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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT

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Copy No. 31

SECRET

C.P. (49) 59

10th March, 1949

CABINET

REVISION OF GENEVA CONVENTIONS ON WAR VICTIMS

MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR

Summary

A Diplomatic Conference is to meet at Geneva in the spring to agree upon Conventions for the Protection of War Victims.

Of the proposed Conventions those dealing with-

Wounded and Sick on Land;

Wounded and Sick and shipwrecked at Sea;

Prisoners of War;

are dealt with in the attached Report (C.R.G.C./P (48) 55) of an Interdepart- mental Committee under a War Office Chairman; and this paper considers the Committee's recommendations on certain matters on which we think the United Kingdom policy should have Cabinet approval. They are:-

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(a) Proposal that the Conventions should apply in case of civil war or

undeclared war (paragraph 5).

(b) Application of the Conventions to irregulars (Partisans) (paragraph 6). (c) Derogations and Intangibility of the Conventions (paragraph 7).

Sanctions against War Crimes (paragraph 9).

(e) Surrendered Enemy Personnel (paragraph 10).

(f) ) Work permissible for prisoners of war (paragraph 11).

Repatriation after hostilities (paragraph 12).

Status of

graph 13).

protected personnel" (i.e., medical and chaplains) (para-

Joint responsibility of transferor and transferee powers (paragraph 14). Substitute for Protecting Power (paragraph 15).

Finger-prints (paragraph 16).

We recommend approval of the Committee's recommendations (which were unanimous), except those on Surrendered Enemy Personnel, Work and Finger- prints. For the reasons given below we advise the Cabinet-

(a) not to seek to authorise in future wars a category of "Surrendered Enemy Personnel," outside the protection of the Prisoner of War Convention; (b) to approve a compromise formula on work, put forward by the Inter- national Red Cross Committee, which was not available to the Inter- departmental Committee;

(c) not to refuse agreement to the compulsory use of finger-prints for purposes

of identification.

We should point out that the Home Office are not happy about (c) and the Interdepartmental Committee (under a Home Office Chairman) on the proposed Civilian Convention take a different view about the application of that Convention to civil war. Other questions common to the Civilian and Military Conventions are mentioned in paragraph 17 below; but, except on civil war and finger-prints, the two Committees are in agreement.