated as provided by Article 151 b, as soon as they have reached the specified age. Article 153 Male civil prisoners who, on the day when this Agreement goes into effect, have completed their seventeenth but have not passed their forty-fifth year, shall be interned in a neutral country upon their wish if within the invalid classes specified in Annex I, Sections I B, II B, and III and described in Article 6 hereof. They may be repatriated therefrom by the authorities of the neutral country in the manner herein provided for interned invalid prisoners of war (Article 19). Article 154 Of the civil prisoners in the custody of the Contracting Parties at the time when this Agreement goes into effect, and who are not eligible for repatriation or internment in a neutral country according to Articles 151, 152, and 153, there shall be repatriated, upon the conditions herein set forth, and upon their wish: (a) Officers of merchant ships, head for head. Should the number of such officers in the possession of the Contracting Parties, respectively, be, at any time, unequal so that a surplus will remain after all exchanges under this clause have been effected, the residue may be exchanged, head for head, regardless of rank for officer prisoners of war, and regardless of the length of the latter's imprisonment. (b) Other males who, on the date when this Agreement goes into effect, have completed their seventeenth year, but have not passed their forty-fifth year, these head for head. Article 155 The legal wives, daughters, and sons under seventeen of civilian citizens or civil prisoners, as also of prisoners of war, repatriated or interned under this Agreement shall be forwarded, upon their wish, with their husbands or fathers. Article 156 All civilian citizens of the United States who are in Germany at the time when this Agreement goes into effect (whether civil prisoners or free) may, within three months thereafter, ask to be repatriated. Notice of this permission and of the proper authorities to whom application may be made shall be made public through official |