Source: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/rus/docs/v2_rul_rule147_sectione
Timestamp: 2020-06-03 05:11:21
Document Index: 457413835

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 545', '§ 85', '§ 446', '§ 1507', '§ 29', '§ 59', '§ 1', '§ 3', '§ 13']

Article 55(2) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides: “Attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals are prohibited.”
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), Geneva, 8 June 1977, Article 55(2). Article 55 was adopted by consensus. CDDH, Official Records, Vol. VI, CDDH/SR.42, 27 May 1977, p. 209.
Section 13 of the 1994 Guidelines on the Protection of the Environment in Times of Armed Conflict states: “attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals are prohibited for States party to Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions”.
Revised Guidelines for Military Manuals and Instructions on the Protection of the Environment in Times of Armed Conflict, prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross and presented to the UN Secretary-General, annexed to Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Decade of International Law, UN Doc. A/49/323, 19 August 1994, pp. 49–53, Section 13.
Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) states: “Attacks against the environment by way of reprisals are prohibited.”
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, § 545(f).
Australia’s LOAC Manual (2006) states: “Attacks against the environment by way of reprisal are prohibited.”
The manual also states “G. P. I [1977 Additional Protocol I] extends the categories of persons and objects against whom reprisals are prohibited to [include] … the natural environment”.
Burkina Faso’s Disciplinary Regulations (1994), in a provision entitled “Laws and customs of war” dealing with the duties of and prohibitions for combatants, states: “It is prohibited to soldiers in combat: … to take hostages, to engage in reprisals or collective punishments.”
Canada’s LOAC Manual (1999), in a part dealing with targeting, provides: “Attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals are prohibited.”
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Level, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 1999, p. 4-9, § 85.
In a part dealing with enforcement measures, the manual further states: “Reprisals against the following categories of persons and objects are prohibited: … i. the natural environment”.
Canada’s LOAC Manual (2001) states in its chapter on targeting: “Attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals are prohibited.”
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 446.3.
i. the natural environment; …
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 1507.4.i and 5.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Teaching Manual (2007) provides in Book IV (Instruction of heads of division and company commanders): “Attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals are prohibited.”
Côte d’Ivoire, Droit de la guerre, Manuel d’instruction, Livre IV: Instruction du chef de section et du commandant de compagnie, Manuel de l’élève, Ministère de la Défense, Forces Armées Nationales, November 2007, p. 38.
Croatia’s LOAC Compendium (1991) provides for the prohibition of reprisals against the “natural environment”.
Hungary’s Military Manual (1992) provides for the prohibition of reprisals against the “natural environment”.
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states that reprisals against “the natural environment” are prohibited.
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 29(c)(2)(f), p. 234; see also p. 398.
Spain’s LOAC Manual (1996) lists among the persons and objects against whom/which the taking of reprisals is prohibited “the natural environment” and refers to Article 55 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I.
Spain’s LOAC Manual (2007), referring to Article 55 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, lists “the natural environment” among the objects against which the taking of reprisals is prohibited.
Switzerland’s Basic Military Manual (1987), in the part dealing with “Hostilities and their limits” and, more specifically, in a provision regarding the prohibition of the taking of reprisals against the civilian population, refers, inter alia, to Article 55 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I.
The manual further states, with reference to, inter alia, Article 55 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I: “By virtue of the Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols, [reprisals] are prohibited with regard to … the environment”.
Switzerland, Basic Lois et coutumes de la guerre (Extrait et commentaire), Règlement 51.7/II f, Armée Suisse, 1987, Article 197(2).
Ukraine’s IHL Manual (2004) states: “Reprisals are prohibited against … [the] natural environment”.
In its written statement submitted to the ICJ in the Nuclear Weapons case in 1995, Egypt stated: “Reprisals are prohibited against … the natural environment. The prohibition applies in respect of all weapons. In consequence, they (i.e. protected persons and objects) can never become targets of any attack, including nuclear attacks.”
International humanitarian law does not include any general prohibition of reprisals. There are however numerous provisions that prohibit specific types of reprisal … Also prohibited are reprisals against certain specific objects such as … the natural environment[.]
At the CDDH, Ukraine stated that it “agreed with those who had mentioned the need to prohibit reprisals and damage to the natural environment”.
Ukraine, Statement at the CDDH, Official Records, Vol. XIV, CDDH/III/SR.16, 10 February 1975, p. 140, § 59.
In a resolution adopted in 1992 on the protection of the environment in times of armed conflict, the UN General Assembly, recognizing the importance of the provisions of international law applicable to the protection of the environment in times of armed conflict and referring, inter alia, to the provisions of the 1977 Additional Protocol I:
1. Urges all States to take all measures to ensure compliance with the existing international law applicable to the protection of the environment in times of armed conflict;
2. Appeals to all States that have not yet done so to consider becoming parties to the relevant international conventions.
UN General Assembly, Res. 47/37, 25 November 1992, preamble and §§ 1 and 2, adopted without a vote.
In a resolution adopted in 1994 on the United Nations Decade on International Law, the UN General Assembly, referring to the 1994 Guidelines on the Protection of the Environment in Times of Armed Conflict:
In 2001, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, to which the 2001 ILC Draft Articles on State Responsibility, and thus Article 50(1)(c) stating that “[c]ountermeasures shall not affect … [o]bligations of a humanitarian character prohibiting reprisals”, were annexed. In the resolution, the General Assembly took note of the Draft Articles and commended them to the attention of governments “without prejudice to the question of their future adoption or other appropriate action”.
UN General Assembly, Res. 56/83, 12 December 2001, § 3 and Annex, voting record: without a vote.
In 1994, in its final report on grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other violations of IHL committed in the former Yugoslavia, the UN Commission of Experts Established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992), referring to Article 55(2) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, stated: “Reprisals against the following categories of persons and objects are specifically prohibited: … (i) The natural environment”.
In its advisory opinion in the Nuclear Weapons case in 1996, the ICJ observed that any right of recourse to reprisals would, like self-defence, be governed by the principle of proportionality. The Court noted:
Articles 35, paragraph 3, and 55 of Additional Protocol I provide additional protection for the environment. Taken together, these provisions embody a general obligation to protect the natural environment against widespread, long-term and severe environmental damage; the prohibition of methods and means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause such damage; and the prohibition of attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals.
The ICRC Guidelines for Military Manuals and Instructions on the Protection of the Environment in Times of Armed Conflict provides: “Attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals are prohibited.”
ICRC, Guidelines for Military Manuals and Instructions on the Protection of the Environment in Times of Armed Conflict, § 13, annexed to UN Doc. A/48/269, Report of the UN Secretary-General on the protection of the environment in times of armed conflict, 29 July 1993, p. 26.