New Zealand
Practice Relating to Rule 53. Starvation as a Method of Warfare
New Zealand’s Military Manual (1992) provides: “Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited.”
The manual also states that Article 54 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I “expands the customary protection as follows: 1. Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited.”
The manual further stresses that the 1977 Additional Protocol II “forbids starvation as a method of combat”.
Under New Zealand’s International Crimes and ICC Act (2000), war crimes include the crime defined in Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the 1998 ICC Statute.
New Zealand’s Military Manual (1992) notes that siege is not prohibited “even if it causes some collateral deprivation to the civilian population, so long as starvation is not the specific purpose”.
In a section on siege warfare, the manual further provides that, in such a situation, “provision is … made in [Article 23 of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV] for the passage … of essential foodstuffs, clothing, and tonics intended for children under 15, expectant mothers and maternity cases”.
New Zealand’s Military Manual (1992) states that blockade is not prohibited “even if it causes some collateral deprivation to the civilian population, so long as starvation is not the specific purpose”.