About the author(s):
Rogier is a researcher at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA) and works at the Dutch National Prosecutor’s Office. He holds LL.M-degrees from Utrecht University and the University of Nottingham. Before taking up his current positions, he was an associate legal officer in Chambers at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and a legal adviser at the International Humanitarian Law Division of the Netherlands Red Cross.
Rogier is an adjunct-lecturer at the Hague University of Applied Sciences, where he teaches international humanitarian law, and he co-convenes the Hague Initiative for Law and Armed Conflict.
Enough Project concludes in its report “The Recent Fighting in Eastern Congo and Its Implications for Peace” that Congo’s National Army and M23 Rebel Group are the Most Powerful Armed Actors in Eastern Congo. See also the interesting info graphic setting out the alignment of these and other armed actors in Eastern DRC
More DRC news:
IRIN News: Can the DRC army stop abusing human rights?
Katanga Province: Fighting for DR Congo’s cash cow to secede
Other news:
Peru says slain rebels may be leaders of Shining Path rebel group
Fear of rebels still haunts Mali’s herders
Israel Intercepts Rocket Headed for Resort City
IRIN Analysis: How to disarm Philippine rebels
Blog post on Opinio Juris on dissemination of IHL. On that issue, see ICRC: Spreading knowledge of international humanitarian law in Iraq
UN Secretary-General addresses armed drones and the use of non-armed drones in UN peacekeeping missions in speech in Pakistan:
“The Secretary-General said the UN is also working to rise to these challenges, including through the use of new technologies to help in better implementing its mandates and to provide better security for its troops. “Let me be clear that these new tools, such as unmanned unarmed aerial vehicles, are for information purposes only. They are essentially flying cameras,” he stated. “But armed unmanned aerial vehicles are a different matter,” he continued. “As I have often and consistently said, the use of armed drones, like any other weapon, should be subject to long-standing rules of international law, including international humanitarian law. “This is the very clear position of the United Nations. Every effort should be made to avoid mistakes and civilian casualties.” (see here for the UN press release)