1 See Starr, Joyce R., ‘Water wars’, in Foreign Policy, No. 82, 1991, pp. 17–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar; John Bulloch and Adil Darwish (eds), Water Wars: Coming Conflicts in the Middle East, Victor Gallanz, London, 1993.

2 Wolf, Aaron T., ‘Conflict and cooperation along international waterways’, in Water Policy, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1998, pp. 251–265CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 The adoption of more than 3,600 international water agreements is suggested as evidence of co-operation on water resources. See Jesse H. Hammer and Wolf, Aaron T., ‘Patterns in international water resource treaties: the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database’, in Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy, Vol. 9, 1998, pp. 157–177Google Scholar.

4 See Zeitoun, Mark and Mirumachi, Naho, ‘Transboundary water interaction I: reconsidering conflict and cooperation’, in International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Vol. 8, No. 4, 2008, pp. 297–316CrossRefGoogle Scholar; David Philips, Marwa Daoudy, Stephen McCaffrey, Joachim Ojendal, and Antony Turton, Transboundary Water Cooperation as a Tool for Conflict Prevention and for Broader Benefit-Sharing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden, Stockholm, 2006, p. 15; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report, Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis, 2006, p. 203, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR06-complete.pdf (last visited 27 September 2010); UNESCO–Green Cross International Initiative, Water Security and Peace: A Synthesis of Studies Prepared under the PCCP–Water for Peace Process, compiled by William J. Cosgrove, pp. 9–18, available at: http://www.unwater.org/wwd09/downloads/133318e.pdf (last visited 24 September 2010).

5 Eckstein, Gabriel, ‘A hydrogeological perspective of the status of ground water resources under the UN Watercourse Convention’, in Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005, pp. 558–561Google Scholar.

6 On the role of water as a strategic resource indispensable for pursuing economic and social development in a state, see Frédéric Lasserre and Luc Descroix, Eaux et territoires: Tensions, coopérations et géopolitiques de l'eau, 2nd edition, Presses de l'Université du Québec, Canada, 2005, pp. 17–32.

7 However, there are a few studies that have been devoted to this topic: see Water and War: Symposium on Water in Armed Conflict, Montreux 21–23 November 1994, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva, 1994; Zemmali, Ameur, ‘La protection de l'eau en période de conflit armé’, in International Review of the Red Cross, No. 815, 1995, pp. 601–615Google Scholar; Boutruche, Théo, ‘Le statut de l'eau en droit international humanitaire’, in International Review of the Red Cross, No. 840, 2000, pp. 887–915CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Jorgensen, Nicolai, ‘The protection of freshwater in armed conflict’, in Journal of International Law and International Relations, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2007, pp. 57–96Google Scholar.

8 On the degradation of freshwater resources, see WWF, World's Top Ten Rivers at Risk, 2007, available at: http://www.unwater.org/downloads/worldstop10riversatriskfinalmarch13_1.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

9 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a technical paper on climate change and water in 2008. The paper indicates that ‘[t]here is abundant evidence from observational records and climate projections that freshwater resources are vulnerable and have the potential to be strongly impacted by climate change’. It also notes that, although water agreements improve transboundary water management, ‘[c]limate change and increased water demand in future decades will represent an added challenge to such framework agreements, increasing the potential for conflict at the local level. For instance, unilateral measures for adapting to climate-change-related water shortages can lead to increased competition for water resources’. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change and Water, Technical paper VI, 2008, p. 135 and p. 66 respectively, available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/climate-change-water-en.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010). See also the Annex to the Letter dated 5 April 2007 from the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, S/2007/186, para. 7(b) and (d) and the Secretary-General's Statement at the Security Council debate on energy, security and climate, New York, 17 April 2007, available at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/search_full.asp?statID=79 (last visited 7 September 2010).

10 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Climate Change and the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation, Position Paper, 2010, pp. 18–20, available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/iexpert/docs/Climate_Change_Right_Water_Sanitation.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010). See also Eckstein, Gabriel, ‘Water scarcity, conflict, and security in a climate change world: challenges and opportunities for international law and policy’, in Wisconsin Journal of International Law, Vol. 27, 2010, pp. 409–461Google Scholar.

11 UNEP, Sudan: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment, 2007, p. 84, available at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Sudan.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

12 The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, indicated in his statement to the Security Council on 7 July 2010 that ‘[a]rmed conflict … is often the result of a lack of good governance, competition for scarce resources, the complex interaction of factors including ethnicity, or all of these combined. Climate change, desertification and land disputes can be additional drivers of conflict’. Secretary-General, SG/SM/130003, SC/9974, 7 July 2010, available at: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2010/sgsm13003.doc.htm (last visited 7 September 2010). The former Britain Defence Secretary, Mr. John Reid, pointed out the linkages between the risks of violent conflicts, climate change, and lack of access to water supplies. See Ben Russell and Nigel Morris, ‘Armed forces are put on standby to tackle threats of wars over water’, in The Independent, online edition, 28 February 2006, available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/armed-forces-are-put-on-standby-to-tackle-threat-of-wars-over-water–467974.html (last visited 7 September 2010).

