The environment as a military target: How does international humanitarian law protect the environment during international armed conflicts?

Abstract

Since the end of the Vietnam war, it has begun to be widely acknowledged that military tactics during armed conflicts can have devastating and long-lasting impacts on the environment. Environmental impacts of war became more discussed among states and the subjects of meetings at international bodies including the UN. As a result of this, the first legal instruments under international humanitarian law (IHL) to directly mention the environment were drafted and adopted. This marks a change in attitude to these issues, but since the adoption of these provisions, little has been done to enforce them and the corpus juris has not been expanded further. In fact, these provisions have not been the subject of any jurisprudence from international legal bodies. This research is focused on the applicability and effectiveness of those provisions from the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions that deal directly with environmental harms and the potential applicability of the general principles guiding IHL to this issue. Doctrinal legal research into this area of IHL and principles, along with a case study on the international armed conflicts of Afghanistan are used to carry out a critical analysis of legal materials and the legal framework. The thesis examines the content of the black letter law in this area along with the context for the development of these rules and their application so far. Several weaknesses and potential gaps in the existing protective framework are identified and discussed with Afghanistan as a background. The reason for these gaps is also addressed and potential measures to close and remediate gaps and increase the effectiveness of protection are discussed.