CYIL Vol. 5, 2014

THE EXISTANCE OF THE RIGHT TO HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE … primarily to provide a universal set of rules and principles for the effective protection and assistance to victims of disasters. 23 3. The right to humanitarian assistance in the event of natural disasters The widespread occurrence of major natural catastrophes and accompanying international solidarity bring up essential questions about the existence, adequacy and efficiency of the international legal regime dealing with response, humanitarian assistance and the protection of victims in such disturbing events. In most cases, natural disasters do not involve situations of armed conflicts or other political tensions and occur in a rather cooperative peacetime environment. The examination of existing international law and practice reveals that one of the key dilemmas in this field pertains to the tensions between the protection of disaster victims and their human rights, on the one hand, and the respect for the fundamental principles of State sovereignty and non-intervention, on the other. This conflict is not at the centre of attention when the international community is generous in providing relief to a State affected by a disaster and when the latter is either capable to provide humanitarian assistance to the population on its territory by itself or, if this is not the case, immediately accepts assistance from various actors from abroad. The provision of humanitarian assistance becomes problematic when the affected State is unable or unwilling to provide humanitarian assistance to victims and even rejects foreign relief offered by the UN, humanitarian organizations or assisting States. Such unfortunate cases are rare in practice, but they do exist. States affected by natural disasters may neglect their citizens and may be unwilling, mostly for political reasons, to accept humanitarian relief offered from abroad, regardless of the death toll. 24 Because of this constant interplay between the need for the protection of disaster victims and their human rights, on the one hand, and the respect for the fundamental principles of State sovereignty and non-intervention, on the other, the establishment or the recognition of the right to humanitarian assistance in the event of natural disasters is a highly complex and controversial issue. The ‘defenders’ of the right to humanitarian assistance indicate the possibility of the existence of this right deriving from the humanitarian principles and considering the relevance of numerous basic human 23 The ILC has provisionally adopted 21 draft articles pertaining to the scope and purpose of the topic, the definition of a disaster, the relationship with international humanitarian law, and other rule of international law the duty to cooperate, forms of cooperation, including cooperation for disaster risk reduction, humanitarian principles, human dignity, human rights and the role of the affected State in disaster response, the duty of the affected State to seek assistance, consent of the affected State to external assistance, the provision, facilitation and termination of external assistance, the protection of relief personnel and goods, as well as the duty to reduce the risk of disasters. 24 Most frequently mentioned cases are the famine in North Korea (1997, 1998), where according to some estimates, two million people died; the Cyclone Nargis (2008), which resulted in a colossal death toll after the Myanmar government rejected initial international humanitarian assistance; the famine in Ethiopia (1980s) and the earthquake in Gilan Province, Iran (1990), the consequences of which were even more catastrophic due to the harmful acts of the affected States, failing to promptly and effectively accept and properly disseminate in a timely manner humanitarian relief offered from abroad.