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For protected persons who have fallen into the hands of the enemy, the GWS shall applyuntil their final repatriation. 25 The GWS-Sea does not specify when it ceases to apply, but oncepersons who are covered by its provisions reach land, the GWS applies. Forces put ashore shallimmediately become subject to the provisions of the GWS. 26 If dead persons are landed, theprovisions of the GWS shall be applicable. 27 Retained personnel at sea shall be subject, onlanding, to the provisions of the GWS. 287.2.2 Non-Renunciation of Rights Secured by the GWS or GWS-Sea. Wounded, sick,and shipwrecked persons, as well as military medical and religious personnel, may in nocircumstances renounce in part or in entirety the rights secured to them by the GWS or the GWS-Sea, or by special agreements, if any, referred to in Article 6 of the GWS or the GWS-Sea. 29 Asimilar provision of the GPW applies to POWs, and a similar provision of the GC applies toprotected persons. 30This rule is intended to prevent States from evading their obligations by coercing enemynationals in their power to waive their rights. 31 The prohibition on the non-renunciation of rightsis based on a recognition that: (1) persons in the hands of the enemy are in a vulnerable position;(2) it would be difficult to establish whether they had voluntarily renounced their rights; and (3)an absolute prohibition would best serve the interests of the majority. 3225 GWS art. 5 (“For the protected persons who have fallen into the hands of the enemy, the present Convention shallapply until their final repatriation.”). Compare § 9.3.6 (Commencement and Duration of POW Status andTreatment).26 GWS-SEA art. 4 (“Forces put ashore shall immediately become subject to the provisions of the GenevaConvention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August12, 1949.”).27 GWS-SEA art. 20 (“If dead persons are landed, the provisions of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration ofthe Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949, shall be applicable.”).28 GWS-SEA art. 37 (“Retained personnel shall be subject, on landing, to the provisions of the Geneva Conventionfor the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949.”).29 GWS art. 7 (“Wounded and sick, as well as members of the medical personnel and chaplains, may in nocircumstances renounce in part or in entirety the rights secured to them by the present Convention, and by thespecial agreements referred to in the foregoing Article, if such there be.”); GWS-SEA art. 7 (“Wounded, sick andshipwrecked persons, as well as members of the medical personnel and chaplains, may in no circumstancesrenounce in part or in entirety the rights secured to them by the present Convention, and by the special agreementsreferred to in the foregoing Article, if such there be.”).30 Refer to § 9.3.7 (Non-Renunciation of Rights Secured by the GPW); § 10.3.6 (Non-Renunciation of RightsSecured by the GC).31 GWS COMMENTARY 78-79 (“When a State offers to persons detained by it the choice of another status, such astep is usually dictated by its own interest. Experience has proved that such persons may be subjected to pressure inorder to influence their choice. The pressure may vary in its intensity and be either more or less apparent; but itnevertheless constitutes a violation of their moral and sometimes even of their physical integrity. The inevitableresult of such practices is to expose the protected persons to a two-fold series of what may on occasion be veryserious drawbacks, first from the fact that they are under pressure, and secondly, as already indicated, from theirpartial or total renunciation of the protection accorded to them by the Convention.”).32 See GWS COMMENTARY 79-80 (“But in the end the Diplomatic Conference unanimously adopted the presentwording—mainly for the reasons given above, that is to say, the danger of allowing the persons concerned the414