13 For example Arthur H. Westing affirms that ‘competition for limited supplies of fresh water … leads to severe political tensions and even to war’. Arthur H. Westing, ‘Environmental factors in strategic policy and action: an overview’, in Arthur H. Westing (ed.), Global Resources and International Conflict: Environmental Factors in Strategic Policy and Action, Oxford University Press, New York, 1986, p. 9. In this book see also the article of Malin Falkenmark, ‘Fresh waters as a factor in strategic policy and action’, in A. H. Westing, ibid., pp. 85–113. See also Jessica Mathews, Tuchman, ‘Redefining security’, in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 68, No. 2, 1989, pp. 162–177CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

14 See Remans, Wilfried, ‘Water and war’, in Humanitäres Völkerrecht, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1995, pp. 1–14Google Scholar; Miriam R. Lowi, Water and Power: The Politics of a Scarce Resource in the Jordan River Basin, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995; Christian Chesnot, La bataille de l'eau au Proche-Orient, L'Harmattan, Paris, 1993.

15 Tony Allan, ‘Avoiding war over natural resources’, ICRC Forum, Water and War, 1998, p. 17.

16 For example, the 1967 Six Day War has been studied as a conflict over the control of the access to water resources situated in the West Bank and the Golan Heights. The invasion of Lebanon in 1982 has also been analysed as a conflict over the control of the Litani river. See John K. Cooley, ‘The war over water’, in Foreign Policy, No. 54, 1984, pp. 3–26. See also J. R. Starr, above note 1, p. 19.

17 See Homer-Dixon, Thomas F., ‘On the threshold: environmental changes as causes of acute conflict ’, in International Security, Vol. 16, No. 2, 1991, pp. 76–116CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Homer-Dixon, Thomas F., ‘Environmental scarcities and violent conflict: evidence from cases’, in International Security, Vol. 19, No. 1, 1994, pp. 5–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

18 Thomas F. Homer-Dixon, ‘The myth of global water wars’, ICRC Forum, Water and War, 1998, pp. 10–15.

19 See Leb, Christina, ‘Changing paradigms: the impact of water securitization on international water law’, in Il Politico, Vol. 221, No. 2, 2009, pp. 113–128Google Scholar.

20 The researchers of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and of the Swiss Peace Foundation established the Environment and Conflicts Project, which analyses the root causes of armed conflict, including water shortages. See Stephan Libiszewski, Water Disputes in the Jordan Basin Region and their Role in the Resolution of the Arab–Israeli Conflict, Occasional Paper No. 13, 1995, available at: http://www.mideastweb.org/Mew_water95.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

21 Toset, Hans Petter Wollebaek, Gleditsch, Nils Petter, and Hegre, Håvard, ‘Shared rivers and interstate conflict’, in Political Geography, Vol. 19, No. 8, 2000, pp. 971–996CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 Ken Conca, Governing Water: Contentious Transnational Politics and Global Institution Building, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006, pp. 167–255.

23 Postel, Sandra L. and Wolf, Aaron T., ‘Dehydrating conflict’, in Foreign Policy, No. 126, September–October 2001, pp. 60–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Chronology of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, available at: http://www.worldwater.org/conflict/list/ (last visited 7 September 2010).

25 See, inter alia, UNEP and United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Balkan Task Force, The Kosovo Conflict: Consequences for the Environment & Human Settlements, 1999, pp. 59–62, available at: http://www.grid.unep.ch/btf/final/finalreport.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010); UNEP, Desk Study on the Environment in Iraq, 2003, pp. 28–33, available at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/Iraq_DS.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010); UNEP, Desk Study on the Environment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, 2003, pp. 20–41, available at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/INF-31-WebOPT.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010); UNEP, Afghanistan: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment, 2003, pp. 49–62, available at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/afghanistanpcajanuary2003.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010); UNEP, Lebanon: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment, 2006, pp. 110–129, available at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Lebanon.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

26 See A. H. Westing, above note 13, p. 6f.; J. K. Cooley, above note 16, p. 5.

27 On the economic aspects, see Laurence de Chazournes, Boisson, ‘Collective security and the economic interventionism of the UN: the need for a coherent and integrated approach’, in Journal of International Economic Law, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2007, pp. 51–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 The concepts of ‘environmental security’ and ‘human security’ support the inclusion of issues related to the protection of natural resources and vital human needs in the context of international peace and security. See Hulme, Karen, ‘Environmental security: implications for international law’, in Yearbook of International Environmental Law, Vol. 19, 2008, pp. 3–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Barbara von Tigerstrom, ‘International law and the concept of human security’, in Ustinia Dolgopol and Judith Gardam (eds), The Challenges of Conflict: International Law Responds, Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden/Boston, 2006, pp. 599–616; Hans Günter Brauch, Environment and Human Security: Towards Freedom from Hazard Impacts, InterSecTions Paper No. 2, United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) Publication, Bonn, 2005, available at: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/file/get/4031 (last visited 7 September 2010).

