Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, 1929, Volume I

Treaty Series No. 847

International Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick of Armies in the Field, Signed at Geneva, July 27, 1929¹⁰

[List of heads of states which appears at the beginning of the convention is omitted.]

equally desirous of diminishing, so far as lies within their power, the evils inseparable from war, and wishing to perfect and complete, for this purpose, the provisions agreed upon at Geneva, August 22, 1864 and July 6, 1906 to ameliorate the condition of the wounded and the sick of armies in the field,

have decided to conclude a new Convention for this purpose, and have appointed the following as their plenipotentiaries, namely:

[List of plenipotentiaries is omitted.]

Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed as follows:

Chapter I. The Wounded and Sick

article 1

Officers, soldiers, and other persons officially attached to the armies who are wounded or sick shall be respected and protected in all circumstances; they shall be humanely treated and cared for without distinction of nationality by the belligerent in whose power they are.

A belligerent, however, when compelled to leave his wounded or sick in the hands of his adversary, shall leave with them, so far as military exigencies permit, a portion of the personnel and matériel of his sanitary service to assist in caring for them.

article 2

Subject to the care that must be taken of them under the preceding article, the wounded and sick of an army who fall into the power of the other belligerent shall become prisoners of war, and the general rules of international law in respect to prisoners of war shall become applicable to them.

The belligerents shall remain free, however, to agree upon such clauses to the benefit of the wounded and sick prisoners as they may deem of value over and above already existing obligations.

article 3

After every engagement, the belligerent who remains in possession of the field of battle shall take measures to search for the wounded and the dead and to protect them from robbery and ill-treatment.

A local armistice or cessation of fire to enable the removal of wounded left between the lines shall be arranged whenever circumstances permit.

article 4

Belligerents shall mutually forward to each other as soon as possible the names of the wounded, sick and dead taken in charge or discovered by them, as well as all indications which may serve for their identification.

They shall draw up and forward to each other death certificates.

They shall collect and likewise forward to each other all objects of personal use found on the field of battle or on the dead, especially one-half of their identity plaque, the other half remaining attached to the body.

They shall see that a careful examination, if possible, medical, is made of the bodies of the dead prior to their interment or cremation, with a view to verifying their death, establishing their identity, and in order to be able to furnish a report thereon.

They shall further see that they are honorably buried and that the graves are treated with respect and may always be found again.

For this purpose, and at the outbreak of hostilities, they shall officially organize a service of graves in order to render any later exhumation possible and to make certain of the identity of bodies even though they may have been moved from grave to grave.

Upon the termination of hostilities, they shall exchange lists of graves and of dead buried in their cemeteries and elsewhere.

article 5

The military authority may make an appeal to the charitable zeal of the inhabitants to receive and, under its supervision, to care for, the wounded or sick of the armies, granting to persons responding to such appeals special protection and certain facilities.

Chapter II. Sanitary Formations and Establishments

article 6

Mobile 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 the belligerents.

article 7

The protection due to sanitary formations and establishments shall cease if they are used to commit acts injurious to the enemy.

article 8

A sanitary formation or establishment shall not be deprived of the protection accorded by Article 6 by the fact:

1. that the personnel of the formation or establishment is armed and uses its arms in self-defense or in defense of its wounded and sick;

2. that in the absence of armed hospital attendants the formation is guarded by an armed detachment or by sentinels;

3. that hand firearms or ammunition taken from the wounded and sick and not yet turned over to the proper authorities are found in the formation or establishment;

4. that there is found in the formation or establishment personnel or matériel of the veterinary service which does not integrally belong to it.

Chapter III. Personnel

article 9

The personnel charged exclusively with the removal, transportation, and treatment of the wounded and sick, 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 treated as prisoners of war.

Military personnel which has received special instructions to be used when necessary as auxiliary attendants or litter bearers in the removal, transportation and treatment of the wounded and sick, and bearing an identification document, shall benefit by the same conditions as the permanent sanitary personnel if they are captured at the moment when they are fulfilling these functions.

article 10

The personnel of volunteer aid societies, duly recognized and authorized by their Government, who are employed in the same functions as the personnel contemplated in Article 9, paragraph 1, are assimilated to that personnel upon condition that the said societies shall be subject to military laws and regulations.

Each High Contracting Party shall make known to the other, either in time of peace or at the opening or during the progress of hostilities, and 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.

article 11

A recognized society of a neutral country may only lend the services of its sanitary personnel and formations to a belligerent with the prior consent of its own Government and the authority of such belligerent.

