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any offenses committed by POWs. 589 For example, POW Representatives may not be heldresponsible for escape attempts by other POWs, unless they personally participated in suchactivities. 5909.24.4.8 Turnover for Successor POW Representatives Upon Transfer. POWRepresentatives who are transferred shall be allowed a reasonable time to acquaint theirsuccessors with current affairs. 5919.24.5 Dismissal of POW Representative. In case of dismissal, the reason for thedismissal shall be communicated to the Protecting Power. 592The GPW does not provide a procedure for POWs to dismiss POW Representatives asidefrom not re-electing them. 593 However, the Detaining Power may withdraw its approval of aPOW Representative and request that POWs hold new elections. 5949.25 POW ESCAPESPOWs who escape successfully are not liable to any punishment in respect of theirprevious escape. A number of rules limit the punishment of POWs who do not escapesuccessfully. Notifications of POW escape and recapture should also be made. POWs punishedas a result of an unsuccessful escape may be subjected to special surveillance.9.25.1 No Punishment for Successful Escape. POWs who have made good their escapein the sense of Article 91 of the GPW, and who are recaptured, shall not be liable to anypunishment in respect of their previous escape. 595589 GPW art. 80 (“Prisoners’ representatives shall not be held responsible, simply by reason of their duties, for anyoffences committed by prisoners of war.”).590 See LEVIE, POWS 304 (“This is particularly relevant with respect to incidents such as the construction of a tunnelto be used for the purpose of escape. The military authorities of the Detaining Power will probably assume, andwith some justification, that this could not have occurred unknown to the prisoners’ representative--but whether heknew of it or not, he is not to be held responsible if he did not personally participate in it.”).591 GPW art. 81 (“Prisoners’ representatives who are transferred shall be allowed a reasonable time to acquaint theirsuccessors with current affairs.”).592 GPW art. 81 (“In case of dismissal, the reasons therefore shall be communicated to the Protecting Power.”).593 See GPW COMMENTARY 405 (GPW “Article 79, paragraph 1, enables [POWs] to show disapproval by not reelectingthe prisoners' representative, since elections must be held every six months. The Convention provides noprocedure, however, for a case where prisoners of war have grounds to demand that their representative shouldresign immediately; it makes provision only for dismissal of a prisoners' representative by the Detaining Power.”).594 See GPW COMMENTARY 405 (“One solution would be for the prisoners of war to submit a request to the militaryauthorities for recognition to be withdrawn from the prisoners' representative. If the Detaining Power is satisfiedthat that is the wish of the majority of prisoners, it may arrange for fresh elections to be held, and the results thereofwill justify or not, as the case may be, the request made by the prisoners of war. The Detaining Power may at anytime withdraw its approval and request prisoners of war to hold new elections. It must advise the Protecting Powerof the actual reasons for its decision and may not merely state that there is no longer mutual confidence between theprisoners' representative and its own representatives.”).591