29 Jo Stigen and Ole Kristian Fauchald, ‘Environmental security’, in Cecilia M. Bailliet (ed.), Security: A Multidisciplinary Normative Approach, International Humanitarian Law series, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Vol. 26, 2009, pp. 324–331.

30 ‘Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment’, Stockholm, 16 June 1972, preambular para. 6, in International Legal Materials (ILM), Vol. 11, 1972, p. 1416CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=97&articleid=1503 (last visited 7 September 2010).

31 ‘The Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe’, Helsinki, 1 August 1975, in ILM, Vol. 14, p. 1292Google Scholar (Helsinki Declaration), available at: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/osce/basics/finact75.htm (last visited 7 September 2010).

32 Peter H. Liotta, ‘Military and environmental security: revisiting the concepts in the Euro-Mediterranean’, in Hans G. Brauch, Peter H. Liotta, Antonio Marquina, Paul F. Rogers, and Mohammad El-Sayed Selim (eds), Security and Environment in the Mediterranean: Conceptualising Security and Environmental Conflicts, Berlin, Springer, 2003, p. 303.

33 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future, transmitted to the General Assembly as Annex to UN Doc. A/42/427, 4 August 1987, paras. 12–13 and 15, available at: http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm (last visited 7 September 2010).

34 ‘Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development’, Rio de Janeiro, 14 June 1992, in ILM, Vol. 31, 1992, p. 876Google Scholar (Rio Declaration), available at: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=78&articleid=1163 (last visited 7 September 2010).

35 Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to the statement adopted by the Summit Meeting of the Security Council on 31 January 1992, An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-keeping, UN Doc. A/47/277, para. 5.

36 See infra on the contribution of human rights law on this theme.

37 Ministerial Declaration of The Hague on Water Security in the 21st Century, 22 March 2000, http://www.gdrc.org/uem/water/hague-declaration.html (last visited 7 September 2010).

38 For a definition of human security see UNDP, Human Development Report, New Dimensions of Human Security, 1994, pp. 22–23, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1994_en_chap2.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010). On the role of water in the concept of human security see Commission on Human Security, Human Security Now, 2003, p. 15, available at: http://www.humansecurity-chs.org/finalreport/English/FinalReport.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

39 The approach that the security of people contributes to peace has been taken into account in the 2006 Report on the Prevention of Armed Conflict, which affirms that: ‘Bringing communities together to tackle humanitarian concerns such as food insecurity, water supplies, health and the needs of children can also serve a conflict-prevention purpose by opening avenues for dialogue and mutual cooperation’. Report of the Secretary-General, Progress Report on the Prevention of Armed Conflict, A/60/891, 18 July 2006, para. 35. See also Report of the Secretary-General on the Implementation of the Security Council Resolution 1625 (2005) on Conflict Prevention, particularly in Africa, S/2008/18, 14 January 2008, para. 29.

40 Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, annexed to General Assembly resolution A/59/565/, 2 December 2004, para. 3, available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/gaA.59.565_En.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

41 S. Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong, Human Security and the UN: A Critical History, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2006, p. 10.

42 D. Philips et al., above note 4, p. 20.

43 It should be noted that calls have been made to use carefully the concepts of ‘threats’ and ‘security’. Both concepts are particularly important when one considers the powers of the Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. See Marco Sassòli, ‘The concept of security in international law relating to armed conflicts’, in C. M. Bailliet (ed.), above note 29, pp. 7–17. Some authors have analysed in which situations the threats to the environment can be characterized as a ‘threat to peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression’ according to Article 39 of the UN Charter. See Knight, Alexandra, ‘Global environmental threats: can the security council protect our Earth?’, in New York University Law Review, Vol. 80, 2005, pp. 1549–1585Google Scholar.

44 See, inter alia, Security Council resolution 1625, adopting the ‘declaration on strengthening the effectiveness of the Security Council's role in conflict prevention, particularly in Africa’, stressing the need to adopt a broad strategy of conflict prevention that includes the ‘root causes of armed conflict and political and social crisis’ and the promotion of ‘sustainable development’, UN Security Council resolution 1625, 14 September 2005, S/RES/1625. In this regard see J. Stigen and O. K. Fauchald, above note 29, pp. 324–331.

45 Article 24 of the UN Charter.

46 General Armistice Agreement between Israel and Syria, 20 July 1949, in United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS), Vol. 42, 1949, p. 327Google Scholar.

47 In its resolution of 18 May 1951, the Security Council decided that no project ‘involving the transfer of persons across international frontiers, across armistice lines or within the demilitarized zone’ should be realized ‘without prior decision of the Chairman of the Mixed Armistice Commission’. It should be noted that, in making this request, the Security Council did not act under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Security Council resolution 93, 18 May 1951, S/2157. See also Jean-Louis, Victor, ‘Les eaux du Jourdain’, in Annuaire Français de Droit International, Vol. 11, 1965, p. 837CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

48 Security Council resolution 446 (1979), 22 March 1979, S/RES/446 (1979), para. 4.

49 Security Council resolution 465 (1980), 1 March 1980, S/RES/465 (1980), preamble.

50 Ibid., para. 8.

51 Report of the Security Council Commission established under Resolution 446 (1979), 25 November 1980, UN Doc. S/14268, para. 239, available at: http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/6956B6BC3E956094852563B7005AC2BD (last visited 7 September 2010).

