Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) (1998)

Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) defines as a war crime in international armed conflict intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to civilian subsistence, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided under the Geneva Conventions. It creates individual criminal liability subject to the Court's jurisdiction and the Elements of Crimes. It does not make every food shortage, siege, blockade or sanctions effect an ICC offence.

Elements and boundary

The prosecution must prove the prohibited conduct, the required intent, the nexus to an international armed conflict and the accused's awareness of factual circumstances establishing that conflict. The Elements of Crimes require deprivation of objects indispensable to civilian subsistence and intent to starve civilians as a method of warfare. Foreseeability can be evidence, but it is not a substitute for the required mental element.

The provision relates to, but remains distinct from, the humanitarian-law rule in Additional Protocol I Article 54 (1977). A state breach and an individual's criminal responsibility involve different elements, evidence and forums.

In 2019 the Assembly of States Parties adopted Article 8(2)(e)(xix), extending the starvation offence to non-international armed conflict for states bound by the amendment under the Rome Statute's amendment rules. Ratification and temporal application require a situation-specific check.

Proceedings and statecraft significance

ICC arrest warrants or charging documents contain allegations and judicial findings at a preliminary stage, not convictions. Any reference to a current situation must identify the accused, document, date, counts and procedural posture, and must note that allegations remain untested at trial unless adjudicated.

The provision sets a criminal-law boundary for deprivation used in armed conflict. It is relevant to economic statecraft only where conduct occurs within that armed-conflict and jurisdictional framework. Peacetime sanctions require analysis under other bodies of law.

See also

Additional Protocol I Article 54 (1977) · UNSCR 2417 (2018) · Naval blockade · Food weaponisation (food security as leverage) · Economic statecraft

Sources

• International Criminal Court, Rome Statute, Article 8(2)(b)(xxv).
• Assembly of States Parties, Elements of Crimes.
• Assembly of States Parties, Resolution ICC-ASP/18/Res.5, 6 December 2019.
• United Nations Treaty Collection, Rome Statute status and amendments, checked 30 July 2026.
• Dapo Akande and Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, 'Conflict-Induced Food Insecurity and the War Crime of Starvation', Journal of International Criminal Justice 17, no. 4 (2019).
• International Committee of the Red Cross, Customary IHL Rule 53.