The belligerent who has accepted such assistance shall be required to notify the enemy before making any use thereof.

article 12

The persons described in Articles 9, 10 and 11 may not be detained after they have fallen into the power of the adversary.

Unless there is an agreement to the contrary, they shall be sent back to the belligerent to whose service they are attached as soon as a way is open for their return and military exigencies permit.

While waiting to be returned, they shall continue in the exercise of their functions under the direction of the adversary; they shall be assigned preferably to the care of the wounded and sick of the belligerent to whose service they are attached.

At the time of their departure they may carry with them such effects, instruments, arms and means of transport as belong to them.

article 13

While they remain in their power, belligerents shall secure to the personnel mentioned in Articles 9, 10 and 11, the same maintenance and quarters, pay and allowances, as to persons of corresponding rank in their own armies.

At the outbreak of hostilities the belligerents shall reach an understanding on the corresponding ranks of their sanitary personnel.

Chapter IV. Buildings and Matériel

article 14

If mobile sanitary formations, whatever may be their nature, fall into the power of the adversary, they shall retain their matériel, their means of transportation, and their conducting personnel.

The competent military authority, however, shall have the right to employ them in caring for the wounded and sick; restitution shall take place in accordance with the conditions prescribed for the sanitary personnel and as far as possible at the same time.

article 15

Buildings and matériel of the fixed sanitary establishments of the army shall remain subfect to the laws of war, but may not be diverted from their use so long as they are necessary for the wounded and sick.

However, commanders of troops engaged in operations may use them in case of urgent military necessity if, before such use, the wounded and sick treated there have been provided for.

article 16

The buildings of aid societies admitted to the benefits of the Convention shall be regarded as private property.

The matériel of these societies, irrespective of its location, shall likewise be regarded as private property.

The right of requisition recognized to belligerents by the laws and customs of war shall be exercised only in case of urgent necessity and after the wounded and sick have been provided for.

Chapter V. Sanitary Transports

article 17

Vehicles equipped for sanitary evacuation traveling singly or in convoy shall be treated as mobile sanitary formations subject to the following special provisions:

A belligerent intercepting sanitary transportation vehicles, traveling either singly or in convoy, may, if required by military necessity, stop them and break up the convoy, charging himself in all cases with the care of the wounded and sick whom it contains He may only utilize such vehicles in the sector wherein they were intercepted and exclusively for sanitary needs. When their local mission is at an end, these vehicles must be returned under the conditions stipulated in Article 14.

Military personnel assigned by competent orders for sanitary transportation purposes shall be returned under the conditions stipulated in Article 12 for sanitary personnel, and subject to the provisions of the last paragraph of Article 18.

All means of transportation especially organized for evacuation purposes, as well as their appurtenances attached to the sanitary service, shall be returned in conformity with the provisions of Chapter IV.

Military means of transportation and their teams, other than those belonging to the sanitary service, may be captured.

The civil personnel and all means of transportation obtained by requisition shall be subject to the general rules of international law.

article 18

Aircraft used as a means of sanitary transportation shall enjoy the protection of the Convention during such time as they are exclusively reserved for the evacuation of wounded and sick and for the transportation of sanitary personnel and matériel.

They shall be painted in white and shall bear clearly visible the distinctive sign mentioned in Article 19 alongside of the national colors on their upper and lower surfaces.

Excepting with special and express permission, a flight over the firing-line, as well as over the zone situated in front of the major medical dressing stations, and in general over any territory under the control of or occupied by the enemy shall be forbidden.

Sanitary aircraft must comply with all summons to land.

In the case of a landing thus required or made accidentally upon territory occupied by the enemy, the wounded and sick, as well as the sanitary personnel and matériel, including the aircraft, shall benefit by the provisions of the present Convention.

The pilot, mechanics, and wireless operators who have been captured shall be returned on condition of only being utilized in the sanitary service until the termination of hostilities.

Chapter VI. The Distinctive Sign

article 19

Out of respect to Switzerland the heraldic emblem of the red cross on a white ground, formed by the reversal of the Federal colors, is continued as the emblem and distinctive sign of the sanitary service of armies.

However, for countries which already use, as a distinctive sign, in place of the red cross, the red crescent or the red lion and sun on a white field, these emblems shall likewise be recognized within the meaning of the present Convention.

article 20

The emblem shall appear on flags and brassards, as well as upon all matériel, appertaining to the sanitary service, with the permission of the competent military authority.

article 21

The personnel protected in virtue of the first paragraph of Article 9 and Articles 10 and 11 shall wear attached to the left arm a brassard bearing the distinctive sign, issued and stamped by a competent military authority.

