Property Rights in Urban Warfare
Main Article Content
Abstract
Urban wars are amongst the deadliest conflicts of our time. People’s homes, their doorsteps, their streets, their schools, and their hospitals are all part of the battlefield now. There have been numerous attempts to discuss various aspects of urban warfare by renowned scholars of international law and indeed there are many military, legal, humanitarian, or ethical facets of urban warfare or other violence, which yet need to be explored more in-depth. The primary objective of this article is to analyze a specific dimension of urban warfare, which is the protection of property rights and in particular responsibility of parties to the conflict for damages or destruction of private property of civilians. The article focuses on the conduct of hostilities in urban settings, which inevitably affects private property in cities or other inhabited areas. The purpose of the article is to first identify what kind of urban violence qualifies as armed conflict and thus triggers the application of IHL norms and afterward to analyze how these norms apply to military operations, carried out by belligerents during an armed confrontation between them in cities.
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References
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Pocar, Fausto, Marco Pedrazzi, and Micaela Frulli, eds. War Crimes and the Conduct of Hostilities: Challenges to Adjudication and Investigation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2013.
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Prosecutor v. Katanga and Chui, ICC-01/04-01/07, Decision on the Confirmation of Charges (International Criminal Court, September 26, 2008).
Prosecutor v. Ramush Haradinaj et al., Case No. IT-04-84, Judgement (Trial Chamber), International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia, April 3, 2008.
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“3m Homes Destroyed in Syria War.” Middle East Monitor, June 1, 2018. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180601-3m-homes-destroyed-in-syria-war/.
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“Urban Violence: What Role for Traditional Humanitarianism?” Synthesis Report, Portcullis House, Westminster, March 21, 2013. https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/2013/urban-violence-summary-report.pdf.
“Who Will Rebuild Destroyed Houses in Kandahar.” Afghanistan Rights Monitor, November 5, 2010. https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/who-will-rebuild-destroyed-houses-kandahar.
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Al-Mughrabi, Nidal. “With Most Gaza Homes Wrecked by War Still in Ruins, Smiles for the Lucky Few.” Reuters, January 13, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/with-most-gaza-homes-wrecked-by-war-still-ruins-smiles-lucky-few-2022-01-13/.
Amnesty International. “Israel’s Destruction of Multistory Buildings: Extensive, Wanton and Unjustified.” December 9, 2014. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/12/israels-destruction-multistorey-buildings-extensive-wanton-and-unjustified/.
Antkowiak, Thomas M., and Alejandra Gonza. The American Convention on Human Rights: Essential Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Arai-Takahashi, Yutaka. “Protection of Private Property.” In The 1949 Geneva Conventions: A Commentary, edited by Andrew Clapham, Paola Gaeta, and Marco Sassoli. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Assad, Abdulkader. “War Has Damaged 6666 Properties in Benghazi.” The Libya Observer, January 4, 2022. https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/municipality-war-has-damaged-6666-properties-benghazi.
B’Tselem. “4.5 Years after Israel Destroyed Thousands of Homes in Operation Protective Edge: 13,000 Gazans Still Homeless.” March 3, 2019. https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20190303_13000_gazans_homeless_since_2014_war.
Benedek, Wolfgang, Veronika Bílková, and Marco Sassoli. “Report on Violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Committed in Ukraine Since 24 February 2022.” Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, April 13, 2022.
Carey, Andrew, and Yesa Kesaieva. “Nearly 1,000 Residential Buildings Have Been Destroyed in Kharkiv, Mayor Says.” CNN, March 23, 2022. https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-23-22/h_89ea8adc6c5dda8282dda339d6d9e3ff.
Dinstein, Yoram. Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict, 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Dinstein, Yoram. “The Special Dimensions of Urban Warfare.” Israel Yearbook on Human Rights 50 (2020): 1-25.
Dowdney, Luke. Children of the Drug Trade: A Case Study of Children in Organized Armed Violence in Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: 7 Letras, 2003.
European Commission. “Ukraine: Commission Presents Options to Make Sure that Russia Pays for its Crimes.” November 30, 2022.
Factory at Chorzów (Germany v. Poland), Judgment, 1928 P.C.I.J. (ser. A) No. 17 (Sept. 13).
Geneva Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. 75 UNTS 287, adopted 12 August 1949, entered into force 21 October 1950.
Gillard, Emanuela-Chiara. “Reparation for Violations of International Humanitarian Law.” International Review of the Red Cross 85, no. 851 (2003): 529-553.
Grabenwarter, Christoph. European Convention on Human Rights – Commentary. Munich: C.H. Beck, 2014.
Harris, D. J., Michael O’Boyle, et al. Law of the European Convention on Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Hauck, Pierre, and Sven Peterke. “Organized Crime and Gang Violence in National and International Law.” International Review of the Red Cross 92, no. 878 (2010): 407-436.
Hazen, Jennifer. “Understanding Gangs as Armed Groups.” International Review of the Red Cross 92, no. 878 (2010): 369-386.
Henckaerts, Jean-Marie. “Non-Defended Towns.” In Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Henckaerts, Jean-Marie, and Louise Doswald-Beck, eds. Customary International Humanitarian Law, Volume 1: Rules. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Hennebel, Ludovic, and Helena Tigruojda. The American Convention on Human Rights: A Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Human Rights Watch. “Human Rights Watch Country Report on Turkey.” 2002. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/turkey/Turkey1002-12.htm.
