Camp Help Committees shall consist of at least: 1 member in camps of from 1 to 50 men. 5 members in camps of from 501 to 1,000 men. In camps of more than 1,000 men there shall be one representative for every additional 500 men. In computing the membership of Camp Help Committees, the prisoners assigned or attached to a camp shall be counted even though they be absent from camp. Similarly in every working detachment representatives in the same ratio as provided above shall be chosen to be the correspondent or correspondents of the Camp Help Committee of the camp to which the working detachment is assigned. In each hospital having ten or more prisoners of war of the same State of Origin representatives may be chosen in the proportion prescribed above for working detachments. Their duties and privileges shall be the same as those prescribed in this agreement for the representatives of working detachments. ART. 95. Camp Help Committees and representatives besides exercising the functions enumerated elsewhere in this agreement, shall co-operate with the camp authorities in all matters relating to prisoners of war, such as foundation of libraries and provision of educational facilities; organization of amusements; registration of complaints lodged by prisoners of war; receipt, registration and distribution of gifts and of relief to prisoners of war wherever located; co-operation with the authorized relief societies and with the Protecting Power; distribution of contents of parcels of deceased prisoners of war and management of postal operations. ART. 96. Camp Help Committees shall be allowed each week to copy the current lists of prisoners of war undergoing medical treatment and to transmit the same to the designated relief societies. ART. 97. Camp Help Committees may correspond in matters relating to their duties freely and directly with their representatives, with the diplomatic representative of the Protecting Power, with the designated relief societies and with absent prisoners of war belonging to their Camp who have no representative. The correspondence of the Camp Help Committee referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be subject to censorship by the camp authorities. Communications which contain requests or complaints and which are addressed to the diplomatic representative of the Protecting Power, shall be handed over to the Camp Commandant who shall immediately transmit them through official channels. Such communications may be withheld only when they contain wilfully false statements or are written in improper language. The decision to withhold them rests exclusively with the Ministry of War; in the case of German prisoners of war in Europe, with the Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces. In case a letter is withheld, the writer and the diplomatic representative of the Protecting Power must be informed of the fact and the reasons. The competent military authorities in forwarding these communications will endorse thereon their remarks in order that the representative of the Protecting Power can upon their receipt form an opinion as to the statements contained therein. Copies or abstracts of letters sent by the Camp Help Committees shall be kept by them and shown upon request to the representative of the Protecting Power and to the prisoners of war of their State of Origin. ART. 98. Camp Help Committees shall draw up under the supervision of Camp Commandants lists of prisoners of war who have had no news of their families for at least three months. These lists shall contain the names of the prisoners of war, the addresses of the families and brief communications or enquiries limited to 20 words in telegraphic style. These lists shall be sent to the Red Cross Societies of the respective States of Origin mentioned in Article 36 which shall attend to forwarding the answers of the families as quickly as possible. ART. 99. Camp Help Committees, composed of prisoners of war of either of the Contracting Parties may render, from supplies at their disposal, assistance to prisoners of war of other States of Origin within the same camp. Reciprocally, prisoners of war of the two Contracting Parties may receive similar assistance from the Committees composed of the prisoners of war of other States of Origin. ART. 100. Members of Camp Help Committees and their representatives in working detachments shall not be required to perform any work which interferes with their duties as such. They shall not be transferred from one camp to another except for urgent reasons; and then only after they shall have been given opportunity to arrange their affairs in a business-like manner and to transfer to their successors the property and accounts in their care. ART. 101. Suitable offices and store rooms shall be provided for the use of Camp Help Committees. These store rooms shall be fitted with two locks, the keys of one to be kept by the Camp Help Committee, those of the other by the Camp Commandant. ART. 102. Packing boxes or materials used in transporting supplies to prisoners of war which are not the property of individual prisoners of war shall become the property of the Camp Help Committee for use in repacking or other purposes; until then they remain in the custody of the Camp Authorities. 14. CORRESPONDENCE AND PARCELS ART. 103. Special attention shall be given to the rapid forwarding of the correspondence of prisoners of war, especially over-seas correspondence. Camp Commandants and commanders of working detachments shall be instructed accordingly. The incoming mail for prisoners of war shall be distributed without delay. The despatch of accepted letters and postcards shall not be delayed longer than ten days. Exceptions shall be permitted only as provided for by Article 84. ART. 104. Letters, postcards, parcels, money and valuables sent to prisoners of war, and letters and postcards sent by prisoners of war, shall not be subject to charges for postage, delivery, duties, storage or to any other charges, either in the country of mailing or destination. Similarly, articles sent to prisoners of war as gifts or as relief shipments, either in bulk or in collective consignments, shall be free from all custom duties, freight charges and other dues or charges. ART. 105. Prisoners of war shall be permitted to send two letters and four postcards each month. Letters of officers shall not exceed six pages, and letters of those of other ranks or ratings shall not