52 On the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) see, for example, Security Council resolutions 1565 (2004), 1 October 2004, S/RES/1565 (2004), para. 22; and 1533 (2004), 12 March 2004, S/RES/1533, para. 6. On the conflict in Liberia see, for example, Security Council resolutions 1509 (2003), 19 September 2003, S/RES/1509, para. 3(r); and 1854 (2008), 19 December 2008, S/RES/1854, preamble. On the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire see, for example, Security Council resolution 1643 (2005), 15 December 2005, S/RES/1643, para. 9(b).

53 See Security Council resolutions 1170 (1998), 28 May 1998, S/RES/1170, para. 1; 1265 (1999), 17 September 1999, S/RES/1265, preamble; 1318 (2000), 7 September 2000, S/RES/1318, preamble; 1366 (2001), 30 August 2001, S/RES/1366, para. 21; 1674 (2006), 28 April 2006, S/RES/1674, para. 1.

54 See Security Council resolution 1645, 20 December 2005, S/RES/1645, para. 2(b); and General Assembly resolution 60/180, 30 December 2005, A/RES/60/180, para. 2(b). See also General Assembly resolution 60/1, 24 October 2005, A/RES/60/1, paras. 97–105.

55 Statement made by the President of the Security Council, 25 June 2007, UN Doc. S/PRST/2007/22.

56 According to the UN Charter, the General Assembly ‘may discuss any questions or any matters within the scope of the present Charter’, and the Economic and Social Council ‘may make or initiate studies and reports with respect to international economic, social, cultural, educational, health and related matters and may make recommendations with respect to any such matters to the General Assembly, to the Members of the United Nations, and to the specialized agencies concerned’. Articles 10 and 62 of the UN Charter.

57 See Pierre-Dupuy, Marie, ‘Sécurité collective et organisation de la paix’, in Revue Générale de Droit International Public, Vol. 97, 1993, pp. 623–624Google Scholar.

58 See Carl Bruch, David Jensen, Mikiyasu Nakayama, Jon Unruh, Rebecca Gruby, and Wolfarth, Ross, ‘Post-conflict Peace Building and Natural Resources’, in Yearbook of International Environmental Law, Vol. 19, 2008, pp. 70–73Google Scholar and 80–82.

59 See Amnesty International, Troubled Waters: Palestinians Denied Fair Access to Water: Israel-Occupied Palestinian Territories, October 2009, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/027/2009/en/e9892ce4-7fba-469b-96b9-c1e1084c620c/mde150272009en.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010); UNEP, Desk Study on the Environment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, above note 25.

60 UNEP and United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), above note 25, pp. 59–62.

61 For a definition see UNDP, above note 38, p. 23.

62 Articles 20(1), 26(3), 29(3,) and 46(3) of the Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949 (hereafter Third Geneva Convention); Articles 85(3), 89(3), and 127(2) of the Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 (hereafter Fourth Geneva Convention).

63 According to Article 52(1) of Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) of 8 June 1977 (hereafter Additional Protocol I): ‘Civilian objects are all objects which are not military objectives as defined in paragraph 2’. See also Yoram Dinstein, The Conduct of Hostilities Under the Law of International Armed Conflict, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010, paras. 303–305.

64 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II) of 8 June 1977 (hereafter Additional Protocol II).

65 Additional Protocol I, Art. 54(2), and Additional Protocol II, Art. 14. On the content of those provisions in international humanitarian law, see T. Boutruche, above note 7, pp. 887–915. Moreover, attacks against civilian objects, and in particular objects that are indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, are classified as war crimes. See Article 8(2)(b)(ii) and (xxv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) of 17 July 1998, A/CONF.138/9 (hereafter Rome Statute).

66 Yves Sandoz, Christophe Swinarski, and Bruno Zimmermann (eds), Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1987 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 (hereafter Commentary AP), ICRC/Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Geneva, 1977, paras. 2103 and 4802.

67 Henry Shue and Wippman, David, ‘Limiting attacks on dual-use facilities performing indispensable civilian functions’, in Cornell International Law Journal, Vol. 35, 2002, p. 573Google Scholar.

68 In this respect, see the prudent position of Y. Dinstein, above note 63, para. 535.

69 See Additional Protocol I, Art. 54(3) and (5).

70 Commentary AP, above note 66, paras. 2109–2112 and 2116–2123.

71 An example is the award of the Eritrea–Ethiopia Claims Commission, established under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), analysing an Ethiopian military operation against a water reservoir in Eritrea. Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, Western Front, Aerial Bombardment and Related Claims: Eritrea's Claims 1, 3, 5, 9–13, 14, 21, 25 & 26, Partial Award, 19 December 2005, paras. 98–105, available at: http://www.pca-cpa.org/upload/files/FINAL%20ER%20FRONT%20CLAIMS.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

72 Additional Protocol I, Art. 56(1) and Additional Protocol II, Art. 15. The regime of protection conferred to the installations containing dangerous forces is completed by Article 85(3)(c) of Additional Protocol I, which considers attacks against such objects as grave breaches.

