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Territorial Control by Armed Groups and the Regulation of Access to Humanitarian Assistance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2017

Tom Gal
Tom Gal*
Affiliation:
PhD candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva (Switzerland)
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Abstract

Humanitarian assistance is essential for the survival of the civilian population and people hors de combat in the theatre of war. Its regulation under the laws of armed conflict tries to achieve a balance between humanitarian goals and state sovereignty. This balance, reflected in the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, is not as relevant to contemporary armed conflicts, most of which involve non-state armed groups. Even those provisions relating to humanitarian assistance in conflicts involving non-state armed groups fail to address properly the key features of these groups, and especially their territorial aspect. This article proposes a different approach, which takes into consideration and gives weight to the control exercised by non-state armed groups over a given territory. Accordingly, it is suggested that provisions regulating humanitarian relief operations in occupied territories should apply to territories controlled by armed groups. This approach views international humanitarian law first and foremost as an effective, realistic and practical branch of law. Moreover, it has tremendous humanitarian advantages and reflects the aims and purposes of the law, while considering the factual framework of these conflicts.

Keywords

humanitarian assistancenon-state armed groupsterritorial controloccupationFourth Geneva Convention
Type
Articles
Information
Israel Law Review , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , March 2017 , pp. 25 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and The Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2017 

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References

1 Bernard, Vincent, ‘Editorial: Understanding Armed Groups and the Law’ (2011) 93(882) International Review of the Red Cross 261 Google Scholar.

2 Sivakumaran, Sandesh, ‘How to Improve upon the Faulty Legal Regime of Internal Armed Conflicts’ in Cassese, Antonio (ed), Realizing Utopia: The Future of International Law (Oxford University Press 2012) 525 Google Scholar.

3 ibid.

4 ibid.

5 Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (entered into force 21 October 1950) 75 UNTS 31, art 3; Geneva Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea (entered into force 21 October 1950) 75 UNTS 85, art 3; Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (entered into force 21 October 1950) 75 UNTS 135, art 3; Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (entered into force 21 October 1950) 75 UNTS 287 (GC IV), art 3; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts of 8 June 1977 (AP II), as well as Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts of 8 June 1977 (AP I), in cases of national liberation movements.

6 Marco Sassòli, ‘When are States and Armed Groups Obliged to Accept Humanitarian Assistance’, Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection, 5 November 2013, https://phap.org/articles/when-are-states-and-armed-groups-obliged-accept-humanitarian-assistance.

7 eg, ‘Syria: UN Agencies Reach Families with Food in the Besieged Town of Darayya’, UN News Centre, 9 June 2016, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54191#.V2Ef2VeBK_0.

8 eg, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ‘Syria: Aid Convoy Turns Back after Being Refused Entry to Besieged Daraya: Joint Statement by the ICRC and the UN’, 12 May 2016, https://www.icrc.org/en/document/aid-convoy-turns-back-after-being-refused-entry-besieged-daraya. Unfortunately, the city of Aleppo is currently enduring a similar fate as the Syrian Army has confirmed the completion of the siege over the city: Human Rights Watch, ‘Syria: Civilians at Risk as Aleppo Siege Tightens’, 22 July 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/22/syria-civilians-risk-aleppo-siege-tightens; ICRC, ‘Situation in Aleppo “Devastating and Overwhelming” Says ICRC's Most Senior Official in Syria’, 21 July 2016, https://www.icrc.org/en/document/situation-aleppo-devastating-and-overwhelming-says-icrcs-most-senior-official-syria.

9 Bouchet-Saulnier, Françoise, ‘Consent to Humanitarian Access: An Obligation Triggered by Territorial Control not States' Rights’ (2015) 96(893) International Review of the Red Cross 207 Google Scholar, 208.

10 A problem emphasised in Bouchet-Saulnier, ibid.

11 Lattanzi, Flavia, ‘Humanitarian Assistance’ in Clapham, Andrew, Gaeta, Paola and Sassòli, Marco (eds), The 1949 Geneva Conventions: A Commentary (Oxford University Press 2015) 231 Google Scholar.

12 Institute of International Law, Resolution on Humanitarian Assistance, 16th Session, 2 September 2003, s I(1), http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/idrl/I318EN.pdf.

13 Lattanzi (n 11) 233.

14 ibid.

15 ibid 234.

16 ibid 235.

17 ibid.

18 Institute of International Law (n 12) s III(1).

19 Schwendimann, Felix, ‘The Legal Framework of Humanitarian Access in Armed Conflict’ (2011) 93(884) International Review of the Red Cross 993 Google Scholar, 996; see also UNGA Res 46/182 (19 December 1991), UN Doc A/RES/46/182, para 4.

20 Institute of International Law (n 12) s III(1).

21 As defined by GC IV (n 5) art 4.

22 ibid art 62.

