Ecocide and Genocide in Iraq: International Law, the Marsh Arabs, and Environmental Damage in Non-International Conflicts

In the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi forces set fire to 600 of Kuwait's oil wells and damaged 175 more; at least 6 million bbl of oil were deliberately discharged into the Persian Gulf. In the wake of an unsuccessful Shiite rebellion that same year, Saddam Hussein's government also drained the mars...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Colorado journal of international environmental law and policy 2004-01, Vol.15 (1), p.1-1
Main Author: Schwabach, Aaron
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi forces set fire to 600 of Kuwait's oil wells and damaged 175 more; at least 6 million bbl of oil were deliberately discharged into the Persian Gulf. In the wake of an unsuccessful Shiite rebellion that same year, Saddam Hussein's government also drained the marshlands of Southern Iraq in a successful effort to destroy the lifestyle and culture of Marsh Arabs. The legality of these actions against the Marsh Arabs and the wetlands in which they lived is considered in the context of conventional and customary international law and treaties. The various environmental treaties to which Iraq is a party, and customary international law concerning transboundary environmental damage, provide little recourse for the Marsh Arabs.
ISSN:1050-0391