73 The protection against attack will cease only if a dam or a dyke ‘is used for other than its normal function and in regular, significant and direct support of military operations and if such attack is the only feasible way to terminate such support’ (Additional Protocol I, Art. 56(2)(a)).

74 Additional Protocol I, Art. 56(3).

75 International Court of Justice (ICJ), Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda), Application Instituting Proceedings, filed in the Registry of the Court on 23 June 1999, pp. 15 and 17, available at: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/116/7151.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

76 In its memorial, the DRC affirms that the Inga dam generates electricity for the town of Kinshasa and that taking possession of the Inga dam and causing power cuts had ‘catastrophic’ impacts on both the town and the surrounding area. Article 56 of Additional Protocol I was not, however, mentioned in the memorial submitted by the DRC. ICJ, Memorial, July 2000, p. 65, available at: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/116/8321.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

77 Additional Protocol I, Art. 56(1), first sentence.

78 In this regard, see International Law Commission (ILC), Second Report on Shared Natural Resources, by Mr. Chusei Yamada, Special Rapporteur, 9 March 2004, A/CN.4/539, para. 25.

79 See Karen Hulme, War Torn Environment: Interpreting the Legal Threshold, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2004, p. 300.

80 The same adjectives are also used in Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the Rome Statute.

81 Commentary AP, above note 66, para. 1452.

82 See Final Report to the Prosecutor by the Committee established to Review the NATO Bombing Campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, June 2000, paras. 15 and 17, available at: http://www.icty.org/x/file/About/OTP/otp_report_nato_bombing_en.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010). For a critical appraisal of the report, see Benvenuti, Paolo, ‘The ICTY prosecutor and the review of the NATO bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’, in European Journal of International Law, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2001, pp. 503–529CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

83 ICJ, Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, 8 July 1996, ICJ Reports 1996, para. 29.

84 Ibid., para. 30.

85 Final Report to the Prosecutor, above note 82, para. 18.

86 Ibid., paras. 22 and 24.

87 Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 18 October 1907 (hereafter 1907 Hague Regulations).

88 See Antonio Cassese, ‘Powers and duties of an occupant in relation to land and natural resources’, in Emma Playfair (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories: Two Decades of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992, pp. 419–442; Benvenisti, Eyal, ‘Water conflicts during the occupation of Iraq’, in American Journal of International Law (AJIL), Vol. 97, No. 3, 2003, pp. 860–872CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

89 ICJ, Armed Activities on the Territory of Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda), Judgment, 19 December 2005, ICJ Reports 2005, para. 245.

90 Article 47 of the 1907 Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibit pillage.

91 Scobbie, Iain, ‘H20 after Oslo II: legal aspects of water in the Occupied Territories’, in Palestine Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 8, 1994–1995, p. 92Google Scholar; Abouali, Gamal, ‘Natural resources under occupation: the status of Palestinian water under international law’, in Pace International Law Review, 1998, Vol. 10, No. 2, p. 470Google Scholar.

92 1907 Hague Regulations, Art. 46.

93 Ibid., Art. 56(1).

94 Groundwater bears many similarities to oil in the ground, which was found to be an immovable asset by the Court of Appeal of Singapore, ‘N.V. de Bataafsche Petroleum Maatshappij v. The War Damage Commission’, 13 April 1956, in Hersch Lauterpacht (ed.), International Law Reports (ILR), Vol. 23, 1960, p. 810. See Cummings, Edward R., ‘Oil resources in Occupied Arab Territories under the law of belligerent occupation’, in Journal of International Law and Economics, Vol. 9, 1974, p. 558Google Scholar.

95 See A. Cassese, above note 88, p. 431.

96 See United States Military Tribunal, ‘In re Goering’, 1 October 1946, in Hersch Lauterpacht (ed.), Annual Digest and Reports of Public International Law Cases, London, Butterworth & Co., 1951, Vol. 13, 1946, Case No. 92, p. 215. See also United States Military Tribunal, ‘In re Krupp’, 30 June 1948, in ibid., Vol. 15, 1948, Case No. 214, p. 622; United States Military Tribunal, ‘In re Weizsaecher (Ministries Trial)’, 14 April 1949, in Hersch Lauterpacht (ed.), Annual Digest and Reports of Public International Law Cases, London, Butterworth & Co., 1955, Vol. 16, 1949, Case No. 118, p. 360.

97 See United States Military Tribunal, ‘In re Weizsaecher’, above note 96, p. 361.

98 In this regard, the Court of Appeal of Orleans considered that wine vats owned by the French army and used for the provisioning of troops were ‘used for military operations’. Court of Appeal of Orleans, ‘French State v. Etablissements Monmousseau’, 1948, in ILR, Vol. 15, pp. 596–597Google Scholar, as quoted in Yoram Dinstein, The International Law of Belligerent Occupation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 218–219.

99 1907 Hague Regulations, Art. 55.

