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The principle that prisoners of war regain their liberty by coming into neutral territory has been generally recognized for centuries. An illustration occurred in 1558, when several Turkish and Barbary captives escaped from one of the galleys of the Spanish Armada which was wrecked near Calais, and, although the Spanish Ambassador claimed them, France considered them to be freed by the fact of their coming on her territory, and sent them to Constantinople. Oppenheim, vol. 2, p. 411.

Neutral territory is an asylum to prisoners of war of either belligerent in so far as they become free ipso facto by their coming into neutral territory. And it matters not in which way they come there. whether they escape from a place of detention and take refuge on neutral territory, or whether they are brought as prisoners into such territory by enemy troops who themselves take refuge there.

Oppenheim, vol. 2, p. 410-412.

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But has the neutral on whose territory a prisoner has taken refuge the duty to retain such fugitives and thereby prevent them from rejoining the enemy army? Formerly this question was not settled. There was likewise no unanimity regarding prisoners brought into neutral territory by enemy forces taking refuge there Article 13 of Convention V. settles the controversy by enacting that a neutral who receives prisoners of war who have escaped or who are brought there by troops of the enemy taking refuge on neutral territory, shall leave them at liberty, but that, if he allows them to remain on his territory, he may-he need not!— assign them a place of residence so as to prevent them from rejoining their forces. Since, therefore, everything is left to the discretion of the neutral, he will have to take into account the merits and needs of every case and to take such steps as he thinks adequate. But so much is certain that a belligerent may not in every case categorically demand from a neutral who receives escaped prisoners, or such as have been brought there by troops who take refuge, that he should detain them.

Oppenheim, vol. 2, p. 411-412.

Article 13, Hague Convention V. 1907, is substantially identical with section 240, Austro-Hungarian Manual, 1913.

RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF NEUTRAL WITH RESPECT TO BELLIGERENTS' SICK AND WOUNDED ON ITS TERRITORY.

A neutral Power may authorize the passage into its territory of the sick and wounded belonging to the belligerent armies, on condition that the trains bringing them shall carry neither personnel or war material. In such a case, the neutral Power is bound to take whatever measures of safety and control are necessary for the purpose. The sick or wounded brought under these conditions into neutral territory by one of the belligerents, and belonging to the hostile party, must be guarded by the neutral Power so as to ensure their not taking part again in the military operations. The same duty shall devolve on the neutral State with regard to wounded or sick of the other army who may be committed to its care.-Hague Convention V, 1907, Article 14.

A neutral State may authorize the passage through its territory of wounded or sick belonging to the belligerent armies, on condition that the trains bringing them shall carry neither combatants nor war material. In such a case, the neutral State is bound to adopt such measures of safety and control as may be necessary for the purpose.

Wounded and sick brought under these conditions into neutral territory by one of the belligerents, and belonging to the hostile party, must be guarded by the neutral State, so as to insure their not taking part again in the military operations. The same duty shall devolve on the neutral State with regard to wounded or sick of the other army who may be committed to its care.

Hague Convention II, 1899, Article 59.

The neutral State may authorize the transport across its territory of the wounded and sick belonging to the belligerent armies, provided that the trains which convey them do not carry either the personnel or material of war.

Project of Brussels Conference, 1874, Article LV.

Evacuations of wounded and sick not prisoners may pass through neutral territory, provided the personnel and material accompanying them are exclusively sanitary. The neutral State through whose territory these evacuations are made is bound to take whatever measure of safety and control are necessary to secure the strict observance of the above conditions.

Institute, 1880, p. 41.

Contra.

After the battle of Sedan, the victorious army was embarrassed by masses of wounded, whom it was difficult to move into Germany by the routes which were open, and whose support in France in part diverted the commissariat from its normal function of feeding the active army. The German government therefore applied to Belgium for leave to transport the wounded across that country by railway. In consequence of the strong protest of France, Belgium, after consultation with the English government, rejected the application. It is indeed difficult to see, apart from the grant of direct aid or of permission to move a corps d'armée from the Rhine Provinces into France, in what way Belgium could have more distinctly abandoned her neutrality than by relieving the railway from Nancy to the frontier from encumbrances, by enabling the Germans to devote their transport solely to warlike uses, and by freeing the commissariat from the burden of several thousand men lodged in a place of difficult

access.

Hall, p. 625, 626,

But it | Hague Convention V of 1907] allows under strict condition a passage over neutral territory to the sick and wounded of belligerent armies.

Lawrence, p. 622.

By the stipulation of article 14 it is left to the consideration of a neutral whether or no he will allow the passage of wounded and sick to a belligerent; he will, therefore, have to investigate every case and come to a conclusion according to its merits.

Oppenheim, vol. 2, p. 393.

Contra, to some extent.

The passage of wounded soldiers is different from that of troops. If a neutral allows the passage of wounded soldiers, he certainly does not render direct assistance to the belligerent concerned. But it may well be that indirectly it is of assistance on account of the fact that a belligerent, thereby relieved from transport of his wounded, can now use the lines of communication for the transport of troops, war material, and provisions. Thus, when in 1870 after the battles of Sedan and Metz, Germany applied to Belgium and Luxemburg to allow her wounded to be sent through their territories. France protested on the ground that the relief thereby created to the lines of communication in the hands of the Germans would be an assistance to the military operations of the Germany Army. Belgium, on the advice of Great Britain, did not grant the request made by Germany, but Luxemburg granted it.

Oppenheim, vol. 2, p. 392–393.

The neutral State may allow the passage or transport of wounded or sick through its territory without thereby violating its neutrality: it has, however, to watch that hospital trains do not carry with them either war personnel or war material with the exception of that which is necessary for the care of the sick.

German War Book, p. 195.

Article 14, Hague Convention V, 1907, is substantially identical with section 241, Austro-Hungarian Manual, 1913.

GENEVA CONVENTION.

The Geneva Convention applies to sick and wounded interned in neutral territory.

Article 15, Hague Convention V, 1907.

International Red Cross (Geneva) Convention, 1906.

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.

A belligerent, however, when compelled to leave his wounded in the hands of his adversary, shall leave with them, so far as military conditions permit, a portion of the personnel and materiel 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 mutually agree upon such clauses, by way of exception or favor, in relation to the wounded or sick as they may deem proper. They shall especially have authority to agree :

1. To mutually return 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 the consent of the latter and on condition that it shall charge itself with their internment 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 robbery 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 marks or military papers of identification found upon the bodies of the dead, together with a list of names 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 objects of personal use, valuables, letters, etc., which are found upon the field of battle, or have been left by the sick or wounded who have died in sanitary formations or other establishments, for transmission to persons in interest 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 its supervision, to care for the sick and wounded of the armies, granting to persons responding to such appeals special protection and certain immunities.

CHAPTER II.-Sanitary formations and establishments.

ART. 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 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:

1. That 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. That in the absence of armed hospital attendants, the formation is guarded by an armed detachment or by sentinels acting under competent orders.

3. That arms or cartridges, taken from the wounded and not yet turned over to the proper authorities, are found in the formation or establishment.

CHAPTER III.-Personnel.

ART. 9. The personnel charged exclusively 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 considered as prisoners of war.

These provisions apply to the guards of sanitary formations and establishments in the case provided for in section 2 of article 8.

ART. 10. The personnel of volunteer aid societies, duly recognized and authorized by their own governments, who are employed in the sanitary formations and establishments of armies, are assimilated to the personnel contemplated 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, 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.

ART. 11. A recognized society of a neutral state can only lend the services of its sanitary personnel and formations to a belligerent

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