Human Rights Watch. “Memorandum on Domestic Prosecutions for Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Chechnya.” February 9, 2001. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2021/07/200102eca_russia_chechnya.pdf.
International Committee of the Red Cross. Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention. Geneva: ICRC, 2020.
International Committee of the Red Cross. International Humanitarian Law and the Challenges of Contemporary Armed Conflicts. Geneva: ICRC, 2019.
International Committee of the Red Cross. I Saw My City Die: Voices from the Front Lines of Urban Conflict in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Geneva: ICRC, 2017.
Jessup, Philip C. “A Belligerent Occupant’s Power over Property.” American Journal of International Law 38, no. 3 (1944): 457-468.
Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, 136.
Loucaides, L. G. “The Protection of the Rights to Property in Occupied Territories.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 53, no. 3 (2004): 677-690.
Modern War Institute. “Urban Warfare Project.” Accessed August 30, 2024. https://mwi.westpoint.edu/urban-warfare-project/.
Molango, Maheta. “Property Right during Armed Conflict: Application of Adopting Principles of International Humanitarian Law by the European Court of Human Rights.” ILSP Law Journal (Washington College of Law): 76-98.
Murray, Rachel. The African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
Neuman, Noam. “Challenges in the Interpretation and Application of the Principle of Distinction during Ground Operations in Urban Areas.” Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 51 (2018): 807-825.
Newton, Michael, and Larry May. Proportionality in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
“Official Says 80-90% of Mariupol Destroyed or Damaged by Russian Shelling, Airstrikes.” The Kyiv Independent, March 17, 2022. https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/official-says-80-90-of-mariupol-destroyed-or-damaged-by-russian-shelling-airstrikes/.
Oxfam. “Escalating Death, Destitution, and Destruction, as Yemeni Civilians Left to Bear Brunt of 7-Year War.” March 24, 2022. https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/escalating-death-destitution-and-destruction-yemeni-civilians-left-bear-brunt-7-year.
Pfanner, Toni. “Editorial: Urban Violence.” International Review of the Red Cross 92, no. 878 (2010): 309-313.
Pictet, Jean, ed. Commentary on the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, vol. 3: Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva: ICRC, 1960.
Pocar, Fausto, Marco Pedrazzi, and Micaela Frulli, eds. War Crimes and the Conduct of Hostilities: Challenges to Adjudication and Investigation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2013.
Protocol Additional (I) to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts. 1125 UNTS 3, adopted 8 June 1977, entered into force 7 December 1978.
Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, ICC-01/12-01/15, Judgment and Sentence (International Criminal Court, September 27, 2016).
Prosecutor v. Katanga and Chui, ICC-01/04-01/07, Decision on the Confirmation of Charges (International Criminal Court, September 26, 2008).
Prosecutor v. Ramush Haradinaj et al., Case No. IT-04-84, Judgement (Trial Chamber), International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia, April 3, 2008.
Sandoz, Yves, Christophe Swinarski, and Bruno Zimmermann, eds. Commentary on the Additional Protocols. Geneva: ICRC, 1987.
Sari, Aurrel. “Urban Warfare: The Obligations of Defenders.” Lawfare (blog), January 24, 2019. https://www.lawfareblog.com/urban-warfare-obligations-defenders.
Sassoli, Marco. International Humanitarian Law: Rules, Controversies, and Solutions to Problems Arising in Warfare. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2019.
Saul, Ben, and Dapo Akande, eds. The Oxford Guide to International Humanitarian Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
Schabas, William A. The European Convention on Human Rights: A Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Schmitt, Michael N. “Targeting Dual Use Structures: An Alternative Interpretation.” Articles of War (blog), June 28, 2021. https://lieber.westpoint.edu/targeting-dual-use-structures-alternative/.
Sullo, Pietro, and Julian Wyatt. “War Reparations.” In Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2015. The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Annex 7: Agreement on Refugees and Displaced Persons, December 14, 1995.
“3m Homes Destroyed in Syria War.” Middle East Monitor, June 1, 2018. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180601-3m-homes-destroyed-in-syria-war/.
Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany, 112 BFSP 1 (1919).
Treaty of Peace with Japan, United States-Japan, September 8, 1951, 83 U.N.T.S. 497.
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “Update on the Human Rights Situation in Ukraine.” March 28, 2022. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/HRMMU_Update_2022-03-26_EN.pdf.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/5. “Furtherance of Remedy and Reparation for Aggression against Ukraine.” A/RES/ES-11/5 (November 14, 2022).
United Nations Human Rights Council. Report of the Detailed Findings of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict. U.N. Doc. A/HRC/29/CRP.4 (June 24, 2015).
United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry. “Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict - A/HRC/29/52.” Accessed August 30, 2024. https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/coigazaconflict/pages/reportcoigaza.aspx.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 687, S/RES/687 (April 28, 1991).
“Urban Violence: What Role for Traditional Humanitarianism?” Synthesis Report, Portcullis House, Westminster, March 21, 2013. https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/2013/urban-violence-summary-report.pdf.
“Who Will Rebuild Destroyed Houses in Kandahar.” Afghanistan Rights Monitor, November 5, 2010. https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/who-will-rebuild-destroyed-houses-kandahar.
Zimmermann, Andreas, and Robin Geis. “Article 8(2)(b)(xiii).” In Commentary to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, edited by Otto Trifterrer. Munich: C.H. Beck, 2016.