THE PROTECTION OF WATER FACILITIES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

1,11

MB

55

stron

5736

ID

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

2004

rok

CONTENTS

Summary 1

1. Introduction 2

2. Examining the Relationship Between Water and Conflict 3

2.1. Water as a Cause of War, and Water as a Means of War 3

2.2. Selected Conflicts and the Impact on the Civilian Population 4

3. Protection of Water Facilities Under International Law 6

3.1. Prohibitions Relating to the Conduct of Hostilities: A Framework of International Law 6

3.1.1. International Conventions 7

3.1.2. The 1977 Protocols to the Geneva Conventions 9

3.1.3. Customary International Law 11

3.2. Principles 11

3.3. Prohibition on the Use of Poison 13

3.4. Prohibition on the Destruction of Property 13

3.5. Prohibition on the Destruction of Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Civilian

Population 14

3.6. Prohibition on Attacking Works and Installations Containing Dangerous Forces 15

3.7. Emerging Principles in the Protection of Water Facilities Under International Humanitarian Law

16

4. International Accountability 17

4.1. Accountability Mechanisms 17

4.2. International Criminal Tribunals 18

5. Mobile Water Delivery Systems: Vulnerability of Merchant Water Tankers 20

5.1. International Law of Naval Warfare 20

5.2. Arab-Israeli Conflicts: 1948-57, 1967, 1973, 1982 21

5.3. The Persian Gulf War between Iran and Iraq 22

5.4. Current Rules for Merchant Shipping 23

5.5. Water Tankers 24

6. Embargoes and the Impact on Water Facilities: Iraq 25

6.1. Background 25

6.2. The Sanctions 26

7. Terrorism and the Threat Against Water Facilities 26

7.1. Definitions 26

7.2. Weakness in the Existing Law 28

7.3. Protection of Critical Water Infrastructure 29

7.4. Scenario 30

8. Conclusions and Recommendations 30

8.1. Does the Existing Law Provide an Adequate Degree of Protection? 31

8.2. Recommendations 33

Annex 37

Draft Guidelines for Military Manuals and Instructions on

the Protection of Water Facilities in Times of Armed Conflict 37

I. Preliminary Remarks 37

II. General Principles of International Law 37

III. Specific Rules on the Protection Water Facilities 38

IV. Implementation and Dissemination 39

Sources of International Obligations Concerning the Protection of Water Facilities In Times of

Armed Conflict 39

Main International Treaties with Rules on the Protection of Water Facilities in Times of Armed

Conflict 39

Notes 41