About the author(s):
Katharine Fortin is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University where she teaches IHL and IHRL. Before joining Utrecht University, she worked at the ICTY, ICC and Norton Rose Fulbright. She is the author of The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2017) which won the 2018 Lieber Prize. She has written widely about the framework of law that applies to armed groups in non-international armed conflicts and is one of the editors of the Armed Groups and International Law blog.
The International Review of the Red Cross has dedicated its last two editions to the theme of armed groups. Issue number 882 is on ‘Understanding Armed Groups and the Applicable Law’ and the articles on this topic are as follows:
Editorial
- Editorial: understanding armed groups and the applicable law – IRRC June No 882
- The new Editorial Board of the International Review of the Red Cross
The editorial team of the Review has the privilege to introduce the new Editorial Board of the Journal. The Board was formed this year and met for the first time in Geneva in May 2011. It is composed of experts in multiple disciplines and from diverse geographical backgrounds.
Understanding armed groups and the applicable law
- Interview with Ali Ahmad Jalali
For this issue on understanding armed groups, the Review considered it important to invite someone who could give the inside perspective of an armed group. Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, currently Distinguished Professor at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, is uniquely placed to do so in the context of Afghanistan.
Today’s armed groups: structure, actions and strategic options
- Armed groups and intra-state conflicts: the dawn of a new era?
Arnaud Blin
Have the various profound changes that have affected the world, and particularly its geostrategic dimensions, since the end of the ColdWar radically altered the nature of conflicts? Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and ten years after the destruction of the twin towers in New York, there is an apparent degree of continuity in the resilience of former centres of unresolved conflicts and of armed groups involved in them. - Armed groups’organizational structure and their strategic options
Abdulkader H. Sinno
The organizational structures of armed groups, whether they develop by accident or by design, affect their strategic choices during the conflict and their ability to enter peace agreements. - Economic dimensions of armed groups: profiling the financing, costs, and agendas and their implications for mediated engagements
Achim Wennmann
This article introduces the various economic dimensions of armed groups and explores the implications of their engagement through mediation and dialogue. - Reasons why armed groups choose to respect international humanitarian law or not
Olivier Bangerter
The decision to respect the law – or not – is far from automatic, regardless of whether it is taken by an armed group or a state. Respect for IHL can only be encouraged, and hence improved, if the reasons used by armed groups to justify respect or lack of it are understood. - Understanding armed groups and the applicable law: photo gallery
This selection of photos aims to illustrate the activities and characteristics of armed groups across different historical and geographical contexts. It was compiled by the Review with the support of the ICRC Library and Archives services.
Armed groups and international law
- International law: armed groups in a state-centric system
Zakaria Daboné
What is the position of non-state armed groups in public international law, a system conceived for and by states? This article considers the question, mainly in the light of jus ad bellum and jus in bello. - Debate: should the obligations of states and armed groups under international humanitarian law really be equal?
Marco Sassòli and Yuval Shany
By introducing a new ‘debate’ section, the Review hopes to contribute to the reflection on current ethical, legal, or practical controversies around humanitarian issues. This section will expose readers to the key arguments concerning a particular contemporary question of humanitarian law or humanitarian action. - The move to substantive equality in international humanitarian law: a rejoinder to Marco Sassòli and Yuval Shany
René Provost
By introducing a new ‘debate’ section, the Review hopes to contribute to the reflection on current ethical, legal, or practical controversies around humanitarian issues. This section will expose readers to the key arguments concerning a particular contemporary question of humanitarian law or humanitarian action. - The applicability of international humanitarian law to organized armed groups
Jann K. Kleffner
While it is generally accepted today that IHL is binding on organized armed groups, it is less clear why that is so and how the binding force of IHL on organized armed groups is to be construed. - Lessons for the law of armed conflict from commitments of armed groups: identification of legitimate targets and prisoners of war
Sandesh Sivakumaran
Armed groups frequently issue ad hoc commitments that contain a law of armed conflict component. These commitments detail the obligation of the relevant armed group to abide by international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, or particular rules set out in the commitment. - A collection of codes of conduct issued by armed groups
This issue of the International Review of the Red Cross addresses the importance of understanding armed groups and the norms by which they are bound. One way of gaining insight into armed groups and engaging with them on improving respect for the law is to examine the rules and decisions that they choose to adopt.
Issue number 883 is on ‘Engaging Armed Groups’ and the articles on this topic are as follows:
Engaging armed groups
- Interview with David Kilcullen
David Kilcullen, a leading expert on counter-insurgency policy, gives his views on recent developments relating to armed groups and military tactics, but also on some of the humanitarian community’s main concerns related to counter-insurgency strategies. - Engaging non-state armed actors in state and peace-building: options and strategies
Claudia Hofmann and Ulrich Schneckener
Drawing on international relations theory, this article assesses particular strategies for engagement with armed groups, and their suitability and applicability with regard to specific actors. - Participation of armed groups in the development of the law applicable to armed conflicts
Sophie Rondeau
After reviewing five main reasons why armed groups should be involved in the advancement of the law governing armed conflicts, this article offers a brief overview of selected means by which armed groups should be engaged in the creation of future norms, as well as in the interpretation and contextualization of existing norms. - Enhancing civilian protection from use of explosive weapons in populated areas: building a policy and research agenda
John Borrie, Maya Brehm
This article describes the effects of explosive violence, critically examines how the existing humanitarian law regime tends to address this issue and explores some current developments in building a research and policy agenda to try to reduce civilian harm from the use of explosive weapons. - Taking prisoners: reviewing the international humanitarian law grounds for deprivation of liberty by armed opposition groups
Deborah Casalin
This article looks at the customary international humanitarian law prohibition on arbitrary deprivation of liberty, and how it can apply to armed opposition groups in a manner that makes compliance realistic. - Detention by armed groups: overcoming challenges to humanitarian action
David Tuck
The author presents the challenges inherent in approaching armed groups with regard to persons detained by them, and explores the options open to humanitarian practitioners in that regard. Tuck describes the ICRC practice in this field and its limitations, sharing the unique know-how that the organization has acquired throughout the years. - Closing the gap: symbolic reparations and armed groups
Ron Dudai
The question of whether non-state armed groups could and should provide reparations to their victims has been largely overlooked. This article explores this gap, with a particular focus on symbolic reparations, such as acknowledgement of the truth and apologies.
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