The military targeting of civilian infrastructure, especially of water supplies, is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, writes Nafeez Ahmed. Yet this is precisely what NATO did in Libya, while blaming the damage on Gaddafi himself. Since then, the country's water infrastructure - and the suffering of its people - has only deteriorated further.
… War crime: NATO deliberately destroyed Libya's … Ahmed | 14th May 2015 News Libya Africa Water War Law libya-puddle-water-cut2.jpg The … especially of water supplies, is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, writes …
Gaza farmers have lost 187 hectares of crops to aerial spraying of herbicides by Israel hundreds of meters within the territory's borders. The action, carried out in the name of 'security', further undermines Gaza's ability to feed itself and may permanently deprive farmers of their livelihoods. It may also represent a war crime under the 1977 Protocol to the Geneva Conventions.
… War crime? Israel destroys Gaza crops with … February 2016 News Middle East Farming Food War Law sprayed-field-cut.jpg Gaza farmers … of their livelihoods. It may also represent a war crime under the 1977 Protocol to the …
As the Arctic ice retreats, a fragile but resource-rich landscape replete with oil, minerals, fish and islands is opening up, writes Conn Hallinan. A new land-rush is on, and it could all lead to war. But it can be avoided provided states respect the rule of law and build on existing regimes of cooperation to protect the precious Arctic environment.
… hot politics - as the ice melts, a new Cold War can still be avoided Conn Hallinan | 25th … new land-rush is on, and it could all lead to war. But it can be avoided provided states … eight years ago this past July, two British warships - HMS Erebus and HMS Terror - sailed …
The International Criminal Court in The Hague is to broaden its focus to prosecute governments and individuals for environmental crimes, write John Vidal & Owen Bowcott. Examples include illegal deforestation, theft of resources, and expulsion of populations from their land.
… has mostly ruled on cases of genocide and war crimes since it was set up in 2002. It has … "Land-grabbing is no less harmful than war in terms of negative impacts on civilians" … Witness. "Today's announcement should send a warning shot to company executives and …
After a massive oil find in Syria's Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, Israel is asking President Obama to recognise its annexation of the territory, writes Jonathan Cook. To consolidate its hold, plans are afoot to quadruple Israeli settler numbers to 100,000.
… Heights, captured from Syria during the 1967 war. Sources close to the talks told the … said : "I think the president didn't think it warranted an answer. It wasn't clear how … the permit had to be withdrawn soon afterwards. Resources plundered Today, 22,000 …
Israel's armed forces have destroyed vital water and sewage infrastructure in their bombing campaign of the besieged territory, writes Mohammed Omer. This constitutes a severe breach of the 1977 Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the part of Israel and all those conceiving, planning, ordering and perpetrating the attacks.
… 16th July 2014 News Middle East Water Health War Law Human Rights gaza-children-cut.jpg … Israel is deliberately targeting the wells: "Warplanes have targeted two wells directly, … may leave 100,000's with no water Israeli warplanes have also targeted five water …
When we speak of WMD, we usually think of weapons - nuclear, biological, or chemical - that are delivered in a moment, writes Tom Engelhardt. But what of climate change: a WMD on a long fuse, already lit and smoking ...
… congressional votes were changed in favor of war thanks to hair-raising secret … in the Middle East, the "brink" beyond which war has endlessly loomed. And yet there was … he used against Iranian troops in his 1980s war with their country - with the help of …
Brazil's new neoliberal government is intent on building a massive new dam deep in the Amazon rainforest on the on the Tapajós river, writes Helle Abelvik-Lawson, obliterating the indigenous territory of the Munduruku people in defiance of their constitutional rights.
… Brazilian Constitution outside of times of war or disease outbreaks. That may be why … us every day, us and our children." State of war The Munduruku people - who number around … - say that they are living in a state of war. "The people in the village are always …
The official investigation into the downing of MH17 is without precedent in the history of aviation, writes James O'Neill, as it gives one of the prime suspects, Ukraine, a veto power over publication of the report. Grieving families of the victims may never know know the truth, as geopolitics triumphs over justice.
… December 2014 News Transport Law Human Rights War Ukraine Australia Netherlands Russia … route so that it flew directly over the war zone in eastern Ukraine. They asked for an … Regional Development (Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss) seeking a copy of the agreement. …
As World Water Week kicks off in Stockholm today with a theme of 'Water for Development', the drought being deliberately inflicted on Palestinians is firmly off the agenda, writes Laith Shakir. While Israelis water their lawns, irrigate crops and swim in Olympic-sized pools, Palestinian communities a few kilometers away are literally dying of thirst.
… | 23rd August 2015 News Water Middle East USA War Law Human Rights … up again following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when Israel first assumed control of the …
In 1975 Indonesia invaded the small Pacific country of East Timor, writes John Pilger, and then massacred a third of its population to suppress demands for independence. Now unearthed documents show the genocide was supported by Australia so it could grab the oil and gas reserves of the Timor Sea. Despite East Timor's independence, won in 1999, Australia is still stealing its oil and gas revenues worth $5 billion and counting.
… Indonesia USA Pacific Oil Law Human Rights War timor-leste-cut.jpg In 1975 Indonesia … British consulate in Surabaya, and British warships escorted a ship full of Indonesian … largely on Australia's terms. Soon afterwards, Prime Minister Mari Alkitiri, a …
Oliver Tickell met Polly Higgins, remarkable campaigner and founder of Mission Lifeforce, shortly before she died this month.
