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PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN PERSONS
of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of
War of August 12, 1949.
ART. 147. — Grave breaches to which the preceding Article
relates shall be those involving any of the following acts, if
committed against persons or property protected by the present
Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including
biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious
injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or
unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected
person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or wilfully depriving
a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed
in the present Convention, taking of hostages and extensive
destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military
necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.
II.
Grave
breaches
ART. 148. — No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to
absolve itself or any other High Contracting Party of any liability
incurred by itself or by another High Contracting Party in respect of
breaches referred to in the preceding Article.
III.
Responsibilities of the
Contracting
Parties
ART. 149. — At the request of a Party to the conflict, an enquiry
shall be instituted, in a manner to be decided between the interested
Parties, concerning any alleged violation of the Convention.
If agreement has not been reached concerning the procedure for
the enquiry, the Parties should agree on the choice of an umpire
who will decide upon the procedure to be followed. Once the
violation has been established, the Parties to the conflict shall put an
end to it and shall repress it with the least possible delay.
Enquiry
procedure
SECTION II
FINAL PROVISIONS
ART. 150. — The present Convention is established in English
and in French. Both texts are equally authentic.
The Swiss Federal Council shall arrange for official translations
of the Convention to be made in the Russian and Spanish languages.
Languages