text: Civilians
  Special Zones
  5-47. States may establish hospital and safety zones and localities to protect certain persons from the effects
  of war, namely, wounded, sick, and aged persons, children under the age of 15, expectant mothers, and
  mothers of children under the age of 7. Parties to a conflict may conclude agreements on the mutual
  recognition of the hospital zones and localities they have created, drawing upon model agreements that are
  annexed to the 1949 Geneva Conventions (GC art. 14). The establishment of a zone only binds an adverse
  party when it agrees to recognize the zone (see DOD Law of War Manual, 5.14.3.1).
  5-48. Parties to a conflict may conclude similar agreements to establish neutralized zones to shelter: (1)
  wounded and sick combatants and non-combatants; and (2) civilians who take no part in hostilities and who,
  while they reside in the zones, perform no work of a military character (GC art. 15).
  CHILDREN AND OTHER SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CIVILIANS
  5-49. In an international armed conflict, the parties to the conflict must take the necessary measures to ensure
  that children under the age of 15 who are orphaned or who are separated from their families as a result of
  war, are not left to their own resources, and that their maintenance, the exercise of their religion, and their
  education are facilitated in all circumstances (GC art. 24). The maintenance of the children concerned means
  their feeding, clothing, and accommodation, care for their health, and, where necessary, medical and hospital
  treatment (see DOD Law of War Manual, 4.20.1.1).
  5-50. Their education must, as far as possible, be entrusted to persons of a similar cultural tradition.
  5-51. The parties to the conflict must facilitate the reception of such children in a neutral country for the
  duration of the conflict with the consent of the protecting power, if any, and under due safeguards for the
  observance of the above principles. The parties to the conflict must, furthermore, endeavor to arrange for all
  children under the age of 12 to be identified by the wearing of identity discs, or by some other means (GC
  art. 24).
  5-52. Finally, parties to the conflict should enable personal communications between persons in their home
  territory or in the territory occupied by them and other members of such protected persons’ families, including
  possibly with the cooperation of national Red Cross societies (GC art. 25, 26).
  Children and Their Mothers under Additional Protocol I
  5-53. Although the United States is not bound by Additional Protocol I, it contains several provisions that
  grant enhanced protection to children and their mothers; these provisions should guide Army/Marine Corps
  practice. For example, pregnant women and mothers having “dependent infants” who are arrested, detained,
  or interned for reasons related to the armed conflict are to have their cases considered with the “utmost
  priority” (consider AP I art. 76).
  5-54. Additionally, Additional Protocol I provides children shall be the object of “special respect” and must
  be protected against any form of indecent assault (consider AP I art. 77). Furthermore, the States Party to the
  conflict are to provide such children with the care and aid they require (consider AP I arts. 70, 77). No party
  to the conflict shall arrange for the evacuation of children, other than its own nationals, to a foreign country
  except for a temporary evacuation when compelling reasons of the health or medical treatment of the children
  or, except in occupied territory, their safety so require. When the parents or legal guardians can be found,
  their written consent to such an evacuation is required. If they cannot be found, the written consent to the
  evacuation of the persons who by law or custom are primarily responsible for the care of the children is
  required. Any such evacuation must be supervised by the protecting power in agreement with the parties
  concerned, namely, the party arranging for the evacuation, the party receiving the children, and any parties
  whose nationals are being evacuated. In each case, all parties to the conflict must take all feasible precautions
  to avoid endangering the evacuation. If children are evacuated, their education, including their religious and
  moral education as their parents’ desire, must be provided while they are away with the greatest possible
  continuity. Furthermore, if children are evacuated, the party arranging for the evacuation and, as appropriate,
  the authorities of the receiving State must establish for each child a card with photographs, which they must
  send to the Central Tracing Agency of the ICRC (consider AP I art. 78).