23 Pictet, Jean S, Commentary: IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (ICRC 1958) 329 Google Scholar.

24 GC IV (n 5) art 60.

25 Stoffels, Ruth Abril, ‘Legal Regulation of Humanitarian Assistance in Armed Conflicts: Achievements and Gaps’ (2004) 86(855) International Review of the Red Cross 515 Google Scholar, 519.

26 ibid.

27 ibid 521.

28 Lattanzi (n 11) 235.

29 Reflected in r 55 of Henckaerts, Jean-Marie and Doswald-Beck, Louise (eds), Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol I: Rules (International Committee of the Red Cross and Cambridge University Press 2005, revised 2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar (ICRC Study); UNSC Res 824 (6 May 1993), UN Doc S/RES/824.

30 Institute of International Law (n 12) s III(2).

31 ibid s III(3).

32 Ryngaert, Cedric, ‘Humanitarian Assistance and the Conundrum of Consent: A Legal Perspective (2013) 5(2) Amsterdam Law Forum 5 Google Scholar, 8.

33 Institute of International Law (n 12) s II(1).

34 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (entered into force 23 March 1976) 999 UNTS 171 (ICCPR), art 6.

35 Stoffels (n 25) 517–18.

36 Barber, Rebecca, ‘Facilitating Humanitarian Assistance in International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law’ (2009) 91(874) International Review of the Red Cross 371 Google Scholar, 391.

37 International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (entered into force 3 January 1976) 993 UNTS 3 (ICESCR), art 11.

38 ibid art 2(2); Barber (n 36) 393.

39 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No 3: The Nature of States Parties Obligations (Art. 2, para 1 of the Covenant) (14 December 1990), UN Doc E/1991/23, especially para 13, which states: ‘The Committee notes that the phrase “to the maximum of its available resources” was intended by the drafters of the Covenant to refer to both the resources existing within a State and those available from the international community through international cooperation and assistance’; Barber (n 36) 393.

40 Lattanzi (n 11) 238.

41 Institute of International Law (n 12) s IV(1).

42 Stoffels (n 25) 521.

43 Institute of International Law (n 12) s IV(1).

44 AP I (n 5) art 70(1); Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v United States) Merits, Judgment [1986] ICJ Rep 14, [242]; see also Frits Kalshoven and Lisbeth Zegveld, Constraints on the Waging of War (ICRC 2001) 127–28.

45 UNSC Res 2165 (14 July 2014), UN Doc S/RES/2165, para 2.

46 UNSC, Report of the Secretary General on Protection for Humanitarian Assistance to Refugees and Others in Conflict Situations (22 September 1998), UN Doc S/1998/883, para 16.

47 ICRC Study (n 29) r 56.

48 Institute of International (n 12) s VII(3).

49 AP 1 (n 5) art 71(2).

50 Lattanzi (n 11) 248.

51 Stoffels (n 25) 521.

52 ibid 522; see also ICRC Study (n 29), rr 55 and 56.

53 Institute of International Law (n 12) s III(2).

54 Stoffels (n 25) 522.

55 Lattanzi (n 11) 247.

56 Ryngaert (n 32) 5.

57 Lattanzi (n 11) 242.

58 GC IV (n 5) art 23.

59 AP I (n 5) art 70(1).

60 AP II (n 5) art 18.

61 Dinstein, Yoram, ‘The Right to Humanitarian Assistance’ (2000) 53(4) Naval War College Review 77 Google Scholar, 84.

62 As explained by Lattanzi in her contribution, the difference in terms may and should be interpreted as imposing further obligations on states within the framework of AP I. As the meaning of the principle of consent is not the core subject matter of this article, these differences will not be explored further: Lattanzi (n 11) 242–43.

63 GC IV (n 5) art 23.

64 Pictet (n 23) 181–82.

65 ibid 183.

66 ibid.

67 AP I (n 5) art 70(1).

68 ibid.

69 Schwendimann (n 19) 999–1000; see also Pictet (n 23) 183.

70 Sandoz, Yves, Swinarski, Christoph and Zimmermann, Bruno (eds), Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 (ICRC and Martinus Nijhoff 1987)Google Scholar para 2824 (emphasises that the obligations apply to both ‘Parties to the conflict’ and other ‘High Contracting Parties’).

71 AP II (n 5) art 18(2).

72 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 4873.

73 Nicaragua (n 44) para 242.

74 Joakim Dungel, ‘A Right to Humanitarian Assistance in Internal Armed Conflicts Respecting Sovereignty, Neutrality and Legitimacy: Practical Proposals to Practical Problems’, The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, 15 May 2004, https://sites.tufts.edu/jha/archives/838.

75 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 4885.

