ISIL's Scorched Earth Policy in Iraq: Options for its Victims to be Recognized under International Law

Oct 13, 2017 | Doug Weir
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With what has been called a ‘landmark’ resolution, the UN Security Council has established a team to investigate international crimes committed by ISIL in Iraq. Will the investigative team also seek accountability for the victims of its scorched earth policy and oil fires? On which criminal provisions could the team of experts rely to address conflict-related environmental harm? This post by Eliana Cusato argues that, whereas these issues raise fundamental legal and practical challenges, environmental degradation associated with armed conflict should be regarded as a serious concern by the international community and its victims must be properly recognized. On the 21st September, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 2379 requesting the UN Secretary-General to establish an investigative team to collect and preserve evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by the Islamic State in Iraq (ISIL). The resolution stipulates that evidence of these international crimes would be used in future criminal proceedings in Iraq and other domestic courts, whereas ‘any other uses is to be determined in agreement with the Government of Iraq on a case by case basis’. As such, the resolution does not exclude a hypothetical use of this evidence by international criminal tribunals. Whilst applauding the UNSC’s initiative of documenting atrocities committed in Iraq by Islamic State, some commentators, for instance Human Rights Watch, have criticised the failure of the resolution to include crimes committed by anti-ISIL forces in Iraq, and maintained that ‘Iraq urgently needs investigations of serious crimes by all sides to the conflict’. Although few would disagree that ‘the lack of impartial justice could undermine longer-term prospects for stability and development’, there are other factors that may equally influence the chances of sustainable peace and development in Iraq.