The personnel mentioned in Article 9, paragraphs 1 and 2, shall be furnished with an identification document consisting either of an inscription in their military booklet or a special document.

Persons mentioned in Articles 10 and 11 who do not wear military uniform shall be furnished by competent military authority with a certificate of identity containing their photograph and attesting to their sanitary status.

Identification documents must be uniform and of the same type in each army.

The sanitary personnel may in no case be deprived of their insignia nor of their own identification papers.

In case of loss they shall have the right to obtain duplicates.

article 22

The distinctive flag of the Convention may only be displayed over the sanitary formations and establishments which the Convention provides shall be respected, and with the consent of the military authorities. In fixed establishments it shall, and in mobile formations it may, be accompanied by the national flag of the belligerent to whose service the formation or establishment is attached.

Sanitary formations which have fallen into the power of the enemy, however, shall fly no other flag than that of the Convention as long as they continue in that situation.

The belligerents, in so far as military exigencies allow, shall take such measures as may be necessary to render the distinctive emblems marking sanitary formations and establishments plainly visible to the land, air and sea forces of the enemy, with a view to preventing the possibility of any aggressive action.

article 23

The sanitary formations of neutral countries which, under the conditions set forth in Article 11, have been authorized to render their services, shall fly, with the flag of the Convention, the national flag of the belligerent to which they are attached.

They shall have the right during such time as they are rendering service to a belligerent to fly their own national flag also.

The provisions of the second paragraph of the preceding article are applicable to them.

article 24

The emblem of the red cross on a white ground and the words Red Cross or Geneva Cross may be used, whether in time of peace or war, only to protect or designate sanitary formations and establishments, the personnel and matériel protected by the Convention.

The same shall apply with respect to the emblems mentioned in the second paragraph of Article 19 for such countries as use them.

Moreover, the volunteer aid societies provided for under Article 10 may, in conformity with their national legislation, employ the distinctive emblem for their humanitarian activities in time of peace.

As an exceptional measure and with the specific authorization of one of the national Red Cross Societies (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun), the use of the emblem of the Convention may be allowed in peace time to designate the location of relief stations reserved exclusively to giving free assistance to wounded or sick.

Chapter VII. The Application and Execution of the Convention

article 25

The provisions of the present Convention shall be respected by the High Contracting Parties under all circumstances.

If, in time of war, a belligerent is not a party to the Convention, its provisions shall nevertheless remain in force as between all the belligerents who are parties to the Convention.

article 26

It shall be the duty of the commanders-in-chief of the belligerent armies to provide for the details of execution of the foregoing articles, as well as for unforeseen cases, in accordance with the instructions of their respective Governments, and conformably to the general principles of this Convention.

article 27

The High Contracting Parties shall take the necessary steps to acquaint their troops, and particularly the protected personnel, with the provisions of this Convention, and to make them known to the people at large.

Chapter VIII. The Repression of Abuses and Infractions

article 28

The Governments of the High Contracting Parties whose legislation may not now be adequate shall take or shall recommend to their legislatures such measures as may be necessary at all times:

a) to prevent the use by private persons or by societies other than those upon which this Convention confers the right thereto, of the emblem or of the name of the Red Cross or Geneva Cross, as well as any other sign or designation constituting an imitation thereof, whether for commercial or other purposes;

b) By reason of the homage rendered to Switzerland as a result of the adoption of the inverted Federal colors, to prevent the use, by private persons or by organizations, of the arms of the Swiss Confederation or of signs constituting an imitation thereof, whether as trademarks, commercial labels, or portions thereof, or in any way contrary to commercial ethics, or under conditions wounding Swiss national pride.

The prohibition mentioned in subparagraph a) of the use of signs or designations constituting an imitation of the emblem or designation of the Red Cross or Geneva Cross, as well as the prohibition mentioned in subparagraph b) of the use of the arms of the Swiss Confederation or signs constituting an imitation thereof, shall take effect from the time set in each act of legislation and at the latest five years after this Convention goes into effect. After such going into effect it shall be unlawful to take out a trademark or commercial label contrary to such prohibitions.

article 29

The Governments of the High Contracting Parties whose penal laws may not be adequate, shall likewise take or recommend to their legislatures the necessary measures to repress in time of war all acts in contravention of the provisions of the present Convention.

They shall communicate to one another through the Swiss Federal Council the measures taken with a view to such repression, not later than five years from the date of the ratification of the present Convention.

article 30

At the request of a belligerent, an investigation must be held, in such manner as shall be agreed upon by the interested parties, concerning any alleged violation of the Convention; whenever such a violation is proved, the belligerents shall put an end to it and repress it as promptly as possible.

