Article 112.
The censoring of correspondence addressed to internees or despatched
by them shall be done as quickly as possible.
The examination of consignments intended for internees
shall not be carried out under conditions that will expose the goods
contained in them to deterioration. It shall be done in the presence
of the addressee, or of a fellow-internee duly delegated by him.
The delivery to internees of individual or collective consignments
shall not be delayed under the pretext of difficulties of censorship.
Any prohibition of correspondence ordered by the
Parties to the conflict either for military or political reasons,
shall be only temporary and its duration shall be as short as possible.
Article 113.
The Detaining Powers shall provide all reasonable execution facilities
for the transmission, through the Protecting Power or the Central
Agency provided for in Article 140, or as otherwise required, of
wills, powers of attorney, letters of authority, or any other documents
intended for internees or despatched by them.
In all cases the Detaining Powers shall facilitate
the execution and authentication in due legal form of such documents
on behalf of internees, in particular by allowing them to consult
a lawyer.
Article 114.
The Detaining Power shall afford internees all facilities to enable
them to manage their property, provided this is not incompatible
with the conditions of internment and the law which is applicable.
For this purpose, the said Power may give them permission to leave
the place of internment in urgent cases and if circumstances allow.
Article 115.
In all cases where an internee is a party to proceedings in any
court, the Detaining Power shall, if he so requests, cause the court
to be informed of his detention and shall, within legal limits,
ensure that all necessary steps are taken to prevent him from being
in any way prejudiced, by reason of his internment, as regards the
preparation and conduct of his case or as regards the execution
of any judgment of the court.
Article116.
Every internee shall be allowed to receive visitors, especially
near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as possible.
As far as is possible, internees shall be permitted
to visit their homes in urgent cases, particularly in cases of death
or serious illness of relatives.
Chapter IX. Penal and Disciplinary Sanctions
Article 117.
Subject to the provisions of the present Chapter, the laws in force
in the territory in which they are detained will continue to apply
to internees who commit offences during internment.
If general laws, regulations or orders declare acts
committed by internees to be punishable, whereas the same acts are
not punishable when committed by persons who are not internees,
such acts shall entail disciplinary punishments only.
No internee may be punished more than once for the
same act, or on the same count.
Article 118.
The courts or authorities shall in passing sentence take as far
as possible into account the fact that the defendant is not a national
of the Detaining Power. They shall be free to reduce the penalty
prescribed for the offence with which the internee is charged and
shall not be obliged, to this end, to apply the minimum sentence
prescribed.
Imprisonment in premises without daylight, and,
in general, all forms of cruelty without exception are forbidden.
Internees who have served disciplinary or judicial
sentences shall not be treated differently from other internees.
The duration of preventive detention undergone by
an internee shall be deducted from any disciplinary or judicial
penalty involving confinement to which he may be sentenced.
Internee Committees shall be informed of all judicial
proceedings instituted against internees whom they represent, and
of their result.
Article 119.
The disciplinary punishments applicable to internees shall be the
following:
(1) a fine which shall not exceed 50 per cent of
the wages which the internee would otherwise receive under the provisions
of Article 95 during a period of not more than thirty days.
(2) discontinuance of privileges granted over and above the treatment
provided for by the present Convention
(3) fatigue duties, not exceeding two hours daily, in connection
with the maintenance of the place of internment.
(4) confinement.
In no case shall disciplinary penalties be inhuman,
brutal or dangerous for the health of internees. Account shall be
taken of the internee's age, sex and state of health.
The duration of any single punishment shall in no
case exceed a maximum of thirty consecutive days, even if the internee
is answerable for several breaches of discipline when his case is
dealt with, whether such breaches are connected or not.
Article 120.
Internees who are recaptured after having escaped or when attempting
to escape, shall be liable only to disciplinary punishment in respect
of this act, even if it is a repeated offence.
Article 118, paragraph 3, notwithstanding, internees
punished as a result of escape or attempt to escape, may be subjected
to special surveillance, on condition that such surveillance does
not affect the state of their health, that it is exercised in a
place of internment and that it does not entail the abolition of
any of the safeguards granted by the present Convention.
Internees who aid and abet an escape or attempt
to escape, shall be liable on this count to disciplinary punishment
only.
Article 121.
Escape, or attempt to escape, even if it is a repeated offence,
shall not be deemed an aggravating circumstance in cases where an
internee is prosecuted for offences committed during his escape.
The Parties to the conflict shall ensure that the
competent authorities exercise leniency in deciding whether punishment
inflicted for an offence shall be of a disciplinary or judicial
nature, especially in respect of acts committed in connection with
an escape, whether successful or not. |