2009-7-32 Pass, Safe Conduct, Vietnam, Obverse

Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...

to traverse its territory without harassment, bodily harm, or fear of death. Safe conduct is only granted in exceptional circumstances. It may be given to an enemy to allow retreat under

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

terms, or for a meeting to negotiate; to a

stateless person Stateless may refer to: Society * Anarchism, a political philosophy opposed to the institution of the state * Stateless communism, which Karl Marx predicted would be the final phase of communism * Stateless nation, a group of people without ...

; or to somebody who for some reason would normally not be able to pass. A vanquished enemy can also be given, or offered quarter, i.e. be spared, be promised or guaranteed mercy. The term 'safe conduct' is also used to mean the document authorizing this security. In Islamic law, safe conduct or pledge of safety ('' amān'') can be granted to foreigners or dhimmi residents (''

musta'min Mustaʾmīn or Musta'man ( ar, مستأمن) is a historical Islamic term for a non-Muslim foreigner temporarily residing in Muslim lands with and ''aman'' or guarantee of short-term safe-conduct ('' aman mu'aqqat'') affording the protected status ...

'') while they travel or reside in Islamic-ruled lands. In the early Middle Ages, during some periods of Islamic control of the Holy Land, Christian pilgrims could request letters of safe conduct from a Muslim ruler allowing them to pass through their lands to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. An example of safe conduct in the 13th century was

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...

's possession of letters of safe conduct, which was granted to him and his army by a number of parties during the

Wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...

.Barrow, G.W., ''Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland'', EUP (2005), 452 n. 48: Palgrave, Francis, ed.
''Documents and Records illustrating the history of Scotland, and the transactions between the Crowns of Scotland and England'', vol. 1, (1837)
p. cxcv, citing Bishop Stapleton's Kalendar of Treasury documents preserved in London, 1323
Palgrave, Francis, ed., ''Antient Kalendars and Inventories of the Treasury of His Majesty's Exchequer: Bishop Stapleton's calendar'', vol. 2 (1836)
p. 134, item 46. Another example of safe conduct in the 20th century was

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

's "

sealed train A sealed train is one that travels internationally under customs and/or immigration seal, without its contents legally recognized as entering or leaving the nations traversed between the beginning and end of the journey or subject to any otherwis ...

": a citizen of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, a country at war with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Lenin was permitted to travel from his exile in Switzerland through Germany, without stopping, to return to Russia. It was in Germany's interest to allow this, for it was hoped that he would destabilize Russia. Another example would be the

Chieu Hoi The Chiêu Hồi program ( (also spelled "chu hoi" or "chu-hoi" in English) loosely translated as "Open Arms") was an initiative by the U.S - Republic of Vietnam to encourage defection by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) and ...

program during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

References

Law of war {{International-law-stub