§ The correspondence that was owed Addressed to the family, and to the Central Tracing Agency Mailbox

Card 10 of 10 · Geneva IV · Article 25

Family news

Family news — Geneva IV, Article 25. Not delivered.

The rule that requires it

Article 25 of Geneva Convention IV — Family news. Retrieved verbatim, 2026-08-22.

All persons in the territory of a Party to the conflict, or in a territory occupied by it, shall be enabled to give news of a strictly personal nature to members of their families, wherever they may be, and to receive news from them. This correspondence shall be forwarded speedily and without undue delay.

If, as a result of circumstances, it becomes difficult or impossible to exchange family correspondence by the ordinary post, the Parties to the conflict concerned shall apply to a neutral intermediary, such as the Central Agency provided for in Article 140 , and shall decide in consultation with it how to ensure the fulfilment of their obligations under the best possible conditions, in particular with the cooperation of the National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societies.

If the Parties to the conflict deem it necessary to restrict family correspondence, such restrictions shall be confined to the compulsory use of standard forms containing twenty-five freely chosen words, and to the limitation of the number of these forms despatched to one each month.

ICRC treaty text ↗ Open in the mailbox → Open on the board →

What the record shows instead

United States / Israel

Detainees have been held incommunicado, with families not told of the fact of detention and no effective independent access, obstructing the humanitarian functions the Convention reserves to the ICRC.

4 sources