About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

22 Chi. J. Int'l L. 368 (2021-2022)
Siege Starvation: A War Crime of Societal Torture

handle is hein.journals/cjil22 and id is 378 raw text is: Siege Starvation: A War Crime of Societal Torture Tom Dannenbaum* Abstract A recent amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has drawn unprecedented attention to the war crime of starvation of civilians as a method of wafare. It comes at a time when mass starvation in war is resurgent, devastating populations in Yemen, Ethiopia, Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria, and elsewhere. The practice has also drawn the scrutiny of the United Nations Security Counci. Andyet, despite this heightened profile and shapened urgeny, whatpreisey is criminally wrongful about starvation methods remains underspecified. A common way of thinking about the criminal wrong is as a form of killing or harming civilians. Although its diferentiating particu/arities matter, the basic wrongfulness of the crime inheres, on this view, in it being an attack on those who ought not be attacked. For some, this supports a broad interpretation of the starvation ban. However, for others, the graduality of starvation preserves the continuous possibility of the avoidance or minimization of civilian death or harm in a way that direct kinetic attacks do not. In combination with the methods purported militay utility, this distinctive incrementalism has underpinned arguments for the permissibility of certain forms of siege and other deprivation and a narrow intepretation of the starvation crime. Draning on the moralphilosophy of torture, this Article offers a diferent normative theory of the crime. Starvation, like torture, is peculiary wrongful in its distortion of victims' biological imperatives against their capacities to formulate and act on higher-order desires, political commitments, and even love. This process does not merey raise the cost of fu/f//ing those commitments. Instead, starvation tears gradually at the very capactiy of those affected toprioritiZe their mostfundamental commitments, regardless of whether they would choose to do so under the conditions necessary to evaluate matters with a contemplative attitude. Rather than palliating, the slowness of starvation methods is at the crux of this torturous wrong. Recognizing this rede ines the meaning and place of the crime in the framework of international criminal law. * Assistant Professor of International Law, The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University. The author is grateful for conversations on this and earlier working papers from which it was derived at the Hauser Colloquium at New York University School of Law, the Junior International Law Scholars Association Workshop at Cornell Law School, and the ICC Scholars Forum, hosted virtually by Leiden University. Thanks also to the editors of the Chicago Joumal of International Law for their outstanding work. All errors are the responsibility of the author. 368

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most