The Silent Genocide: Starvation and the Burden of Proving Intent Before International Criminal Justice.

<ns3:p>What lies beneath is the “silent genocide” of deliberately using starvation to kill, its incidence so dire as it has become an emergency issue in contemporary international criminal law. This paper seeks to define starvation as a method of genocide, explore the various problems which arise from demonstrating the requisite criminal intent under the 1948 Genocide Convention. In many wars, hunger is used as a weapon to destroy targeted groups by depriving them of essential resources. Faced both with pivotal legal challenges which arise from the governing frameworks, from the evidentiary dilemma of establishing intent, and the liability limitations of the international courts, the study sets out key questions that we will address. The paper thus demonstrates major flaws in current mechanisms through a comparative analysis of court proceedings, from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the International Criminal Court’s involvement in crises in Darfur, Gaza, and Yemen. This research calls for immediate legal changes and better-armed judges, allowing for the identification and prosecution of starvation as a form of genocide.</ns3:p>