Related Rule
Germany
Practice Relating to Rule 55. Access for Humanitarian Relief to Civilians in Need
Section B. Impediment of humanitarian relief
Germany’s Military Manual (1992) states that, in the case of a blockade, “it is … prohibited to hinder relief shipments for the civilian population”.
Germany, Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflicts – Manual, DSK VV207320067, edited by The Federal Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany, VR II 3, August 1992, English translation of ZDv 15/2, Humanitäres Völkerrecht in bewaffneten Konflikten – Handbuch, August 1992, § 1051.
Germany’s Law Introducing the International Crimes Code (2002) punishes anyone who, in connection with an international or a non-international armed conflict, “impedes relief supplies, in contravention of international humanitarian law”.
Germany, Law Introducing the International Crimes Code, 2002, Article 1, § 11(1)(5).
In 1994, in a statement in the lower house of parliament, a German Minister of State, in line with the other members of the EU, condemned the hampering of humanitarian aid in Sudan.
Germany, Lower House of Parliament, Statement by a Minister of State, 3 March 1994, Plenarprotokoll 12/213, p. 18469.
In 1996, during a debate in the UN General Assembly, Germany called upon all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan not to hamper humanitarian aid.
Germany, Statement before the UN General Assembly, UN Doc. A/51/PV.84, 13 December 1996, p. 7.
In 2004, during a debate in the UN Security Council, the representative of Germany stated:
There are new actors in the area of the protection of civilians in armed conflict whom we have to deal with. More than ever before, we need constructive engagement with non-State armed groups. They not only have the potential to deny humanitarian actors humanitarian access; they actually do it.
Germany, Statement before the UN Security Council, UN Doc. S/PV.4990, 14 June 2004, p. 25.