Final Provisions

article 31

The present Convention, which will bear the date of this day, may be signed up to February 1, 1930, on behalf of all the countries represented at the Conference which opened at Geneva on July 1, 1929, as well as by the countries not represented at the Conference which are parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1864 or of 1906.

article 32

The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible.

The ratifications shall be deposited at Berne.

A record of the deposit of each instrument of ratification shall be prepared, a duly certified copy of which shall be forwarded by the Swiss Federal Council to the Governments of all the countries on whose behalf the Convention has been signed or notification of adhesion made.

article 33

The present Convention shall become effective six months after the deposit of at least two instruments of ratification.

Subsequently, it shall become effective for each High Contracting Party six months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification.

article 34

The present Convention shall replace the Conventions of August 22, 1864 and of July 6, 1906, in the relations between the High Contracting Parties.

article 35

From the date on which it becomes effective, the present Convention shall be open for adhesions given on behalf of any country in whose name this Convention was not signed.

article 36

Adhesions shall be given by written notification addressed to the Swiss Federal Council and shall take effect six months after the date of their receipt.

The Swiss Federal Council shall communicate adhesions to the Governments of all the countries on whose behalf the Convention was signed or notification of adhesion made.

article 37

A state of war shall give immediate effect to ratifications deposited or adhesions notified by belligerent Powers prior to or after the outbreak of hostilities. The communication of ratifications or adhesions received from Powers at war shall be made by the Swiss Federal Council by the most rapid method.

article 38

Each of the High Contracting Parties shall have the right to denounce the present Convention. The denunciation shall not take effect until one year after notification has been made in writing to the Swiss Federal Council. The latter shall communicate such notification to the Governments of all the High Contracting Parties.

The denunciation shall have effect only with respect to the High Contracting Party which gave notification of it.

Moreover, such denunciation shall not take effect during a war in which the denouncing Power is involved. In this case, the present Convention shall continue in effect, beyond the period of one year, until the conclusion of peace.

article 39

A duly certified copy of the present Convention shall be deposited in the archives of the League of Nations by the Swiss Federal Council. Likewise, ratifications, adhesions, and denunciations of which the Swiss Federal Council has been notified shall be communicated by it to the League of Nations.

In faith whereof, the Plenipotentiaries named above have signed the present Convention.

Done at Geneva, the twenty-seventh of July, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine, in a single copy, which shall remain in the archives of the Swiss Confederation and duly certified copies of which shall be forwarded to the Governments of all the countries invited to the Conference.

• For Germany:
  • Edmund Rhomberg
• For the United States of America:
  • Eliot Wadsworth
  • Hugh E. Wilson
• For Austria:
  • Leitmaier
• For Belgium:
  • Dr. Demolder
  • J. de Ruelle
• For Bolivia:
  • A. Cortadellas
• For Brazil:
  • Raul do Rio-Branco
• For Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and all parts of the British Empire which are not separate members of the League of Nations:

  I declare that the signature which I affix to this Convention for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and all parts of the British Empire which are not separate members of the League of Nations is given with the reservation that His Britannic Majesty interprets Article 28 of the Convention as meaning that the legislative provisions contemplated in this article may provide that the individuals, associations, firms or societies that shall, before the present Convention goes into effect, have used the arms of the Swiss Confederation, or signs constituting an imitation of the said arms, for any legal purpose, shall not be prevented from continuing to employ such arms or signs for the same purpose.

  • Horace Rumbold
• For Canada:

  I declare that the signature which I affix to this Convention for Canada is given with the reservation that the Government of the Dominion of Canada interprets Article 28 of the Convention as meaning that the legislative provisions contemplated in this article may provide that the individuals, associations, firms and societies that shall, before the present Convention goes into effect, have used the arms of the Swiss Confederation, or signs constituting an imitation of the said arms, for any legal purpose, shall not be prevented from continuing to employ such arms or signs for the same purpose.

  • W. A. Riddell
• For Australia:

  I declare that the signature which I affix to this Convention for Australia is given with the reservation that the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia interprets Article 28 of the Convention as meaning that the legislative provisions contemplated in this article may provide that the individuals, associations, firms and societies that shall, before the present Convention goes into effect, have used the arms of the Swiss Confederation, or signs constituting an imitation of the said arms, for any legal purpose, shall not be prevented from continuing to employ such arms or signs for the same purpose.