100 Charles Rousseau, Le droit des conflits armés, Pedone, Paris, 1983, p. 160.

101 See United States Military Tribunal, ‘In re Weizsaecher’, above note 96, p. 361. In this regard, McDougal and Feliciano considered that ‘the occupant may not wantonly dissipate or destroy the public resources and may not permanently alienate them (salva rerum substantia)’. Myres S. McDougal and Florentino P. Feliciano, The International Law of War: Transnational Coercion and World Public Order, New Haven Press, New Haven, 1994, p. 812. Moreover, according to Oppenheim, the occupying power ‘may sell the crops from the public land, cut and sell timber in the public forests’, under the condition of not exercising this right ‘in a wasteful and negligent value so as to decrease the value of the stock and plant’. Lassa Oppenheim, International Law: A Treatise, 7th edition, Longman, London, 1972, Vol. 2, pp. 397–398, para. 134.

102 According to Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: ‘Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social and cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations’. Moreover, Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention indicates as a ‘grave breach’ the ‘extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly’.

103 Some documents, such as a Memorandum of the US Department of State of 1976, dealing with the development by Israel of new oil fields in the Sinai Peninsula and Gulf of Suez, stated that developing new oil fields would be prohibited by the 1907 Hague Regulations. In reaching this conclusion, the State Department indicated that an occupying power has the right to exploit an existing oil field ‘at the previous rate of exploitation’ but not to develop a new oil field and exploit it ‘even at a reasonable rate’. US Department of State, ‘Memorandum of law on Israel's right to develop new oil fields in Sinai and the Gulf of Suez’, in ILM, Vol. 16, 1977, p. 737Google Scholar. See also, Clagett, Brice M. and Thomas Johnson, O. Jr., ‘May Israel as a belligerent occupant lawfully exploit oil resources of the Gulf of Suez?’, in AJIL, Vol. 72, No. 3, 1978, pp. 558–585CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

104 Article 1 common to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 recognizes that: ‘All peoples … freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources …. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence’. On the double facets of the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, see Abi-Saab, Georges, ‘La souveraineté permanente sur les ressources naturelles’, in Mohamed Bedjaoui, Droit international: Bilan et perspectives, Paris, Pedone, Vol. 2, 1991, p. 644Google Scholar.

105 It should be noted that, in its judgment on Armed Activities on the Territory of Congo, the ICJ, dealing with the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, indicated that ‘there is nothing in these General Assembly resolutions [1803 (XVII) of 14 December 1962, 3201 (S.VI) of 1 May 1974 and 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974] which suggests that they are applicable to the specific situation of looting, pillage and exploitation of certain natural resources by members of the army of a State militarily intervening in another State … The Court does not believe that this principle is applicable to this type of situation’. ICJ, Armed Activities on the Territory of Congo, above note 89, para. 244. The words used by the Court leave open the question of whether or not this principle would not be applicable to the specific situation of Congo or, in general, to occupied territories. Some clarifications on this issue may be found in the declaration of Judge Koroma noting that the ‘exploitation of natural resources of a State by the forces of occupation contravenes the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, as well as the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949’. ICJ, Armed Activities on the Territory of Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda), Declaration of Judge Koroma, p. 289, para. 11.

106 See in this regard, the resolutions of the UN General Assembly dealing with permanent sovereignty over natural resources in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories. See, inter alia, General Assembly resolutions 51/190, 16 December 1996, A/RES/51/190; 54/230, 22 December 1999, A/RES/54/230; 56/204, 21 December 2001, A/RES/56/204; 62/181, 19 December 2007, A/RES/62/181; 64/185, 21 December 2009, A/RES/64/185.

107 See United States Military Tribunal, ‘In re Goering’, above note 96, p. 215. In this regard, it should be noted that the judgment rendered by the Appeal Court of Singapore, in the case De Bataafsche Petroleum v. War Damages Commission, condemned the confiscation of oil in Malaysia from the Japanese forces. According to the Court, the oil confiscated was not only used for satisfying the military needs of the occupying forces but also for covering the needs of the civilian population in Japan. Court of Appeal of Singapore, above note 94, p. 810.

108 See 1907 Hague Regulations, Art. 42.

109 Fourth Geneva Convention, Arts. 55 and 56.

110 Supreme Court of Israel, Physicians for Human Rights et al. v. IDF Commander of Gaza (Rafiah case), 30 May 2004, HCJ 4764/04, excerpts in Israeli Yearbook of Human Rights (IYHR), Vol. 35, 2005, p. 327.

111 Additional Protocol I, Art. 69(1).

112 Y. Dinstein, above note 98, pp. 148–149.

113 See ILC, ‘Conclusions of the work of the Study Group on the fragmentation of international law: difficulties arising from the diversification and expansion of international law’, in Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 2006, Vol. 2Google Scholar, Part Two, available at: http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/draft%20articles/1_9_2006.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

114 See McLachlan, Campbell, ‘The principle of systemic integration and Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention’, in International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol. 54, 2000, pp. 279–320CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

115 See ILC, Report of the Study Group, Fragmentation of International Law: Difficulties Arising from the Diversification and Expansion of International Law, A/CN.4/L.682, 2006, paras. 411–412.

