Article 122.
Acts which constitute offences against discipline shall be investigated
immediately. This rule shall be applied, in particular, in cases
of escape or attempt to escape. Recaptured internees shall be handed
over to the competent authorities as soon as possible.
In cases of offences against discipline, confinement
awaiting trial shall be reduced to an absolute minimum for all internees,
and shall not exceed fourteen days. Its duration shall in any case
be deducted from any sentence of confinement.
The provisions of Articles 124 and 125 shall apply
to internees who are in confinement awaiting trial for offences
against discipline.
Article 123.
Without prejudice to the competence of courts and higher authorities,
disciplinary punishment may be ordered only by the commandant of
the place of internment, or by a responsible officer or official
who replaces him, or to whom he has delegated his disciplinary powers.
Before any disciplinary punishment is awarded, the
accused internee shall be given precise information regarding the
offences of which he is accused, and given an opportunity of explaining
his conduct and of defending himself. He shall be permitted, in
particular, to call witnesses and to have recourse, if necessary,
to the services of a qualified interpreter. The decision shall be
announced in the presence of the accused and of a member of the
Internee Committee.
The period elapsing between the time of award of
a disciplinary punishment and its execution shall not exceed one
month.
When an internee is awarded a further disciplinary
punishment, a period of at least three days shall elapse between
the execution of any two of the punishments, if the duration of
one of these is ten days or more.
A record of disciplinary punishments shall be maintained
by the commandant of the place of internment and shall be open to
inspection by representatives of the Protecting Power.
Article 124.
Internees shall not in any case be transferred to penitentiary establishments
(prisons, penitentiaries, convict prisons, etc.) to undergo disciplinary
punishment therein.
The premises in which disciplinary punishments are
undergone shall conform
to sanitary requirements: they shall in particular be provided with
adequate bedding. Internees undergoing punishment shall be enabled
to keep themselves in a state of cleanliness.
Women internees undergoing disciplinary punishment
shall be confined in separate quarters from male internees and shall
be under the immediate supervision of women.
Article 125.
Internees awarded disciplinary punishment shall be allowed to exercise
and to stay in the open air at least two hours daily.
They shall be allowed, if they so request, to be
present at the daily medical inspections. They shall receive the
attention which their state of health requires and, if necessary,
shall be removed to the infirmary of the place of internment or
to a hospital.
They shall have permission to read and write, likewise
to send and receive letters. Parcels and remittances of money, however,
may be withheld from them until the completion of their punishment;
such consignments shall meanwhile be entrusted to the Internee Committee,
who will hand over to the infirmary the perishable goods contained
in the parcels.
No internee given a disciplinary punishment may
be deprived of the benefit of the provisions of Articles 107 and
143 of the present Convention.
Article 126.
The provisions of Articles 71 to 76 inclusive shall apply, by analogy,
to proceedings against internees who are in the national territory
of the Detaining Power.
Chapter X. Transfers of Internees
Article 127.
The transfer of internees shall always be effected humanely. As
a general rule, it shall be carried out by rail or other means of
transport, and under conditions at least equal to those obtaining
for the forces of the Detaining Power in their changes of station.
If, as an exceptional measure, such removals have to be effected
on foot, they may not take place unless the internees are in a fit
state of health, and may not in any case expose them to excessive
fatigue.
The Detaining Power shall supply internees during
transfer with drinking water and food sufficient in quantity, quality
and variety to maintain them in good health, and also with the necessary
clothing, adequate shelter and the necessary medical attention.
The Detaining Power shall take all suitable precautions to ensure
their safety during transfer, and shall establish before their departure
a complete list of all internees transferred.
Sick, wounded or infirm internees and maternity
cases shall not be transferred if the journey would be seriously
detrimental to them, unless their safety imperatively so demands.
If the combat zone draws close to a place of internment,
the internees in the said place shall not be transferred unless
their removal can be carried out in adequate conditions of safety,
or unless they are exposed to greater risks by remaining on the
spot than by being transferred.
When making decisions regarding the transfer of
internees, the Detaining Power shall take their interests into account
and, in particular, shall not do anything to increase the difficulties
of repatriating them or returning them to their own homes.
Article 128.
In the event of transfer, internees shall be officially advised
of their departure and of their new postal address. Such notification
shall be given in time for them to pack their luggage and inform
their next of kin.
They shall be allowed to take with them their personal
effects, and the correspondence and parcels which have arrived for
them. The weight of such baggage may be limited if the conditions
of transfer so require, but in no case to less than twenty-five
kilograms per internee.
Mail and parcels addressed to their former place
of internment shall be forwarded to them without delay.
The commandant of the place of internment shall
take, in agreement with the Internee Committee, any measures needed
to ensure the transport of the internees' community property and
of the luggage the internees are unable to take with them in consequence
of restrictions imposed by virtue of the second paragraph. |