The Recruitment and use of Mercenaries in Armed Conflicts

1978 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. C. Burmester
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Laws Of War ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject

Recent events in Angola and Rhodesia have drawn public attention to the problems which arise from the use of mercenaries in armed conflicts and civil wars. Renewed interest in the subject has also been shown by international bodies and conferences, including the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, which recently adopted a treaty article on the status of mercenaries. This article examines the international legal rules applicable to states in relation to the recruitment and organizing of mercenary forces, the appropriate domestic legislation to give effect to such rules, and the status to be accorded mercenaries for the purposes of the laws of war.

scholarly journals Applicability of the rules of international humanitarian law to peacekeeping operations in regional crises

2021 ◽  
pp. 26-32
Author(s):  
Alexandru Cauia ◽  
◽  
Naif Jassim Alabduljabbar ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Military Conflicts ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject

Reading the International Humanitarian Law, point of view of the status of subjects of Public International Law of the parties ist the only issue that involved in military conflicts matters so that they can be qualified as international or non-international, which depends directly on the volume of legal rules to be enforced and complied by the warring parties. Thus, members of peacekeeping operations conducted under the auspices of the UN, or with the participation of regional structures must strictly comply with the provisions of the rules of war throughout their actions in situations that may qualify as armed conflicts. Mechanisms and instruments for ensuring compliance with the rules of International Humanitarian Law by members of peacekeeping contingents shall be the subject of research in this article.

scholarly journals Destructive trends in contemporary armed conflicts and the overlooked aspect of intangible cultural heritage: A critical comparison of the protection of cultural heritage under IHL and the Islamic law of armed conflict

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Victoria Arnal
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Intangible Cultural Heritage ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
Rules And Principles

Abstract The destruction of cultural heritage in armed conflicts has gained increasing political momentum and visibility over the last two decades. Syria, Iraq and Mali, among others, have witnessed the intentional destruction of their cultural heritage by non-State armed groups (NSAGs) that have invoked Islamic law and principles to legitimize their actions. The response of the international community has predominantly focused on the material aspect, to the detriment of the significant impact on the associated intangible manifestation of cultural heritage in local communities. This article argues that several Islamic legal rules and principles may, more adequately than international humanitarian law, safeguard the intangible dimension of cultural heritage in certain contemporary armed conflicts in Muslim contexts. It aims to demonstrate the importance of drawing from multiple legal traditions in order to enhance the protection of intangible cultural heritage in armed conflicts and to strengthen engagement with the relevant NSAGs.

scholarly journals Dilemmas over individual and state responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law

2004 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-369
Author(s):  
Keneth Mengjo
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Subject ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

This paper attempts an explanation to some of the complex legal issues surrounding the whole concept of responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law. The arguments here are based on reflections on the draft articles on the responsibility of states for the violations of international humanitarian law adopted by the international law commission as well as opinions of experts on the subject, treaties, conventions international jurisprudence, and internationally recognized principles and customs that govern conduct in armed conflicts so as to limit human suffering particularly of non combatants.

Normative Underpinnings

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kubo Mačák
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
State Actors ◽  
The Law

This chapter considers the normative underpinnings of the present-day regulation of combatancy. It argues that a wholesale denial of combatant status to fighters in internationalized armed conflicts would be incongruous with the principles of distinction and equal application of the law. The chapter then considers specific objections against the extension of combatant status to non-state actors from the perspective of internationalized armed conflicts. It argues that although some of the objections carry certain weight in the context of traditional civil wars, their effect in internationalized armed conflicts is significantly weaker. The chapter thus shows that in principle, the availability of combatant status to fighters in internationalized armed conflicts is in accordance with the normative underpinnings of International Humanitarian Law.

scholarly journals Issues on The Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law to The Use of Drones in Armed Conflicts

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-170
Author(s):  
Sabin Guțan
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
The Military

Abstract Drones are new means and methods of warfare which, apparently, are similar to combat aircrafts. A big difference between the two categories is the human personnel involved. Compared with airplanes, carrying a human crew on board - this one carrying out combat operations from inside the aircraft - drones do not have inside human beings, being coordinated from the ground (or sea) - the military actions carrying out from the place where the operators are. So the question arises: what kind of rules of international humanitarian law are applicable to the use of drones in armed conflicts? Starting from the rule that legal rules apply to legal relationships between people (but not directly to objects or animals), I analyze to what extent these means and methods of warfare are subject to the rules of armed conflict on land, sea or air.

International Humanitarian Law and Non-State Practice in Armed Conflict: Combatant’s Privilege and Kurdish Fighters in Syria

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-296
Author(s):  
Ilana Rothkopf
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Community ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Prisoner Of War ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
State Practice ◽  
The Status

Abstract Do fighters associated with non-state armed groups have the combatant’s privilege in armed conflict? Non-state armed groups are commonplace in contemporary armed conflicts. However, international humanitarian law (IHL), particularly the law that pertains to combatant’s privilege and prisoner of war status, was designed with state actors in mind. This article assesses the conditions under which the members of non-state armed groups have combatant’s privilege. Throughout, it uses the case of Kurdish fighters in Syria as an example of the timeliness of this question and its ramifications for conflict actors. This article notes, with support from the Geneva Conventions, Additional Protocols, and other sources of IHL, that IHL does not foresee a combatant’s privilege for armed groups in a non-international armed conflict. It contends, however, that the international community should agree to a generalisable rule for the treatment of fighters as combatants regardless of conflict type, if these fighters demonstrate the capability and willingness to adhere to IHL. Such a rule would reduce the need to assess both conflict type and the status of individual fighters should they be captured, and more importantly, it would incentivise continued compliance with IHL.

