The Plunder of Natural Resources during War: A War Crime
![handle is hein.journals/geojintl39 and id is 501 raw text is: THE PLUNDER OF NATURAL RESOURCES
DURING WAR: A WAR CRIME (?)
MICHAEL A. LUNDBERG*
PART I. THE PROBLEM OF NATURAL RESOURCE PLUNDER DURING WAR
Pillage: the forcible seizure of another's property, esp. in war... The
property so seized or plundered.,
The ability to plunder an occupied territory's natural resources is
one of the principal reasons that. armed conflicts are initiated and
perpetuated. Trade in diamonds, timber, coltan, cassiterite, oil, and
other lucrative conflict resources2 generates billions of dollars in
* J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2008; M.Sc., International Relations, The London
School of Economics and Political Science, 2001; B.A., Yale University, 2000. The author served as
a Campaigner with Global Witness from 2002-05; however, this article is based entirely on publicly
available sources and the views expressed are those of the author alone. The author thanks Global
Witness for its tireless efforts to expose the links between natural resources and conflict and
expresses his deepest gratitude to those campaigners in the field whose personal risks make
accountability and justice possible. Finally, the author thanks his family, friends, and professors for
their guidance, patience, and unwavering support. © 2008, Michael A. Lundberg.
1. BLAcK's LAw DIanoNARY 1185 (8th ed. 2004). Because the term pillage has been used
interchangeably with the term plunder by Black's Law Dictionary, the courts at Nuremberg, the
International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the International Court of Justice
(ICJ), the terms will be used interchangeably in this paper. The ICTY in Prosecutor v. Mucic, Case
No. IT-96-21,Judgment, 1 591 (Nov. 16, 1998), in considering the terms synonymous, stated:
[T]he offence of the unlawful appropriation of public and private property in armed
conflict has varyingly been termed pillage, plunder and spoliation.... The Trial
Chamber reaches this conclusion on the basis of its view that [plunder], as incorpo-
rated in the Statute of the [ICIY], should be understood to embrace all forms of
unlawful appropriation of property in armed conflict for which individual criminal
responsibility attaches under international law, including those acts traditionally de-
scribed as pillage.
2. Conflict resources is a term of art defined as: natural resources whose systematic
exploitation and trade in a context of conflict contribute to, benefit from or result in the
commission of serious violations of human rights, violations of international humanitarian law or
violations amounting to crimes under international law. GLOBAL WrrNss, Definition of Conflict
Resources, http://www.globalwitness.org/pages/en/definition of conflictresources.html (lastvis-
ited Apr. 18, 2008). The United Nations has published its own definition specific to conflict
diamonds: diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to
legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/geojintl39&div=22&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Plunder of Natural Resources during War: A War Crime
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