§ Mr. Thorneasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether in all cases the conditions passed at the Geneva Conference concerning the treatment of prisoners of war are now being observed; whether the Article affecting conditions of employment, under Section 3 of Part III, is being carried out; and whether Article 4 has been generally applied?
§ Mr. EdenI presume that the hon. Member is referring to the treatment of British prisoners of war in enemy hands. I regret that the information available to His Majesty's Government is too incomplete to enable me to give a reply to this general question which would not be misleading. As regards the particular provisions of the Convention to which the hon. Member refers, however, and which 1547W stipulate that work done by a prisoner of war shall have no direct connection with the operations of the war, my information is that, with certain exceptions which have been made the subject of representations, the principles of the Convention have in this respect been generally observed by the enemy Powers. If there is any particular case which the hon. Member has in mind and if he will be good enough to send me details, I will gladly go into the matter.