76 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (entered into force 1 July 2002) 2187 UNTS 90 (ICC Statute).

77 Rottensteiner, Christa, ‘The Denial of Humanitarian Assistance as a Crime under International Law’ (1999) 81(835) International Review of the Red Cross 555 Google Scholar, 568.

78 Sivakumaran, Sandesh, The Law of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Oxford University Press 2012) 332 Google Scholar.

79 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 4884.

80 Sivakumaran (n 78) 332; Bothe, Michael, ‘Relief Actions: The Position of the Recipient State’ in Kalshoven, Frits (ed), Assisting the Victims of Armed Conflicts and Other Disasters (Martinus Nijhoff 1988) 91 Google Scholar, 94.

81 A good example would be the humanitarian talks held in Geneva with regard to Syrian cities under siege: see, among others, ‘Life-Saving Humanitarian Aid Reaches Five Besieged Towns in Syria’, UN News Centre, 17 February 2016, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53259#.V2Je2VeBK_0.

82 Sivakumaran (n 78) 332; Dungel (n 74); see also UNSC, Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflicts (26 November, 2002), UN Doc S/2002/1299, para 17.

83 Payam Akhavan and others, ‘There is no Legal Barrier for UN Cross Border Operations in Syria’, The Guardian, 28 April 2014, https:// www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/28/no-legal-barrier-un-cross-border-syria.

84 eg, Jeffrey Gettleman, ‘Somalis Waste Away as Insurgents Block Escape from Famine’, The New York Times, 1 August 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world/africa/02somalia.html.

85 Sivakumaran (n 78) 333.

86 ibid.

87 ibid 334.

88 Institute of International Law (n 12) s VIII(1).

89 Ryngaert (n 32) 9.

90 GC IV (n 5) art 59.

91 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 2790; AP I (n 5) art 70(1); see also Ryngaert (n 32) 6.

92 AP I (n 5) art 69(2).

93 GC IV (n 5) art 59 (emphasis added).

94 Pictet (n 23) 320.

95 ibid.

96 Dinstein, Yoram, The International Law of Belligerent Occupation (Cambridge University Press 2009) 192–93Google Scholar; Schwendimann (n 19) 1002.

97 GC IV (n 5) art 59.

98 ibid.

99 Pictet (n 23) 322.

100 ibid.

101 Dinstein (n 96) 193.

102 Schwendimann (n 19) 1002.

103 GC IV (n 5) art 147.

104 ICC Statute (n 76) art 8(2)(b)(xxv).

105 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 2806 (art 70(1), para 4884 (art 18(2).

106 eg, Barber (n 36), the examples given regarding Somalia and Darfur.

107 Sivakumaran (n 78) 332.

108 Schwendimann (n 19) 998.

109 Milano, Enrico, Unlawful Territorial Situations in International Law: Reconciling Effectiveness, Legality and Legitimacy (Martinus Nijhoff 2006) 66–67 Google Scholar.

110 GC IV (n 5) art 59.

111 Dinstein (n 96) 1–2; Milano (n 109) 96–97.

112 AP I (n 5) art 70(1).

113 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 2805.

114 ibid.

115 AP II (n 5) art 1(1).

116 Sivakumaran (n 78) 332.

117 See the requirements of AP II (n 5) art 1(1); Sivakumaran (n 78) 185–86.

118 Cassese, Antonio, ‘War of National Liberations and Humanitarian Law’ in Gaeta, Paola and Zappalà, Salvatore (eds), The Human Dimension of International Law (Oxford University Press 2008) 104 Google Scholar.

119 Pictet (n 23) 35–36; Akande, Dapo, ‘Classification of Armed Conflicts: Relevant Legal Concepts’ in Wilmshurst, Elizabeth (ed), International Law and the Classification of Conflicts (Oxford University Press 2012) 32 Google Scholar, 51; ICTY, Prosecutor v Boskoski, Trial Judgment, IT-04-82, 10 July 2008, paras 199–204.

120 eg, working definition provided by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gerard McHugh and Manuel Bessler, ‘Humanitarian Negotiations with Armed Groups: Guidelines for Practitioners’, UN OCHA in collaboration with members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), January 2006, https://www.unicef.org/emerg/files/guidelines_negotiations_armed_groups.pdf; the ICRC in Bernard (n 1) 262; Geneva Call – a Geneva-based non-governmental organisation dealing with compliance of non-state armed groups in Sjöberg, Anki, Armed Non-State Actors and Landmines – Vol III: Towards a Holistic Approach to Armed Non-State Actors? (Geneva Call and the Program for the Study of International Organization(s) 2007)Google Scholar.

121 Sivakumaran (n 78) 332.

122 ibid 529.

123 ibid 212–13; Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 67.

124 Dinstein (n 96) 192–93.

125 ibid.

