§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence in compiling his report on the pay of prisoners of war during World War II, what account the Government took of whether or not the terms of the 1929 Geneva Convention were fulfilled in respect of reimbursing enemy Governments for payments by them to the British prisoners of war during the Second World War. [32264]
146W
§ Mr. SpellarThe Review was fully aware of, and the Report covers, the 1929 Geneva Convention on the treatment of Prisoners of War of an enemy power and the question of the settlement of national debts between belligerents at the end of hostilities.
The Convention provided for the provision by the Detaining Power of some pay for officer Prisoners of War in the camps and that after the war this money would be refunded to each Detaining Power by the officers' own country. These matters were however subject to any special arrangements or agreements which the belligerent powers might make during and after the war.
At the time of the Peace Treaty with Italy, a mutual waiver of all claims in respect of Prisoners of War was agreed. Since for Germany no national authority existed with whom a settlement of this kind could be made, there was de facto a mutual waiver of claims, including those relating on both sides to Prisoners of War.
As the Report makes clear, the administration of servicemen's pay matters was a subject for their own Government. Deductions from home pay accounts in respect of payments made under the Geneva Conventions were not governed by these Conventions, but were a matter of British service pay policy.