Resolutions of the XXIVth International Conference of the Red Cross

Extract

The XXIVth International Conference of the Red Cross,

considering that, in several situations of armed conflict, the identification of members of the armed forces killed on the battle-field is made extremely difficult for lack of identification documents,

recalling that Articles 16 and 17 of the First Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 provide for identity discs to be worn by members of the armed forces to facilitate their identification in case they are killed and the communication of their deaths to the Power on which they depend,

1. urges the Parties to an armed conflict to take all necessary steps to provide the members of their armed forces with identity discs and to ensure that the discs are worn during service,

2. recommends that the Parties to an armed conflict should see that these discs give all the indications required for a precise identification of members of the armed forces such as full name, date and place of birth, religion, serial number and blood group; that every disc be double and composed of two separable parts, each bearing the same indications; and that the inscriptions be engraved on a substance as resistant as possible to the destructive action of chemical and physical agents, especially to fire and heat,

3. reminds the Parties to an armed conflict that one half of each disc must, in case of death, be detached and sent back to the Power on which the member of the armed forces depended, the other half remaining on the body,

4. notes that the International Committee of the Red Cross is prepared to provide models to States asking for them.