Substantiation
Decree No. 7 of the Military Government of Germany concerning the constitution and competency of certain military courts, constitutes a violation of Article 63 of the Geneva Convention of 1929, insofar as Decree No. 7 is applied to prisoners of war as well, and in its Article II appoints special courts for passing sentences on prisoners of war. Article 63 of the Geneva Convention of 1929 lays down, “Sentence against a prisoner of war may only be passed by the same courts and according to the same procedure as a sentence against persons belonging to the fighting forces of the country where he is a prisoner”. A field marshal is equal to a five-star general of the United States of America. The present Court consisted of three judges, of which not one has the military rank which I have. It therefore does not correspond to the court which, according to the laws of the United States of America, could pass sentence on a five-star general. The authority of the present Court is, however, expressly recognized by me.
Furthermore, Decree No. 7 of the Military Government of Germany constitutes a violation in Article XV of Article 64 of the Geneva Convention of 1929, because Article XV declares the sentence of the court in finding the defendant guilty, to be final and incontestable. Article 64 of the Geneva Convention of 1929 stipulates that prisoners of war must be allowed to employ the same legal means against a verdict as are granted to members of the fighting forces
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of the country where they are detained.
The rules laid down by the Geneva Convention of 1929 represent compulsory international law of a universal character and cannot be altered either by a signatory power alone or by an agreement between several signatory powers, but only by the consent of all signatory powers. In no case may they be altered by a decree of Military Government, not even by a decree of the Control Council. The rights of a prisoner of war, which are based upon the regulations of the Geneva Convention of 1929, can neither be waived nor cancelled.
The violation of the regulations of the Geneva Convention has now come about with the passing of sentence and the now existing restrictions placed in the way of contesting the verdict, not already by the trial as such.
I am still a prisoner of war. I have not been released from captivity. I am therefore still under the protection of the Geneva Convention, the same as before.
The violation of the Geneva Convention is all the more serious, in that I am still a prisoner of war of the British. True, the defense counsel was told at the beginning of the trial in reply to an express question, that my transfer to the jurisdiction of the United States of America was already effected, but it was not proved until the conclusion of the passing of sentence. That should have been absolutely necessary.
After the serving of the indictment and the beginning of the actual trial, an attempt was made on 4 January 1947 to gain my veiled consent to my release without saying anything, whereby I was asked to accept release money. On the receipt, however, I expressly noted, “Without recognizing my release”. I declared that release by American officers was not