Covid-19 and its implications for the law of non-international armed conflict: the case of Mozambique

In March 2020 when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a pandemic it was just the start of the worldwide fight against the spread of the disease. COVID-19 threatened public health, but the risk was even greater in war-torn countries. In the case of Mozambique, long before the pandemic, the ongoing conflict in Cabo Delgado already resulted in many deaths, the destruction of property and infrastructure and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the existing humanitarian needs including the difficulty in aiding those affected by the conflict. The internal conflict between the Mozambican government and the non-state armed group, Ansar al-Sunna, is governed by the law of non-international armed conflict which provides protective measures for the affected population. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised the question of whether the current rules are sufficient in protecting the rights of those affected during a public health crisis. This chapter examines the implications that the COVID-19 pandemic has for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) during a non-international armed conflict, in particular considering the challenges of fighting a pandemic where parts of the state’s territory are under the belligerent control of a non-state actor. Given the significant challenges to the provision of healthcare and the protection of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing conflict, the chapter considers International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and the relationship between public health, human rights and IHL. The chapter seeks to demonstrate that the intertwined areas of IHL and IHRL may provide the necessary normative framework to address the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chapter underlines the urgent need for international organisations to implement robust and effective mechanisms to combat future pandemics and public health crises. The chapter offers a set of recommendations providing a valuable contribution to how IHL and IHRL can navigate the complex web of global national responses to pandemics to protect the rights of combatants, non-combatants and the population in the region.