Asymmetric Actors in Asymmetric Conflicts

2019 ◽  
pp. 424-443
Author(s):  
Robert Frau
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Asymmetric Conflict ◽  
Asymmetric Conflicts ◽  
Strategic Policy

The chapter provides an analysis of the various dimensions and implications of asymmetry in armed conflicts. Multinational military operations are typically—albeit not necessarily—made up of states with significant military capabilities, and they often operate in asymmetric contexts. Against this backdrop, the author differentiates between legal, factual, and methodological asymmetries. On this basis, he identifies areas in which asymmetric conflict structures pose significant problems in the context of multinational military operations. In doing so and in view of actors such as the Islamic State that deliberately disrespect even the most fundamental rules of IHL, the author also explores the limits of such approaches. Nevertheless, he argues that for a multinational military, there is a strong strategic (policy) incentive to adhere to and implement all feasible precautions and human rights law.

Starvation in Armed Conflicts

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Hutter
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right

Abstract Armed conflict can cause food shortages, which continue long after the fighting is over, and increase the chance that a famine may occur. When it occurs during the context of an armed conflict, death resulting from hunger is tolerated by the international community. Yet, the prevention or alleviation of famines, even within environmentally precarious regions, is often within human control. This gives rise to the following questions. Can a state use the outbreak of an armed conflict as an excuse to remain passive while starvation takes its course? Is it justified for a state to allocate most of its resources to its military operations, while claiming to have difficulties to collect sufficient resources to meet its minimum core obligations under international human rights law? This article aims to clarify these complex questions and elaborates on how the framework of human rights law includes provisions to prevent starvation in armed conflicts. With a focus on the right to food, this analysis scrutinizes the human rights-based obligations to respect, protect and fulfil, which impose clear duties on states with respect to famines. As it is generally accepted that international human rights law continues to apply in situations of armed conflict, both human rights law and international humanitarian law apply simultaneously in these scenarios. The analysis thus also examines the complex relationship between obligations under human rights law and humanitarian law and the influence of the former on the assessment of latter. Finally, the article touches upon the scope of obligations held by armed non-state actors.

Human Rights Obligations of Armed Groups

2019 ◽  
pp. 444-462
Author(s):  
Andreas Th Müller
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Potential Application ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
The Past ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
State Actors

One of the asymmetries faced by military missions in areas of limited statehood are diverging legal obligations of state and non-state actors, in particular in relation to human rights duties. From a perspective of states bound by human rights treaties, there is a certain danger that armed groups opposing them might abuse the obligations incumbent upon state actors. Against this perception, the potential application of human rights law to armed groups is not only relevant as a tool for protecting civilians but also from a reciprocity perspective in view of the fluidity of armed conflicts and with a view to convergence of standards. The chapter assesses how international law and international legal practice in relation to armed groups have evolved over the past decade. It takes stock of recent developments and analyses the degree to which human rights obligations apply to armed groups.

Protecting the Environment during Multinational Military Operations

2019 ◽  
pp. 322-344
Author(s):  
Onita Das
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Ongoing Work

The chapter examines issues concerning the protection of the environment during multinational military operations. Taking into consideration the International Law Commission’s (ILC) recent work regarding the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts, this contribution devotes particular attention to the preventive and remedial measures suggested in the Special Rapporteur’s reports. The chapter does, however, go beyond the ILC’s ongoing work on environmental protection in the context of armed conflict by extending its focus on exploring how multinational military operations generally—that is whether within or outside of armed conflicts—are influenced by other bodies of international law, namely international criminal law, international environmental law, and international human rights law.

14. The law of armed conflict

2019 ◽  
pp. 279-302
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines those parts of international law that regulate how military operations must be conducted—jus in bello. It begins in Section 14.2 with an overview of the most important legal sources. Section 14.3 discusses when humanitarian law applies and Section 14.4 examines the issue of battlefield status and the distinction between combatants and civilians. Section 14.5 provides an overview of some of the most basic principles governing the conduct of hostilities while Section 14.6 concerns belligerent occupation and Section 14.7. deals with the regulation of non-international armed conflict. Finally, Section 14.8 explores the relationship between international humanitarian law and human rights law in times of armed conflict.

14. The law of armed conflict

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines those parts of international law that regulate how military operations must be conducted — jus in bello. It begins in Section 14.2 with an overview of the most important legal sources. Section 14.3 discusses when humanitarian law applies. Section 14.4 examines the issue of battlefield status and the distinction between combatants and civilians. Section 14.5 provides an overview of some of the most basic principles governing the conduct of hostilities while Section 14.6 deals with the issue of regulation of non-international armed conflict. Finally, Section 14.7 explores the relationship between international humanitarian law and human rights law in times of armed conflict.

Toward a global ban on landmines

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (307) ◽  
pp. 391-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Parlow
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Hague Convention ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
The World ◽  
International Attention ◽  
Chemical And Biological Weapons ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

The use of arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause unnecessary suffering, and more especially of poisoned weapons (chemical and biological weapons), was banned under the conceptual framework of both the 1907 Hague Convention (IV) and the 1925 Geneva Protocol. In the discussions leading to a ban on the use of chemical weapons, diplomats from around the world referred to their use as “barbaric and dishonourable” because of their effect on soldiers or the likely indiscriminate impact on civilians. It is a universal achievement that it is now impossible to conceive of a world that does not show concern for civilians caught up in war. As international attention to the protection of civilians in internal armed conflicts grows, it is accompanied by renewed debate regarding regulation of warring parties' conduct through humanitarian and human rights law.

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Nowak
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Personal Dignity ◽  
Convention Against Torture ◽  
Degrading Treatment ◽  
Domestic Affairs

International humanitarian law (IHL) was developed to ensure respect for the dignity and integrity of the human being. It aims to reduce human suffering in times of armed conflict by requiring combatants to act in a humane manner and to avoid cruelty. In relation to non-international armed conflicts, both IHL and international human rights law (IHRL) have been challenged with arguments of state sovereignty and a supposed prohibition on interference with domestic affairs. This chapter examines the three types of ill-treatment under both IHRL and IHL in light of relevant literature and jurisprudence: torture, cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment, and degrading treatment or punishment. It discusses the United Nations Convention against Torture and the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the obligations of states under human rights law, and outrages upon personal dignity.

The Application of International Human Rights Law in Non-International Armed Conflicts

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Kamatali
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Advisory Opinion ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Three Solutions ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human

Since the end of the Cold War, the world has experienced a decrease in international conflict and a significant increase in non-international armed conflict (niac). Despite this change, however, international law has been very slow in adapting its laws that initially were crafted with international armed conflict in mind to the new niac environment. There is a growing recognition that international humanitarian law (ihl) is not well equipped to deal with issues of human rights violations committed during niac. New efforts to make international human rights law (ihrl) applicable in such conflicts have, however, raised more questions than answers. There is still no consensus on whether international human rights law applies to niac. Furthermore, the question on whether non-international armed groups are bound by international human rights obligations remains controversial. This article tries to analyze where international law stands now of these questions. It proposes steps international law could follow to move from its current rhetoric to a more practical solution on these questions. The three solutions proposed are: individual agreements to respect human rights during armed conflict, the possibility of an icj advisory opinion and the option of a protocol additional to international human rights treaties relating to their application in niac.

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