Members of the
medical personnel and
chaplains while retained by the
Detaining Power with a
view to assisting
prisoners of war, shall not be considered as
prisoners of war. They shall, however,
receive as a
minimum the
benefits and
protection of the present
Convention, and shall also be
granted all
facilities necessary to provide for the
medical care of, and
religious inistration to,
prisoners of war.
They shall
continue to
exercise their
medical and
spiritual functions for the
benefit of
prisoners of war, preferably those belonging to the
armed forces upon which they depend, within the
scope of the
military laws and
regulations of the
Detaining Power and under the
control of its
competent services, in
accordance with their
professional etiquette. They shall also
benefit by the following
facilities in the
exercise of their
medical or
spiritual functions:
(b) The senior
medical officer in each
camp shall be
responsible to the
camp military authorities for everything
connected with the
activities of retained
medical personnel. For this
purpose,
Parties to the conflict shall
agree at the
outbreak of hostilities on the
subject of the
corresponding ranks of the
medical personnel,
including that of
societies mentioned in Article
26 of the
Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the
Wounded and
Sick in
Armed Forces in the
Field of August 12, 1949. This senior
medical officer, as well as
chaplains, shall have the
right to deal with the
competent authorities of the
camp on all
questions relating to their
duties. Such
authorities shall afford them all necessary
facilities for
correspondence relating to these
questions.
(c) Although they shall be
subject to the
internal discipline of the
camp in which they are retained, such
personnel may not be compelled to carry out any
work other than that concerned with their
medical or
religious duties.
