Abstract
The objective of this paper is to examine the specific provisions, within the framework of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), that protect the human right to food of the civilian population and to observe to what extent the protection of access to food is an issue taken into account by IHL during the development of an armed conflict. Answering these questions requires a detailed analysis of this branch of international law, in order to identify the specific rules of IHL that aim, directly or indirectly, to ensure that civilians do not see denied their access to food during the armed conflict, whether international or non-international. In many armed conflicts, a greater number of civilians die from food deprivation than as a direct result of hostilities. In this sense, the Statute of the International Criminal Court criminalizes those acts that, during the armed conflict, violate IHL prohibitions related to food issues, thus we will also mention them, with the aim of clarifying the possible individual criminal responsibility attributed to those who carry out such acts. The scientific method that has been used in this work is the legal-sociological method, insofar as it is the one that we consider most appropriate for the multidisciplinary approach, always from the legal point of view, regarding the understanding of the rules, the lack of them, their effectiveness, their rationale, etc. This method is based on the idea that law cannot be studied as an isolated domain but must be analysed as part of social reality. The elaboration of this work, with a multidisciplinary object, has also required the use of several methodological techniques, such as social and legal analysis, legal deduction and induction, description and interdisciplinarity.
Highlights
The objective of this paper is to examine the specific provisions, within the framework of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), that protect the human right to food of the civilian population and to observe to what extent the protection of access to food is an issue taken into account by IHL during the development of an armed conflict
We understand that the provisions of IHL that protect the right to food reinforce the protection provided on food issues by international law, especially international human rights law
Since access to food is linked to the dignity of each individual and protected as a fundamental human right, it is clear that what is prohibited in time of war, in relation to food issues, is a fortiori, prohibited in peacetime
Summary
Contrary to popular belief, during situations of armed conflict more people die directly due to lack of food and illnesses than bullets and bombs. 2. The rules of International Humanitarian Law that protect access to food for the civilian population during the development of the armed conflict. While IHL does not mention the “right to food” or “food security,” as such, many of its provisions are intended to ensure that people are not denied access to food during the armed conflict (Pejic, 2001; Kracht, 2003). Some of these provisions impose preventive measures, while others apply to humanitarian and relief assistance once preventive measures fail. Preventive rules include, for example, the prohibition of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, the prohibition to destroy foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and other goods that are essential to the survival of the civilian population, the prohibition on forced displacement and the prohibition of attacks against the natural environment
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