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THE EXISTANCE OF THE RIGHT TO HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE …
country.66 There is no doubt that a State has an obligation to ensure the respect for
the right to life of individuals within its territory and within its prerogatives. This,
inter alia, implies an obligation of the State to take active measures and all necessary
steps for the fulfilment of the right to life also in the aftermath of natural disasters.
‘Taking all necessary steps’ means that the State has the duty to prevent disasters, to
prepare for disasters within its territory, to take direct measures to minimize suffering
immediately following a disaster, and above all to seek international humanitarian relief
when national efforts are insufficient to preserve lives of victims of natural disasters.
The right to humanitarian assistance is thus a necessary element of the right to life with
dignity, encompassing the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate
food, water, clothing, shelter and the requirements of good health, which are expressly
guaranteed under international law. Although many basic human rights applicable in
the event of natural disasters are generally considered subject to ‘progressive realization’
over time, it is considered that the affected State, by arbitrarily rejecting available
international humanitarian assistance that would be essential for the survival and well-
being of the victims in the event of natural disasters, violates these rights.
In addition, efforts to establish the existence of the right to humanitarian
assistance in the event of natural disasters can be influenced by the fact that this
right is widely recognized in the specialized context of armed conflicts. International
humanitarian law provides a useful analogy in inferring the rules governing response
to natural disasters. The universally accepted legal rules of ‘Geneva Law’ explicitly
deal with the scope and provision of the right to humanitarian assistance. It should be
noted that there is no absolute agreement that a customary norm has so far crystallized
in international law of armed conflict to establish a general right to humanitarian
assistance which would apply to all situations.67 In the case of occupied territories such
a right does exist and an occupying power has the unconditional obligation to enable
relief consignments to reach civilian population in need. For other cases of armed
conflicts it must be taken into account that, although humanitarian assistance is to be
provided in agreement with Parties concerned, such agreement must not be withheld
on arbitrary grounds. The commentaries to the Protocol Additional to the Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-
International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II) note:
“The fact that consent is required does not mean that the decision is left to the discretion
of the parties. If the survival of the population is threatened and a humanitarian
organization fulfilling the required conditions of impartiality and non-discrimination
is able to remedy this situation, relief actions must take place.
66 Ramcharan, B. G., The Right to Life in International Law, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht,
1985, pp. 6, 17.
67 Dinstein, Y., The Right to Humanitarian Assistance, available at:
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