116 UN Human Rights Council resolution 7/22, 28 March 2008; and UN General Assembly resolution 64/292, 28 July 2010, A/RES/64/292.

117 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR Committee), General Comment No. 15 on the Right to Water, 26 November 2002, UN Doc. E/C.12/2002/11, para. 2.

118 Article 14(2)(h) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, A/RES/34/830 (1979), in ILM, Vol. 19, 1980, p. 33.

119 Article 24(2)(c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, A/RES/44/25 (1989), in ILM, Vol. 28, 1989, p. 1457.

120 Article 28(2)(a) of the International Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, A/RES/61/106 (2006), available at: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/disability-convention2006.html (last visited 7 September 2010).

121 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR Covenant), A/RES/2200 (XXI) (1966), in ILM, Vol. 6, 1967, p. 360.

122 ESCR Committee, General Comment No. 15, above note 117, paras. 21–22.

123 ICJ, Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, above note 83, para. 25; ICJ, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, 9 July 2004, ICJ Reports 2004, p. 178, para. 105.

124 See Droege, Cordula, ‘Elective affinities? Human rights and humanitarian law’, in International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 90, No. 871, 2008, pp. 507–509CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Marco Sassòli, ‘Le droit international humanitaire, une “lex specialis” par rapport aux droits humains?’, in Andreas Auer, Alexander Fluckiger, and Michel Hottelier (eds), Les droits de l'homme et la Constitution: études en l'honneur du Professeur Giorgio Malinverni, Schulthess, Geneva, 2007, pp. 376–377.

125 ESCR Committee, Concluding Observations: Israel, 31 August 2001, E/C.12/1/Add.69, paras. 12–13; ESCR Committee, Concluding Observations: Israel, 26 June 2003, E/C.12/1/Add.90, para. 40; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Israel, 9 October 2002, CRC/C/15/Add.195, para. 51.

126 In its Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian territory, the ICJ considered that restrictions to the 1966 Covenant could be invoked by states ‘solely for the purpose of promoting the general welfare in a democratic society. ICJ, Wall case, above note 123, para. 136.

¹²⁷ Article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, A/RES/2200A (XXI) (1966), in ILM, Vol. 6, 1967, p. 368.

¹²⁸ CRC, above note 119, Art. 2(1).

¹²⁹ ICJ, Wall case, above note 123, para. 112.

¹³⁰ ESCR Committee, Concluding Observations: Israel, 2001, above note 125, paras. 12–13; ESCR Committee, Concluding Observations; Israel, 2003, above note 125, para. 40; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Israel, above note 125, para. 51.

¹³¹ See Fourth Geneva Convention, Art. 55; Additional Protocol I, Art. 69(1).

¹³² An analysis of the interpretation of Article 55 of the Hague Regulations in the Gaza Strip can be found in Ditcher, Harold, ‘The legal status of Israel's water policies in the Occupied Territories’, in Harvard International Law Journal, Vol. 35, No. 2, Spring 1994, pp. 572–573Google Scholar and pp. 584–585.

133 UNEP, Desk Study on the Environment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, above note 25, p. 38.

134 Ibid., p. 39. A report by Amnesty International also points out that, in the Gaza Strip, ‘[t]he aquifer has been depleted and contaminated by over-extraction and by sewage and seawater infiltration, and 90–95 per cent of its water is contaminated and unfit for human consumption. Waterborne diseases are common’. Amnesty International, above note 59, pp. 4–5.

135 Article XX reads as follows: ‘In times of war, other armed conflict, or public emergency constituting a threat to the life of the State, a riparian State may take measures derogating from its obligations under this Chapter to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are consistent with its other obligations under international law. The riparian State shall in any case facilitate navigation for humanitarian purpose’. Helsinki Rules on the Uses of Waters of International Rivers, in Report of the Fifty-second Conference of the International Law Association held at Helsinki, 14 to 20 August 1966, 1967, p. 484.

136 International Law Association, Report of the Fifty-seventh Conference held at Madrid, 30 August to 4 September 1976, 1978, p. xxxiv.

137 In this regard, it should be noted that the ICJ decided not to deal with this issue in its advisory opinion on the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons of 1996. ICJ, Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, above note 83, para. 30.

138 The 1921 Statute on the Regime of Navigable Waterways of International Concern (focusing on the freedom of navigation) and the 1923 Geneva Convention relating to the Development of Hydraulic Power affecting more than one State (dealing with the carrying out of works for the exploitation of hydraulic power), state that in times of armed conflict they continue to be in force ‘so far as such rights and duties [of belligerents and neutral powers] permit’. Article 15 of the Statute of the Regime of Navigable Waterways of International Concern, Barcelona, 20 April 1921, in League of Nations Treaty Series (LNTS), Vol. 7, p. 37; Article 9 of the Convention relating to the Development of Hydraulic Power affecting more than one State, Geneva 9 December 1923, in LNTS, Vol. 36, p. 77.