  • Claud Russell
• For New Zealand:

  I declare that the signature which I affix to this Convention for New Zealand is given with the reservation that the Government of New Zealand interprets Article 28 of the Convention as meaning that the legislative provisions contemplated in this Article may provide that the individuals, associations, firms or societies that shall, before the present Convention goes into effect, have used the arms of the Swiss Confederation, or signs constituting an imitation of the said arms, for any legal purpose, shall not be prevented from continuing to employ such arms or signs for the same purpose.

  • Claud Russell
• For South Africa:
  • Eric H. Louw
• For the Irish Free State:

  I declare that the signature which I affix to this Convention for the Irish Free State is given with the reservation that it interprets Article 28 of the Convention as meaning that the legislative provisions contemplated in this article may provide that the individuals, associations, firms or societies that shall, before the present Convention goes into effect, have used the arms of the Swiss Confederation, or signs constituting an imitation of the said arms, for any legal purpose, shall not be prevented from continuing to employ such arms or signs for the same purpose.

  • Sean Lester
• For India:

  I declare that the signature which I affix to this Convention for the Government of India is given with the reservation that the Government of India interprets Article 28 of the Convention as meaning that the legislative provisions contemplated in this article may provide that the individuals, associations, firms or societies that shall, before the present Convention goes into effect, have used the arms of the Swiss Confederation, or signs constituting an imitation of the said arms, for any legal purpose, shall not be prevented from continuing to employ such arms or signs for the same purpose.

  • Claud Russell
• For Bulgaria:
  • D. Mikoff
  • Stephan N. Laftchieff
• For Chile:
  • Gmo Novoa
  • D. Pulgar
• For China:
  • C. Y. Hsiao
• For Colombia:
  • Francisco José Urrutia
• For Cuba:
  • Carlos de Armenteros
  • Carlos Blanco
• For Denmark:
  • Harald Scavenius
  • Gustav Rasmussen
• For the Dominican Republic:
  • Ch. Ackermann
• For Egypt:
  • Mohammed Abdel Moneim Riad
  • H. W. M. Simaika
• For Spain:
  • Ad Referendum
  • Mauricio Lopez Roberts y Terry, Marqués de la Torrehermosa
• For Estonia:
  • Dr. Leesment
• For Finland:
  • A. E. Martola
• For France:
  • H. de Marcilly
  • J. du Sault
• For Greece:
  • R. Raphaël
  • S. Veniselos
• For Hungary:
  • Paul de Hevesy
• For Italy:
  • Giovanni Ciraolo
• For Japan:

  While accepting in principle the provisions of Article 28, Japan makes reservations as to the date of enforcing the interdiction provided for tinder letter b of the said article. Japan understands that this interdiction does not apply to arms and signs which may have been in use or registered before it goes into effect The delegates of Japan sign the present Convention with the above mentioned reservations.

  • Isaburo Yoshida
  • S. Shimomura
  • S. Miura
• For Latvia:
  • Charles Duzmans
  • Dr. Oskar Voit
• For Luxembourg:
  • Ch. G. Vermaire
• For Mexico:
  • Fr. Castillo Nájera
• For Nicaragua:
  • A. Sottile
• For Norway:
  • J. Irgens
  • Jens Meinich
• For the Netherlands:
  • W. doude van troostwijk
  • Dr. Diehl
  • J. Harberts
• For Persia:
  • Anouchirevan Sepahbodi
• For Poland:
  • Józef G. Pracki
  • W. Jerzy Babecki
• For Portugal:
  • Vasco de Quevedo
  • F. de Calheiros e Menezes
• For Rumania:
  • M. B. Boeresco
  • Colonel E. Vertejano
• For the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes:
  • I. Choumenkovitch
• For Siam:
  • Varnvaidya
• For Sweden:
  • K. I. Westman
• For Switzerland:
  • Paul Dinichert
  • Hauser
  • Züblin
  • De la Harpe
  • Schindler
• For Czechoslovakia:
  • Zd. Fierlinger
• For Turkey:
  • Hassan
  • Dr. Abdulkadir
  • M. Nusret
  • Dr. Akjl Moukhtar
• For Uruguay:
  • Alfredo de Castro
• For Venezuela:
  • C. Parra-Pérez
  • I. M. Hurtado-Machado

10. In French: English translation reprinted from S. Ex. Doc. F, 71st Cong., 3d sess. Ratification advised by the Senate, January 7, 1932; ratified by the President, January 16, 1932; ratification of the United States deposited with the Government of Switzerland, February 4, 1932; proclaimed by the President, August 4, 1932.