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The courts and authorities of the Detaining Power, in reaching decisions on punishment,must at all times remember that the accused:• does not owe any allegiance to the Detaining Power and may be, for example, under aduty to escape; 635 and• is in its power through circumstances beyond his or her control so that, for example,depression brought on by captivity should not be regarded as self-induced.Courts and disciplinary authorities shall have the discretion to reduce the penalty belowthe minimum prescribed for members of the armed forces of the Detaining Power. 6369.26.7 Treatment of POWs Undergoing Punishment. Officers, non-commissionedofficers, and men and women who are POWs undergoing a disciplinary or judicial punishment,shall not be subjected to more severe treatment than that applied in respect of the samepunishment to members of the armed forces of the Detaining Power of equivalent rank. 637A woman POW shall not be awarded or sentenced to a punishment more severe, ortreated while undergoing punishment more severely, than either a female or male member of thearmed forces of the Detaining Power dealt with for a similar offense. 638POWs who have served disciplinary or judicial sentences may not be treated differentlyfrom other POWs. 639 However, POWs who have been punished as a result of an attemptedescape may nonetheless be subjected to special surveillance. 6409.27 DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AND PUNISHMENTIn addition to the general principles applicable to POW punishment, the following rulesaddress disciplinary proceedings and punishment.635 Refer to § 4.4.4.2 (Nationals of a State Who Join Enemy Forces).636 GPW art. 87 (“When fixing the penalty, the courts or authorities of the Detaining Power shall take intoconsideration, to the widest extent possible, the fact that the accused, not being a national of the Detaining Power, isnot bound to it by any duty of allegiance, and that he is in its power as the result of circumstances independent of hisown will. The said courts or authorities shall be at liberty to reduce the penalty provided for the violation of whichthe prisoner of war is accused, and shall therefore not be bound to apply the minimum penalty prescribed.”).637 GPW art. 88 (“Officers, non-commissioned officers and men who are prisoners of war undergoing a disciplinaryor judicial punishment, shall not be subjected to more severe treatment than that applied in respect of the samepunishment to members of the armed forces of the Detaining Power of equivalent rank.”).638 GPW art. 88 (“A woman prisoner of war shall not be awarded or sentenced to a punishment more severe, ortreated whilst undergoing punishment more severely, than a woman member of the armed forces of the DetainingPower dealt with for a similar offence.”); GPW art. 88 (“In no case may a woman prisoner of war be awarded orsentenced to a punishment more severe, or treated whilst undergoing punishment more severely, than a malemember of the armed forces of the Detaining Power dealt with for a similar offence.”).639 GPW art. 88 (“Prisoners of war who have served disciplinary or judicial sentences may not be treated differentlyfrom other prisoners of war.”).640 Refer to § 9.25.4 (Special Surveillance of POWs as a Result of Unsuccessful Escape).598