Terrorism and Armed Conflict: Insights from a Law & Literature Perspective

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREA BIANCHI
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Law

AbstractThis article examines some selected issues relating to terrorism and international humanitarian law (IHL): the characterization of the nature of armed conflicts in which armed groups, qualified as ‘terrorist’, are involved; terrorism as a war crime; and the determination of the status and treatment (including detention) of terrorist suspects apprehended in the course of an armed conflict. The analysis emphasizes the importance of legal categories and legal qualifications of factual situations for the purpose of determining the applicable law as well as the crucial importance of taking societal practice into account when evaluating the state of the law in any given area. The main focus of the article, however, is on providing a few basic insights, drawn from the law & literature movement, on international humanitarian law and terrorism. Short of any epistemological ambition, literature is used as a remainder that the law is not a set of neutral rules, elaborated and applied independently of context and historical background; that the human condition remains central; and that legal regulation cannot be oblivious to it. Finally, mention is made of interpretive techniques, developed in the field of literary studies, that may help establish social consensus on the interpretation of IHL grey areas.

Rebellion, War Aims & the Laws of War

Daedalus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanisha M. Fazal
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
International Community ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Laws Of War ◽  
Nonstate Actors ◽  
Independent State ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
War Aims

Most wars today are civil wars, but we have little understanding of the conditions under which rebel groups might comply with the laws of war. i ask three questions in this essay: What do the laws of war require of rebels, or armed nonstate actors (ansas)? To what extent are rebels aware of the laws of war? Under what conditions do rebel groups comply with international humanitarian law? i argue that the war aims of rebel groups are key to understanding their relationship with the laws of war. In particular, secessionist rebel groups – those that seek a new, independent state – are especially likely to comply with the laws of war as a means to signal their capacity and willingness to be good citizens of the international community to which they seek admission.

scholarly journals Odpowiedzialność za naruszenie międzynarodowego prawa humanitarnego przez siły pokojowe Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-69
Author(s):  
Jacek Stochel
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Lethal Force ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Traditional Understanding

Operations under the auspices of the Security Council mandate span over 70 years. Repeatedly involved in resolving armed conflicts, they have made a significant contribution to ensuring security and stability around the world. In practice, they have taken the form of operations by individual states, coalitions, other international organizations or simply as United Nations missions composed of contingents provided by Troop Contribution Countries (TCC). While operations under the auspices of the United Nations have been involved on several occasions in offensive activities under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, and the question of responsibility for these actions has been the subject of many legal analyses and judgments, missions organized by the United Nations are always recognized as neutral, and their activities as conciliatory and focused on monitoring the cessation of hostilities, or supervising the disengagement between the parties of the conflict, with the use of force limited to self-defence. Thus, such operations benefited from legal protection, and any action against them was considered a violation of international law. The current engagement of United Nations goes far beyond the traditional understanding of peacekeeping operations. UN missions are frequently authorized to employ all necessary means, up to and including the use of lethal force or even neutralization of the armed group. This creates a situation where in the light of International Humanitarian Law, such actions can be recognized as involvement in armed conflict. This article is intended to show the problems that the international community will soon face to in using United Nations’ missions as an instrument for resolving armed conflicts and as a tool for restoring peace and providing stability and securityin the area of operations. It presents the processes of decision-making and subordination, which in some circumstances might result in the United Nations missions being deprived of legal protection and, in addition, made liable for non-compliance with the provisions of International Humanitarian Law.

scholarly journals الحماية الدستورية والادارية للبيئة من التلوث

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-95
Author(s):  
انتصار خلف ◽  
رائد خضر
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
Sound Environment ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One

Based on the constitutional principle contained in most constitutions of the world on the human right to live in a clean and sound environment, the protection of the environment from pollution has become a goal of all countries in their domestic legislation through the adoption of texts and sanctions deterrent to protect the environment from any pollution and no longer This protection is limited to the rules of internal law, but has become a target sought by the rules of international law and to link this protection of the basic human rights sought by the rules of international humanitarian law, especially as our societies are witnessing technological progress in all areas of life, Led to this development is accompanied by a contaminated environment portends risks of dire consequences on human health and the prosperity and progress of society.But the interesting thing in our time is that modern man builds on the one hand and destroys in terms of not feeling on the other hand, making machinery and advanced equipment and erecting giant factories, while at the same time deleting years from the agenda of his life and bringing his end to his hand while dreaming of more life and rest And this is the basis for the protection of the environment is a matter of life or death, which necessitated the need for legal means to ensure the protection of the environment from pollution, and this is discussed in our research through the study and analysis of legal texts on the protection of the environment through the approved by the Iraqi Constitution of 2005 in force and Law of the improvement of the Iraqi environment No. (27) for the year 2009 in force, and other legal legislation that dealt with the subject above.

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