Ezequiel Heffes

Ezequiel Heffes is the Director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict in New York. Prior to joining Watchlist, Ezequiel worked for Geneva Call as a Senior Policy and Legal Advisor and for the ICRC in various operational positions in Colombia, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He holds a PhD from the University of Leiden, an LLM in IHL and Human Rights from the Geneva Academy, and a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Law. He has widely published on different international law issues. Ezequiel is the author of Detention by Non-State Armed Groups under International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and the co-editor of International Humanitarian Law and Non-State Actors. Debates, Law and Practice (Springer/Asser Press, 2020).

Rebellious Detention: Reflections on the ICRC Study on Detention by Non-State Armed Groups

In early April 2023, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) released a much-needed study on “Detention by Non-State Armed Groups: Obligations under International Humanitarian Law and Examples of How to Implement Them.” The focus of the study is the law and practice relating to detention by non-State armed groups (NSAGs). It explains the legal framework …

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Call for Papers – Conference on Religious Actors & Humanitarian Norms Compliance

The Generating Respect Project invites paper submissions for the conference Religious Actors & Humanitarian Norms Compliance in Armed Conflict: Roles, Influence, Engagement that will take place online between 8 and 10 December 2021. The conference will take stock of important developments relating to the engagement between humanitarians and religious actors aimed at generating greater respect for humanitarian norms in …

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Most Read Posts in 2020

Happy new year to our readers! We want to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful 2021 and thank you for reading the blog in 2020. Below is a list of the 5 posts that received the most views last year. We hope to have relevant discussions about armed groups and international law …

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Geneva Call Report: Conduct of Hostilities by Armed Non-State Actors

This week, Geneva Call published a new report on the Conduct of Hostilities by Armed Non-State Actors (ANSAs). The report emerges out of the third edition of the Garance Talks, which took place on February 2020, and focuses on the application of the rules of IHL governing this topic: distinction, proportionality and precaution. The 2020 …

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Compliance Symposium: Pariah or Stakeholders? Enhancing Compliance with Humanitarian Norms by Including Non-State Armed Groups’ Views and Practice

Up at Opinio Juris, you can find the latest post by Annyssa Bellal and Pascal Bongard “Compliance Symposium: Pariah or Stakeholders? Enhancing Compliance with Humanitarian Norms by Including Non-State Armed Groups’ Views and Practice” in our co-hosted symposium on Compliance in Armed Conflict. Check it out here!

Symposium on Compliance in Armed Conflict: New Avenues to Generate Respect for Humanitarian Norms

That the effectiveness of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) faces challenges from different quarters is not news. It is, rather, an observation that has been made by scholars and practitioners alike – to the point of tritness. Whilst we deeply acknowledge the importance of discussing the manifold challenges to humanitarian …

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