OMNA TIGRAY – MAY 2021 STARVATION REPORT

INTRODUCTION

On November 4, 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia launched a genocidal war against the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Since the beginning of the war, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Amhara regional forces have committed heinous war crimes to actively destroy Tigray and eliminate all Tigrayans. A frightening war tactic that is being used in this genocide is starvation. The Ethiopian government is using hunger as a weapon of war to control and exterminate the Tigrayan population. Abiy Ahmed’s government has repeatedly claimed that no one has died from hunger during the war. However, this is a falsehood that has been concocted by the government to hide their crimes.

WEAPONIZED STARVATION

All modern famines are in some way man-made. Even if famines are triggered by natural factors; inadequate aid distribution, willful ignorance of suffering, and political interference underlie modern famines. Six out of ten people struggling with food insecurity live in countries affected by violent armed conflicts ^[1]Cousin, E. (2021, February 22). Fighting Famine Will Help Prevent Further Conflict in Yemen. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/22/yemen-conflict-food-prevent-hunger-famine/. However, there is a difference between when conflicts result in food insecurity and when hunger is used as a tactic of war to punish and control a population.

When the starvation of a population is deliberate, then hunger is being used as a weapon of war. Purposely destroying food sources and impeding aid access are criminal offenses for which the international community is supposed to hold perpetrators accountable. The 1949 Geneva Conventions states that attacks on “objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population,” are prohibited. In addition, Article 54(1) of the 1977 Additional Protocols of the 1949 Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in international armed conflicts ^[2]International Committee of the Red Cross. (n.d.). Treaties, States parties, and Commentaries – AdditionalProtocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions, 1977 – 54 – Protection of objects … Continue reading. Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions also prohibits starvation in non-international armed
conflicts.

The Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) states that deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of war is a war crime that can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, under the Rome Statute starvation was only considered a war crime in international armed conflicts and not in non-international armed conflicts ^[3]International Committee of the Red Cross. (n.d.). Customary IHL – Practice Relating to Rule 53. Starvation as aMethod of Warfare. IHL Database. … Continue reading^[4]World Peace Foundation. (2019, June). The Crime of Starvation and Methods of Prosecution and
Accountability. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Legal%20Paper%20Starvation.pdf. This meant that the ICC could not prosecute starvation during civil wars. This frustrating gap in international criminal law made it difficult to prosecute weaponized hunger in past conflicts, despite the fact that weaponized hunger is a criminal offense according to the Geneva Conventions.

It was not until the passing of UN Security Council Resolution 2417 in 2018 that the Council explicitly banned the use of starvation as a weapon of war ^[5]United Nations. (2018, May 24). Adopting Resolution 2417 (2018), Security Council Strongly Condemns Starving of Civilians, Unlawfully Denying Humanitarian Access as Warfare Tactics | Meetings … Continue reading. This led to amending the Rome Statute to include starvation as a war crime in non international armed conflicts in Article 8(2)(e)(xix) in 2019 ^[6]Global Rights Compliance. (2020, December 11). The Netherlands accepts Starvation Amendment: One Year On. Starvation accountability. … Continue reading. This amendment allowed the ICC to prosecute weaponized starvation in any conflict as a war crime.

Furthermore, starvation could fall within the described tools of genocide as per Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which defines genocide as intentionally destroying a group through:

• Killing members of the group;
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group ^[7]UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. (n.d.). OHCHR | Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. UN OHCHR. https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crimeofgenocide.aspx.

Weaponized starvation can be categorized as “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group” and “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” Hence, it is imperative that those involved in perpetrating genocide through hunger are prosecuted under international law and that the international community recognizes that the situation in Tigray is an active state-sponsored genocide.

As of today, weaponized hunger in any conflict is considered a war crime. Even Ethiopian national legislation states that the starvation of civilian populations is punishable with rigorous imprisonment from five years to twenty-five years, or, in more serious cases, with life imprisonment or death ^[8]International Committee of the Red Cross. (n.d.). Customary IHL – Practice Relating to Rule 53. Starvation as a Method of Warfare. IHL Database. … Continue reading. As a result, the Ethiopian and Eritrean government should be prosecuted to the fullest extent for the mass starvation they have inflicted on the Tigrayan population.