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10.35 RELEASE, RETURN, REPATRIATION OF INTERNEES AFTER THE CLOSE OF HOSTILITIES10.35.1 Cessation of Internment After the Close of Hostilities. Internment shall cease assoon as possible after the close of hostilities. 629 The GC, however, does not preclude internmentafter the close of hostilities. 630 For example, internment may be necessary during occupationafter hostilities have ended.10.35.1.1 Close of Hostilities. The phrase “close of hostilities” should beunderstood in the same sense as the phrase “cessation of active hostilities” in the GPW. 63110.35.1.2 Internees Subject to Penal Proceedings or Punishment. Internees in theterritory of a party to the conflict, against whom penal proceedings are pending for offenses notexclusively subject to disciplinary penalties, may be detained until the close of such proceedingsand, if circumstances require, until the completion of the penalty. 632 The same shall apply tointernees who have been previously sentenced to a punishment depriving them of liberty. 63310.35.2 Return to the Last Place of Residence or Repatriation. The Parties to the GCshall endeavor, upon the close of hostilities or occupation, to ensure the return of all internees totheir last place of residence, or to facilitate their repatriation. 63410.35.2.1 Internees Who Resist Repatriation. Internees who resist repatriationneed not be forcibly repatriated. 635 A similar rule applies to POWs. 636 U.S. policy provides that629 GC art. 133 (“Internment shall cease as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.”).630 See II-A FINAL RECORD OF THE DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE OF GENEVA OF 1949 844 (“The only change effectedin the Stockholm text is the deletion of the words ‘and, in occupied territories, at the close of occupation’ in the firstparagraph. The reason for the deletion was that the close of occupation necessarily means that internment by theOccupying Power comes to an end. The Committee did not accept the view that the retention of the remainder ofthe paragraph, i.e. the phrase ‘Internment shall cease as soon as possible after the close of hostilities’ bore theimplication that no person could be interned after the close of hostilities.”).631 GC COMMENTARY 514-15 (“The expression ‘the close of hostilities’ should be taken to mean a state of fact ratherthan the legal situation covered by laws or decrees fixing the date of cessation of hostilities. The similar provisionconcerning prisoners of war speaks of ‘the cessation of active hostilities’ and the wording of the paragraph hereshould be understood in the same sense.”). Refer to § 9.37.2 (Cessation of Active Hostilities).632 GC art. 133 (“Internees in the territory of a Party to the conflict, against whom penal proceedings are pending foroffences not exclusively subject to disciplinary penalties, may be detained until the close of such proceedings and, ifcircumstances require, until the completion of the penalty.”).633 GC art. 133 (“The same shall apply to internees who have been previously sentenced to a punishment deprivingthem of liberty.”).634 GC art. 134 (“The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour, upon the close of hostilities or occupation, to ensurethe return of all internees to their last place of residence, or to facilitate their repatriation.”).635 GC COMMENTARY 519 (“[I]t would be contrary to the spirit of the Convention if an internee could be forciblyrepatriated when he feared persecution in his country of origin for his political opinions or his religious beliefs. Insuch a case he would become a refugee, obliged to seek a new domicile in a country different from the one in whichhe is living.”).636 Refer to § 9.37.4.2 (POWs Who Resist Repatriation).732