139 United Nations Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, A/RES/51/869 (1997), in ILM, Vol. 36, 1997, p. 700; Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers, A/RES/63/124 (2008), available at: http://www.internationalwaterlaw.org/documents/intldocs/UNGA_Resolution_on_Law_of_Transboundary_Aquifers.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

140 According to the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention, a watercourse means ‘a system of surface waters and groundwaters constituting by virtue of their physical relationship a unitary whole and normally flowing into a common terminus’. The term ‘international watercourse’ means ‘a watercourse, parts of which are situated in different States’. Article 2(a) and (b) of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention.

141 Ibid., Art. 29.

142 ILC, Draft Articles on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses and Commentaries Thereto and Resolution on Transboundary Confined Groundwater, in Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1994, Vol. 2, Part Two, p. 131.

143 The official name of this Committee was the Committee for the Coordination of Investigations of the Lower Mekong Basin. It was established by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam in response to a decision taken by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East on 31 October 1957. See Vanessa Richard, La coopération sur la gestion des cours d'eau internationaux en Asie, La Documentation Française, Paris, 2005, p. 75.

144 See ibid., pp. 75 and 82; Nguyen T. Dieu, The Mekong River and the Struggle for Indochina: Water, War, and Peace, Praeger, Westport, 1999, pp. 86–87.

145 Indus Water Treaty, Karachi, 19 September 1960, in UNTS, Vol. 419, p. 126.

146 For a review of the activities of the Committee see World Bank, West Bank and Gaza: Assessment of Restriction on Palestinian Water Sector Development, April 2009, pp. 47–53, available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/WaterRestrictionsReport18Apr2009.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

147 Israeli–Palestinian Interim Agreement, 28 September 1995, in ILM, Vol. 36, 1997, p. 551, Annex III, Article 40, para. 11.

148 UNEP, Desk Study on the Environment in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, above note 25, p. 180.

149 Makane Moïse Mbengue, ‘Le statut du fleuve Sénégal: visages actuels’, in Laurence Boisson de Chazournes and Salman M. A. Salman, Water Resources and International Law, The Hague Academy of International Law, Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden/Boston, 2005, p. 498.

150 Article 6(1) of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention reads as follows: ‘Utilization of an international watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner within the meaning of article 5 requires taking into account all relevant factors and circumstances, including: … b) The social and economic needs of the watercourse States concerned; c) The population dependent on the watercourse in each watercourse State’. Article 5(1)(b) of the ILC Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers points out that ‘Utilization of a transboundary aquifer or aquifer system in an equitable and reasonable manner of draft article 4 requires taking into account … (b) The social, economic and other needs, present and future, of the aquifer States concerned’.

151 Article 10(2) of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention, devoted to the ‘Relationship between different kinds of uses’, points out that ‘[i]n the event of a conflict between uses of an international watercourses, it shall be resolved … with special regard being given to the requirement of vital human needs’. According to Article 5(2) of the ILC Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers: ‘In determining what is equitable and reasonable utilization, all relevant factors are to be considered together and a conclusion reached on the basis of all the factors. However, in weighing different kinds of utilization of a transboundary aquifer or aquifer system, special regard shall be given to vital human needs’.

152 ILC, above note 142, p. 110.

153 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterflow Habitat (Ramsar Convention), 2 February 1971, in ILM, Vol. 11, 1972, p. 963; Convention on Biological Diversity, 5 June 1992, in ILM, Vol. 31, 1992, p. 818.

154 Rio Declaration, above note 34, Principle 24.

155 Article 5 of the ‘Guidelines for Military Manuals and Instructions on the Protection of the Environment in Times of Armed Conflict’, in International Review of the Red Cross, No. 311, 1996, available at: http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JN38 (last visited 7 September 2010). In a resolution of 1994, the UN General Assembly invited ‘all States to disseminate widely the revised guidelines for military manuals and instructions on the protection of the environment in times of armed conflict received from the International Committee of the Red Cross and to give due consideration to the possibility of incorporating them into their military manuals and other instructions addressed to their military personnel’. General Assembly resolution 49/50, 9 December 1994, A/RES/49/50, para. 11.

156 Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC Initiative), Environment and Security: Transforming Risks into Cooperation: Central Asia – Ferghana/Osh/Khujand Area, 2005, pp. 22–23, available at: http://www.grida.no/_res/site/file/publications/envsec/ferghana-report-eng.pdf (last visited 7 September 2010).

157 The ENVSEC Initiative was established by UNDP, UNEP, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2003. NATO became an associate member in 2004. In 2006, two other institutions – the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Regional Environment Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) – joined the initiative. See ibid., p. 23.

158 For example, it may be noted that, during the 1980s and early 1990s, before the conclusion of the Peace Agreement between Israel and Jordan in 1994, the parties started to discuss the sharing of water during the so-called ‘picnic table’ talks. To illustrate the importance of water for both parties, the Peace Agreement contains specific norms on this issue. See Treaty of Peace Between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 26 October 1994, in ILM, Vol. 35, 1995, p. 46, Article 6 and Annex II.

159 See C. E. Bruch et al., above note 58.

160 See Final Report to the Prosecutor, above note 82, conclusion.