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Water resources during armed conflicts
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As we see the toll taken on the civilian population by the war in Iraq, taking stock of tools protecting water resources and facilities during wartime appears more urgent than ever.
Water: a military weapon and target during armed conflictsBecause it is indispensable to life, water is often at stake during armed conflicts.
 Since ancient times, the destruction of water resources and facilities have been used as weapons against the enemy. History is full of such examples from all over the world, showing a great variety of ways and means to use water in military conflicts. To quote but few of them:
- in 596 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar breached the aqueduct that supplied the city of Tyre in order to end a long siege
- in 1503, Leonardo da Vinci and Machiavelli planned to divert the Arno River away from Pisa during a conflict between Pisa and Florence
- in 1938, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the destruction of flood-control dikes on a section of the Yellow River in order to flood areas threatened by the Japanese army. The flood did destroy part of the invading army, but also between 10 000 and 1 million Chinese people
- during World War II (1940-1945), hydroelectric dams were routinely bombed as strategic targets
- during the Vietnam War (1960s), many dikes were destroyed or damaged by systematic bombing. North Vietnam claimed a death toll of 2 to 3 million inhabitants due to the drowning or starvation that resulted from these attacks.
- in 1999, in Kosovo, water supplies and wells were contaminated by Serbs. The same year, a bomb blast destroyed the main pipleine in Lusaka, Zambia, cutting off water to the city and its 3 million inhabitants.
The end of the twentieth Century has shown increasing threats to water resources and facilities, especially in Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. The vulnerability of water delivery systems in times of armed conflicts is increasing with modern water facilities systems, interconnected with electricity systems, that are often primary targets in wartime. Civilian population are the first to suffer from the disruption of water supply - and in some cases thirst has proved to be more deadly than guns. The nature of conflicts has also changed, with more and more intra- rather than interstate conflicts, and the rise of terrorism. How does international law answer to the need to protect both water resources and the civilian population during such conflicts?
The protection of water during armed conflicts: legal tools International humanitarian law is applied during armed conflict: it is intended to protect people who are not or are no longer taking part in the hostilities, and to restrict the methods and means of warfare. It is based on various texts including the Geneva Convention (signed in 1949), designed to safeguard civilians, and the Hague Convention (signed in 1907), which establishes the rights and obligations of belligerents in the conduct of military operations, and limits the means of harming the enemy. But, whereas law in time of peace includes several rules related to water, international humanitarian law doesn’t include any legal regime regarding water. Still, the Hague Convention stipulates two prohibitions, that are indirectly related to the protection of water resources:
- it is forbidden ‘to employ poison or poisoned weapons’ (article 23 (a))
- it is forbidden ‘to destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war’.
The adoption in 1977 of two additional Protocols that included statements more directly related to water, expressed significant innovation – at that time, people had witnessed the tremendous environmental destructiveness in Vietnam, as a result of the United States’ use of chemicals and defoliants.
- Protocol I (art. 54) prohibits, ‘whatever the motive’, the attacking, destroying, removing of ‘objects indispensable to the survival’ of civilian population, such as ‘drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works’.
- Protocol I (art. 56) prohibits attacks against ‘works and installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations’.
To what extent can these tools be applied?Many obstacles prevent the application of these laws:
- water is not expressly mentioned in any of the laws. It is considered part of environmental issues, thus given a very vague status in terms of protection.
- the 1977 Protocols were not been ratified by all States. Protocol I was ratified by 159 states, but unanimity was not reached, and politically strong countries, such as USA, were opposed to its ratification.
- new forms of conflicts – terrorism and internal conflicts - do not come under the scope of the international humanitarian law.
- there is no effective international authority to apply these laws.
The establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) offers hope. The Court came into existence in July 2002, to adjudicate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of international humanitarian law. But this body doesn’t have the support of the USA, which may greatly weaken its effectiveness.
In November 2002, access to water was declared a human right with the adoption of the General Comment on the right to water, adopted by the Convenant on Economic and Cultural Rights (CESCR). The 145 countries which have ratified the International CESCR will now be compelled to progressively ensure that everyone has access to safe and secure drinking water, equitably without discrimination – and in time of peace. Let’s hope that this can have an impact on meeting the basic needs of people in time of warfare…
Key documentsGeneva Convention: Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
The Hague Convention: Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Hague, 18 October 1907.
Protocol I: Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts , 8 June 1977.
Protocol II: Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, 8 June 1977.
Information based on:
PCCP website
ICRC website
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