{"id":46247,"date":"2025-07-21T05:25:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T05:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/?p=46247"},"modified":"2025-07-21T05:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T05:26:11","slug":"legal-article-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/2025\/07\/21\/legal-article-19\/","title":{"rendered":"legal article"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Food Security and Starvation Crimes<\/p>\n<p>A flagrant violation of the human right to life \u2013 Gaza as a model<\/p>\n<p>A specialized legal article by Dr. Ahmed Faris Idris<\/p>\n<p>Teacher of International Humanitarian Law at the College of Law, University of Mosul<\/p>\n<p>Introduction:<\/p>\n<p>Amid the tragedies plaguing the Gaza Strip, we cannot ignore the systematic policy of starvation used as a means of warfare against the civilian population. This is a grave violation of human dignity and a flagrant breach of the peremptory norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.<\/p>\n<p>What is happening in Gaza is no longer a traditional conflict. Rather, it is a siege, starvation, the systematic targeting of civilians, and the deliberate denial of food and medical aid, which constitutes a crime against humanity according to international legal standards.<\/p>\n<p>First: Starvation as a weapon is prohibited under international law.<\/p>\n<p>Article (54) of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 explicitly prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare, affirming that &#8220;starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is absolutely prohibited.&#8221; The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in Article (8\/2\/b\/25), criminalizes the deliberate use of starvation against civilians as a war crime.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of Gaza, this crime is embodied in:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Cutting off food and medical supplies.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Destroying agricultural infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Imposing a comprehensive blockade and preventing the entry of essential materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Obstructing humanitarian aid and preventing the work of international agencies and organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Second: Food security is a fundamental human right.<\/p>\n<p>International human rights agreements\u2014particularly the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights\u2014have affirmed that the right to food is an inalienable right. Article (11) of the Covenant states that &#8220;States Parties recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food and water.&#8221; &#8220;Food.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In Gaza, this right is being publicly trampled on and taken from the mouths of the hungry, in the absence of any firm stance from the international or even regional community.<\/p>\n<p>Third: The Role of the International Community and Its Duties<\/p>\n<p>In light of the documented crimes and damning evidence, international silence can only be interpreted as a form of complicity or indifference to the suffering of an entire people. The international community must:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Press for the opening of safe humanitarian corridors.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Impose oversight on the parties&#8217; obligations under international law.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Allow humanitarian organizations\u2014chief among them the International Committee of the Red Cross\u2014unhindered access to provide food and medical support.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Initiate international investigations into crimes of starvation and bring those responsible to international criminal accountability.<\/p>\n<p>Conclusion:<\/p>\n<p>A humanitarian responsibility before a legal one. What is happening in Gaza is more than just a political crisis or a military conflict. It is a human tragedy in every sense of the word, in which hunger is used as a weapon, human dignity is violated, and the most basic of rights: the right to life, is confiscated.<\/p>\n<p>Silence regarding these violations is no longer acceptable. The moral and humanitarian imperative requires a decisive Arab, Islamic, and international stance. The time has come to move beyond symbolic statements and positions and toward practical steps that protect lives and guarantee the human dignity of a people who seek nothing but life.<\/p>\n<p>#University_of_Mosul<\/p>\n<p>#Sustainable_University<\/p>\n<p>#Sustainability<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-46248 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/518338664_1238837708035557_2571258491894988452_n.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/518338664_1238837708035557_2571258491894988452_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"604\" height=\"475\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27604%27%20height%3D%27475%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20604%20475%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27604%27%20height%3D%27475%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/518338664_1238837708035557_2571258491894988452_n-200x157.jpg 200w, https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/518338664_1238837708035557_2571258491894988452_n-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/518338664_1238837708035557_2571258491894988452_n-400x315.jpg 400w, https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/518338664_1238837708035557_2571258491894988452_n-600x472.jpg 600w, https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/518338664_1238837708035557_2571258491894988452_n.jpg 604w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Food Security and Starvation Crimes A flagrant violation of the human right to life \u2013 Gaza as a model A specialized legal article by Dr. Ahmed Faris Idris Teacher of International Humanitarian Law at the College of Law, University of Mosul Introduction: Amid the tragedies plaguing the Gaza Strip, we cannot ignore the systematic policy of starvation used as a means of warfare against the civilian population. This is a grave violation of human dignity and a flagrant breach of the peremptory norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. What is happening in Gaza is no longer a <a href=\"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/2025\/07\/21\/legal-article-19\/\"> [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":46232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46249,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46247\/revisions\/46249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/rights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}