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Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.

Commentary - Art. 69. Part III : Captivity #Section V : Relations of prisoners of war with the exterior

[p.339] ARTICLE 69

. -- NOTIFICATION OF MEASURES TAKEN

This provision is a more detailed version of Article 35

of the 1929 Convention (1). It ensures that not only prisoners of war but also their next of kin and relief agencies will be informed of the facilities available.

A. ' Time of notification. ' -- The Convention states that notification must be made by the Detaining Power "immediately upon prisoners of war falling into its power"; the 1929 text merely referred to "the commencement of hostilities".

The notification must therefore be made to prisoners whenever new ones are captured by the Detaining Power and whenever the measures adopted are modified in any way. It will be sufficient to notify the Power on which prisoners of war depend once, unless there are any subsequent modifications.

B. ' Recipients and form of the notification. ' -- Prisoners of war will usually be informed by notices posted in camps and labour detachments, so that they may at all times refer to the text. Notices will, of course, be in a language which all the prisoners can understand.

[p.340] The Powers on which prisoners of war depend will be informed through the intermediary of the Protecting Power. The Power concerned will then be responsible for taking appropriate steps to inform relief agencies and prisoners' next of kin of the measures taken by the Detaining Power.

* (1) [(1) p.339] See ' Report on the Work of the Conference of

Government Experts, ' pp. 181-182.