126 Barber (n 36) 381; Sivakumaran (n 78) 333.

127 Milano (n 109) 43–44.

128 ibid 44–45.

129 Taki, Hiroshi, ‘Effectiveness’ in Wolfrum, Rüdiger (ed), The Max Plank Encyclopedia of Public International Law (Oxford University Press 2013)Google Scholar para 1, http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e698?rskey=sl00YH&result=1&prd=EPIL.

130 ibid para 3.

131 ibid para 4.

132 ibid paras 13–16.

133 ICTY, Prosecutor v Tadić, Judgment, IT-94-1-A, Appeals Chamber, 15 July 1999, para 96.

134 Dinstein (n 96) 2–3; Milano (n 109) 93.

135 Dinstein, ibid.

136 Milano (n 109) 92–93.

137 ibid.

138 AP II (n 5) art 1(1).

139 Pictet (n 23) 35–36.

140 Sivakumaran (n 78) 529.

141 ibid.

142 See, in particular, UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston, on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions (22 December 2004), UN Doc E/CN.4/2005/7, para 76; and UNGA, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (12 February 2014), UN Doc A/HRC/25/65.

143 Ronen, Yaël, ‘Human Rights Obligations of Territorial Non-State Actors’ (2013) 46 Cornell International Law Journal 21 Google Scholar, 31.

144 Rudolf, Beate, ‘Non-State Actors in Areas of Limited Statehood as Addressees of Public International Law on Governance’ (2010) 4 Human Rights and International Legal Discourse 127 Google Scholar, 139.

145 Sivakumaran (n 78) 530.

146 ibid.

147 Stoffels (n 25) 520–21.

148 Barber (n 36) 381.

149 eg, Sivakumaran (n 78) 530–31. Also, for a more in depth analysis of the legal capacity of non-state armed groups to exercise control over a territory see Gal, Tom, ‘The Unexplored Outcomes of Tadić: Applicability of the Law of Occupation to War by Proxy’ (2014) 12 Journal of International Criminal Justice 59 Google Scholar (in this respect the author argues that the level of control that needs to be exercised by the armed group should amount to effective control, as expressed by the ICTY (eg, ICTY, Prosecutor v Naletilić and Martinović, Judgment, IT-98-23-T, Trial Chamber, 31 March 2003).

150 AP II (n 5) art 1(1).

151 Lauterpacht, Hersch, Recognition in International Law (Cambridge University Press 1947) 176 Google Scholar.

152 Pictet (n 23) 36.

153 Prosecutor v Boskoski (n 119) para 202.

154 AP II (n 5) art 1(1).

155 Prosecutor v Boskoski (n 119) para 205; Sivakumaran (n 78) 189.

156 Dinstein (n 96) 34. See also GC IV (n 5) art 6 and Hague Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its Annex: Regulation concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, Martens Nouveau Recueil (ser 3) 461 (entered into force 26 January 1910) art 42.

157 Dinstein (n 96).

158 ibid.

159 Prosecutor v Tadić (n 133); Gal (n 149).

160 Gal (n 149).

161 Lauterpacht (n 151) 176.

162 Prosecutor v Naletilić and Martinović (n 149) paras 220–22.

163 Rudolf (n 144) 139; Milano (n 109) 93, 128.

164 AP I (n 5) art 1(1) (emphasis added).

165 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 2793.

166 Kalshoven and Zegveld (n 44) 127–28.

167 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) para 2793.

168 Dinstein (n 96) 34.

169 Commentary on the Additional Protocols (n 70) 813, para 2786.

170 See declaration of the Polisario made under AP I, art 96(3): Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Notification to the Governments of the States Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the Protection of War Victims’, 26 June 2015, https://www.eda.admin.ch/content/dam/eda/fr/documents/aussenpolitik/voelkerrecht/geneve/150626-GENEVE_en.pdf.

171 GC IV (n 5) art 59; Pictet (n 23) 322–23.

172 Barber (n 36) 385.

173 Sivakumaran (n 78) 332.

174 Rudolf (n 144) 140–43, founding this proposition on International Law Commission (ILC), Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, with Commentaries (2001), UN Doc A/56/10 (ILC Articles), art 9. This idea is expressed and applied specifically to the context of humanitarian assistance by Ryngaert (n 32) 18.

175 Rudolf, ibid.

176 ILC Articles (n 174) 49.

177 ibid.

178 Ryngaert (n 32) 18.

179 ibid.

180 ibid.

181 ibid.

182 Sivakumaran (n 78) 332.

183 ibid 531.

184 Gal (n 149).

185 ICC, Prosecutor v Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, Decision on the Confirmation of Charges against Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, ICC-01/12-01/15, Pre-Trial Chamber, 1 March 2016.

186 Rudolf (n 144); Ronen (n 143).