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.
Coming out on 5th December 2013, War Report 2012 is a comprehensive Report on every armed conflict which took place during 2012. Edited by Stuart Casey-Maslan, it is the first of a new series of annual reports on armed conflicts across the globe, offering an overview of the nature, range, and impact of these conflicts and the legal issues they create.
In Part I the Report describes its criteria for the identification and classification of armed conflicts under international law, and the legal consequences that flow from this classification. It sets out a list of armed conflicts in 2012, categorising each as international, non-international, or a military occupation, with estimates of civilian and military casualties. In Part II, each of these conflicts are examined in more detail, with an overview of the belligerents, means and methods of warfare, the applicable treaties and rules, and any prosecutions for, investigations into, or robust allegations of war crimes.
Part III of the Report provides detailed thematic analysis of key legal developments which arose in the context of these conflicts, allowing for a more in-depth reflection on cross-cutting questions and controversies. The topics under investigation in this Report include drone strikes, the use of explosive weapons, small arms, forced displacement of civilians, detention at Guantanamo Bay, and the enforcement of international humanitarian and criminal law in both national and international courts.
The Table of Contents are as follows:-
Elizabeth Wilmshurst: Foreword
Part I: Overview
Summary
What is an armed conflict?
Part II: Individual Conflicts in 2012
Armed conflict between South Sudan and Sudan
Armed conflict between Pakistan and the USA
Military occupation of Azerbaijan by Armenia
Military occupation of Cyprus by Turkey
Military occupation of Eritrea by Ethiopia
Military occupation of Georgia by Russia
Military occupation of Lebanon by Israel
Military occupation of Moldova by Russia
Military occupation of Palestine by Israel
Military occupation of Syria by Israel
Military occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco
Armed conflict in Afghanistan
Armed conflict in Central African Republic
Armed conflict in Colombia
Armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Armed conflict in Gaza
Armed conflict in Mali
Armed conflict in Mexico
Armed conflict in Myanmar
Armed conflict in the Philippines
Armed conflict in Somalia
Armed conflict in Sudan
Armed conflict in Syria
Armed conflict in Thailand
Armed conflict in Turkey
Armed conflict in Yemen
Part III: Key Themes
Section A: Weapons
1: Alice Priddy and Stuart Casey-Maslen: Drone strikes in Afghanistan, Gaza, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen in 2012
2: Maya Brehm: The use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria in 2012
3: Sarah Parker and Mireille Widmer: Small arms and light weapons, the United Nations Plan of Action, and armed conflict
Section B: Methods of warfare
4: Kate Halff and Stuart Casey-Maslen: Forced displacement of civilians by parties to armed conflicts in 2012
Section C: Detention
5: Silvia Suteu: A decade of detention at Guantanamo Bay 2002-2012
Section D: Armed non-state actors and international norms
6: Marina Mattirolo: Armed non-state actors and jus in bello in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Mali, and Syria
Section E: The protection of vulnerable groups
7: Gilles Giacca and Tahmina Karimova: Education as a ‘battleground’ in armed conflicts in 2012
Section F: Judicial enforcement of international criminal and humanitarian law
8: Sharon Weill: National case law on international humanitarian and criminal law in 2012
9: Damien Scalia: Jurisprudence in the ad hoc international criminal tribunals in 2012
10: Annyssa Bellal: The implications of the Lubanga case for international law