exceed four pages. The letters and postcards shall be legibly written in black ink or in soft black lead pencil and, except with the permission of the Commandant, must be in English, French or German. Letters and postcards must be addressed specifically to a person, firm or corporation, by name, and not to a mere post office or accommodation address. ART. 106. Correspondence of prisoners of war must not contain information regarding the political or military situation, or other information detrimental to the safety of the Captor State. Enclosures may be permitted provided they accord with the sense of this Article, it being recognized, however, that such enclosures may result in a delay in the despatch of the letter. Correspondence of prisoners of war which violates the provisions of this agreement shall be returned to the writer, unless required as evidence in judicial or disciplinary proceedings, and shall be counted in the authorized maximum of letters and postcards. ART. 107. Prisoners of war may receive and answer enquiries from recognized relief societies and information bureaus in regard to the location of missing members of the armed forces; the answers are not to be counted in the authorized maximum of letters and postcards. ART. 108. Prisoners of war shall be allowed to receive an unlimited number of parcels; those sent by mail shall not weigh more than seven kilograms each. Commandants of Camps and working detachments are forbidden to withhold parcels, except in the cases specifically provided for in this agreement. ART. 109. The sending of books and pamphlets, as well as bulk shipments of writing paper and blank books, shall be allowed subject to examination. Books may be bound. ART. 110. Parcels addressed to individuals may be despatched in collective consignments when packed in such a manner as to be transported by ship and by rail without difficulty. Individual parcels without specified recipients may also be despatched in collective consignments addressed to the Camp Help Committees of the main camps. These Committees may distribute the parcels to their representatives or other Camp Help Committees. Such parcels must be clearly marked as follows: "For distribution to prisoners of war who receive no parcels." If an addressee be deceased, the contents of his parcels shall be distributed among the prisoners of war by the Camp Help Committee. ART. 111. The parcels shall be handed out immediately or, if preferred by the prisoners of war, only when asked for. The parcels shall be handled so as to prevent injury and shall be examined only once, and then in the presence of the addressee or of some one designated by him. The containers of perishable foodstuffs shall be kept intact until the contents are needed for consumption. ART. 112. Every recipient of a parcel shall be permitted to despatch to the sender a printed postcard containing only an acknowledgement of the receipt and an itemized statement of the contents and of the condition thereof at the time of the receipt. In case printed forms for this purpose are not at hand, the receipt may be written but must not contain other information than the printed forms. This postcard shall not be counted in the authorized maximum of letters and postcards. The printed postcards or printed lists, enclosed in parcels or bulk shipments stating the contents, shall always be delivered to the addressee. They shall be checked against the contents in the presence of the addressee or his representative. ART. 113. The packings, tin containers and boxes shall remain the property of the prisoners of war, but they shall be stored by the camp authorities until required for use. ART. 114. Camp Help Committees shall be allowed to make lists of all parcels sent to the working detachments that are attached to their main camp, and lists of the contents of each parcel; these lists shall accompany the parcels. ART. 115. Camp Help Committees shall be permitted to make claims for loss of parcels or of their contents, or for damage thereto, for all prisoners of war in their camps or attached thereto. ART. 116. Prisoners of war shall be permitted to transmit to their dependents funds in their possession at the time of capture, or paid to them by the Captor State. Domestic money orders, when permitted shall be subject to the ordinary fees. ART. 117. All foreign postal traffic under this arrangement shall, with the consent of the Swiss Government, be through its postal service. 15. COMMUNICATION WITH THE PROTECTING POWER ART. 118. Prisoners of war may at all times communicate in writing to the diplomatic representative of the Protecting Power requests or complaints concerning treatment or conditions in their camp, or matters of purely personal interest; or may present such statements verbally to a delegate of the Protecting Power. In main camps such written communications shall be presented to the Camp Help Committees, and in working detachments to the representatives of the detachment, to be transmitted to the Camp Help Committee of the main camp. The Camp Help Committee, after having made notations on the communication if such are necessary, shall forward it to the Camp Commandant, who shall in turn transmit it without delay through official channels to the representative of the Protecting Power. Further action shall be in accordance with the provisions of Article 97, paragraphs 2 and 3. ART. 119. The communications addressed to the diplomatic representative of the Protecting Power shall not be counted in the authorized maximum of letters and postcards. In no case shall written communications addressed by prisoners of war to the Camp Commandant and intended only for him be counted in the authorized maximum of letters and postcards. ART. 120. Prisoners of war may be punished on account of complaints sent by them to the Protecting Power only when they contain intentionally insulting statements or intentionally false accusations. Punishment may be inflicted only by sentence of a court or with the approval of the Ministry of War; in the case of German prisoners held in Europe with the approval of the Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces. 16. VISITS OF INSPECTION BY DELEGATES OF THE PROTECTING POWER ART. 121. The diplomatic representative of the Protecting Power shall present for approval by the Captor State a list of the delegates for whom are desired permits to inspect prisoners of war and the places where they are confined. |