… W Bush's front man, justifying the Iraq war on British TV and radio. Last September … just part of the story about how we move forward. Bolton's main thrust is anti-ICC. But … Protectors is like Conscientious Objectors in war. They are attempting to protect society at …
The US threatens to attack Iran if it tries to build a nuclear bomb, yet the US and other nuclear WMD states have ignored their treaty obligation to work toward nuclear disarmament, writes Rober Dodge. Now the Marshall Islands has gone to court to enforce compliance.
… ignored their treaty obligation to work toward nuclear disarmament, writes Rober Dodge. … There is no adequate response to nuclear war. Prevention is essential and abolition of … of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation , Beyond War , Physicians for Social Responsibility …
It's barely mentioned in the election campaign or reported in the media. But a powerful faction of Tory ministers, ex-ministers and backbench MPs are bent on using Brexit to ignite a massive bonfire of 'spirit-crushing' laws on wildlife protection, air and water pollution, pesticides, renewable energy and public health, writes Brendan Montague. At risk are not just EU directives and regulations but even the UK's own Climate Change Act. May's Brexit may not just be hard, but very, very dirty.
… hard right Brexit plans: UK's great leap backwards to 'dirty man of Europe' Brendan … gaping chasm opening under her among her own warring tribe. May was after all the … Britain can and should go "a very long way" towards destroying current environmental …
Israeli military forces have resumed their harassment of Palestinian pastoralists in the occupied Jordan Valley, part of the West Bank, holding live-fire tank and infantry maneuvers on pastures and cropland close to local communities, accompanied by the forced expulsion of both people and livestock.
… several mortars that went over our heads toward open areas in the mountains. We were … homes for protracted periods with very little warning, sometimes only a few hours. In some … residential area without displacing or warning the residents, who were forced to …
This summer families of atom bomb test veterans who have died of cancer took the UK government to the High Court for its failure to compensate them, writes Chris Busby. Also on trial was the 'official' radiation risk model, which understates the true health hazards of internal exposures by a factor of 1,000. But 17 weeks after the case, litigants and veterans are still awaiting judgment.
… a refusal by the Ministry of Defence to award a war pension for her late husband Gerald's … Sawada, University of Nagoya, Prof. Vyvan Howard, University of Ulster, Prof Malcolm …
Plane Stupid's Heathrow 13 escaped immediate incarceration yesterday for occupying Heathrow's northern runway last summer. But the threat of imprisonment remains firmly in place, writes Ali Tamlit, from a state determined to defend the corporations that are inflicting the systemic violence of climate change on us all. The peaceful fight for a better world must go on.
… 2016 News Climate Change Aviation Law War heathrow-cut.jpg Plane Stupid's Heathrow … 300,000 people are dying a year. As the Earth warms, the storms get worse, the floods rise …
The chemical industry and the European Food Safety Authority are refusing to disclose key scientific evidence about glyphosate's risks, citing 'trade secrets' protection, writes Corporate Europe Observatory. They must be compelled to publish the 'mysterious three' scientific studies EFSA used to assess glyphosate as 'unlikely' to cause cancer to humans - contradicting the IARC's view.
… was "unlikely" to cause cancer to humans. A war of words started with, notably, EFSA's … an appeal which is ongoing. From March 2015 onwards, the European Commission has received …
Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) gives sweeping powers to transnational corporations to challenge democractic decisions.
… to challenge laws including health warnings on cigarette packets, raising the … Leah Sullivan, senior trade campaigner at War on Want said: “This is a clear call to the …
The damage caused by fracking to people, communities and the wider environment will be put under the legal spotlight in public hearings in the US and the UK, write Damien Short & Tom Kerns. While the 'ruling' that emerges will be non-binding, it will provide an authoritative, expert dossier of fact and argument for real legal actions to follow.
… experiences of the Bertrand Russell War Crimes Tribunals (1966-67) - originally an … to indict the US Government for the war in Vietnam, and on the dictatorships in …
The High Court has overturned a 'fatally flawed' decision by Eric Pickles MP to refuse planning permission for a locally popular 24MW solar farm on former WW2 airfield in Suffolk, England, close to an industrial estate and go-kart circuit.
… low grade agricultural land on a former World War II airfield." It sits adjacent to a …
A British lawyer has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court, writes Kevin Ponniah, alleging that a wave of violent land-grabbing that has displaced 770,000 people has been carried out by Cambodia's ruling elite, and that it amounts to a crime against humanity.
… by exploiting land tenure insecurity in post-war Cambodia (the Khmer Rouge abolished land …
Disastrous water pollution from gold mines in El Salvador has united government and people to oppose new metal mines, writes Lynn Holland. In Central America's most water scarce country, the imperative is to keep lakes, rivers and streams clean and wholesome. But there may be a heavy price to pay, with a Canadian mining company pressing a $300 million 'compensation' claim.
… 1992, after a lengthy and devastating civil war, reformed-minded Salvadorans were eager to …
Poland's environment ministry has a plan for a huge increase in logging in Europe's last great primeval forest, writes Zachary Davies Boren. Officials claim it's to control bark beetles. But ecologists say the insects are regulated naturally within the forest ecosystem, while logging threatens huge damage to irreplaceable biodiversity.
… under the German occupation in World War I, but a new herd was re-established in … infringement of the Habitats Directive, warns ILB. Among the organisations that have …