Colombian Fumigation of Herbicides and International Humanitarian Law
Abstract
The Colombian Government since 2000 has been using sprayings of herbicides in large scales with the aim of destroying illegal crops of coca and poppy plants. This action has been widely criticized; therefore, there have been several studies related to this matter. In the legal area, this issue has been analyzed mainly from the human rights perspective. Nevertheless, this paper addresses this matter from a completely different standpoint.
This article’s main objectives are to analyze the aerial spraying of herbicides as an act of war within the Colombian armed conflict and to critically assess its lawfulness under the rules and principles of the International Humanitarian law.
In other to achieve those objectives this article gives a brief background of the analyzed practice and explains why aerial spraying of herbicides can be considered an act of war. Furthermore, the reality of this practice is compared with the rules and exceptions of the International Humanitarian Law to finally conclude that the fumigations with herbicides are an open violation of the aforementioned law.
Downloads
References
Buitrago, F. L. (2013). El plan Colombia: orígenes, desarrollos y proyección regional. Íconos - Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 10, pp. 80-86.
Crowe, J., & Weston-Scheuber, K. (2013). Principles of international humanitarian law (1st ed.). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Ltd., 2013.
de Geoffroy, A. (2009). Fleeing war and relocating to the urban fringe – issues and actors: the cases of Khartoum and Bogotá. International Review of the Red Cross, 91(875), 509-526. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1816383109990361
Defensoría del pueblo (2002). Resolution number 026 “Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario en el marco del conflicto armado y de las fumigaciones de los cultivos de coca en el departamento del Putumayo”.
Ecuador vs. Colombia. Aerial Herbicide Spraying, n° 138 International Court of Justice (31-III-2008). International Court of Justice.
El País. (2013a, July 22). Santos acusa a las Farc de narcotráfico y de minería ilegal. In http://www.elpais.com.co/elpais/judicial/noticias/santos-acusa-farc-narcotrafico-y-mineria-ilegal (retrieved on 6-VI-2016).
El País. (2013b, November 13). Farc reconocen vínculos con cultivos del narcotráfico. In http://www.elpais.com.co/elpais/judicial/noticias/farc-reconocen-vinculos-con-cultivos-narcotrafico (retrieved on 6-VI-2016)
Epps, V. (2012). Civilian Casualties in Modern Warfare: The Death of the Collateral Damage Rule. Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, 41, 307.
Escobar, L. (2003). Naturaleza Jurídica de las Migraciones como consecuencia del componente antinarcóticos de erradicación forzosa de cultivos ilícitos del plan Colombia. (Thesis). Universidad Javeriana.
Esposito, R. (2010). ICJ and the Future of Transboundary Harm Disputes: A Preliminary Analysis of the case concerning Aerial Herbicide Spraying (Ecuador v. Colombia), The. Pace International Law Review Online Companion, 2010, x.
Fleck, D. (Ed.). (2008). The handbook of international humanitarian law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Henckaerts, J.-M., & Doswald-Beck, L. (Eds.). (2005). Customary international humanitarian law. New York: Cambridge University Press.
International Committee of the Red Cross (1977). Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977, 1125 UNTS 609.
International Committee of the Red Cross (2010, October 29). Customary international humanitarian law. In https://www.icrc.org/eng/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/customary-law/overview-customary-law.htm (retrieved on 6-VI-2016).
International Committee of the Red Cross (2011). International Humanitarian Law and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts. 31st
International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. In https://app.icrc.org/e-briefing/new-tech-modern-battlefield/media/documents/4-international-humanitarian-law-and-the-challenges-of-contemporary-armed-conflicts.pdf (retrieved on 6-VI-2016).
Isacson, A. (2005). Failing Grades: Evaluating the Results of Plan Colombia. Yale Journal of International Affairs, 1, 138.
Korovkin, T. (2008). The Colombian War and “Invisible” Refugees in Ecuador. Peace Review, 20(3), 321-329. http://doi.org/10.1080/10402650802330154
International Court of Justice (2008, March 16). Letter From The Ambassador Of Ecuador (Appointed) to The Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Register of the International Court of Justice. In Aerial Herbicide Spraying (Ecuador vs. Colombia), International Court of Justice 138, 31.
Lovell, D. W. & Primoratz, I. (2012). Protecting civilians during violent conflict: theoretical and practical issues for the 21st century. Farnham: Ashgate.
McCoubrey, H. (1998). International humanitarian law : modern developments in the limitation of warfare (2nd ed.). Aldershot, Hant, England: Ashgate, Dartmouth.
Melzer, N. (2008). Interpretive guidance on the notion of direct participation in hostilities under international humanitarian law - ICRC. International Review of the Red Cross, 90, 991-1047.
Radio Caracol. (2013a, April 17). Los negocios de narcotráfico y extorsiones de cabecilla de las Farc. In http://caracol.com.co/radio/2013/04/17/judicial/1366185780_883194.html (retrieved on 6-VI-2016)
Radio Caracol. (2013b, August 15). ONU presentará informe sobre cultivo de hoja de coca en Colombia. In http://caracol.com.co/radio/2013/08/07/nacional/1375893180_946959.html (retrieved on 6-VI-2016).
Tawse-Smith, D. (2008). Conflicto armado colombiano. Desafíos, 19(0), 269-299.
Urigüen Moreano, H. (2006). Las implicaciones del conflicto interno colombiano para las fronteras de Ecuador, Perú, Brasil y Venezuela, 2000-2005. Íconos: Revista de Ciencias Sociales, (24), 161-170.
Valencia, E. M. (2007). Theories of Compliance in International Conflict: The Place of the Third Geneva Convention in Colombian Armed Conflict. Temple International & Comparative Law Journal, 21, 445.
Vinuesa, R. E. (1998). Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario, diferencias y complementariedad. In https://www.icrc.org/spa/resources/documents/misc/5tdlj8.htm (retrieved on 6-VI-2016).
Zabana Abdo, F. (2011). Las imágenes del conflicto armado colombiano : Estados Unidos y Ecuador, 1997-2007. In http://repositorio.flacsoandes.edu.ec/handle/10469/3114 (retrieved on 6-VI-2016).
Copyright (c) 2017 Natalia Andrade Cadena
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors publishing in our Journal comply to the following terms:
1. Authors keep their work’s copyrights, but they guarantee Ius Humani Law Journal to be the first publisher of their papers. They grant the Journal will a Creative Commons Attribution License, under which their work can be shared with the condition that it is appropriately cited.
2. Authors are aware and accept that the Ius Humani Team will try to give the greatest diffusion to the Journal, which means, among other things, that its printed and electronic editions will be distributed among different databases and scientific indexes.
3. Authors can establish further clauses for non exclusive distribution, such as publication on a separate book or placing in an institutional data-base. Nevertheless, a note should be always added to explain that the paper was originally published in Ius Humani Law Journal.
4. We permit and encourage authors to share their work through Internet before and during the editorial process to receive further recommendations and wider references (we recommend you read the article The Effect of Open Access).