Analysis

The phantom comes back: IHL abuse in Ecuador?

On January 9th, 2024, Ecuador’s Government declared the existence of non-international armed conflict (NIAC) under international humanitarian law (IHL) against 22 groups located in different detention facilities across the country. The question on this political and legal decision relates to the return of the “phantom” of the war against terrorism and the overuse of lethal …

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Humanitarian assistance in siege contexts: a contradiction in terms?

In one of the more infamous medieval descriptions of life under siege, Calais defender Jean de Vienne wrote to the king of France in 1347 pleading for support. Noting the consumption of rats, dogs, and horses, he claimed that soon nothing would remain “unless we eat the flesh of men.” Philippe VI eventually declined and the fortified …

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Engaging armed groups on environmental protection and climate change: current challenges, approaches and looking to the future

With thanks to Anki Sjöberg and Florian Weigand for their input and feedback. On 31 October, the Centre on Armed Groups, ODI Global Risks & Resilience and Fight for Humanity co-organised a panel discussion on “Engaging armed groups on environmental protection and climate change” as part of the Geneva Peace Week. With panellists from across …

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The Gaza effect: How the Israel-Hamas war is shaping armed group behaviour and the prospects of engagement

Note: this contribution was originally posted as a rapid analysis on the Centre on Armed Groups, and is being reshared with permission. Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes of Rafah in southern Gaza, October 10, 2023 (Credit: Shutterstock/Anas-Mohammed) In the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, there has been a palpable …

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Some Reflections on the Use of Force in the Recent Escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Note: this is a translation of a blog post originally published by SIDIBlog, Blog of the Italian Society of International Law and EU Law, on 15 Oct 2023. The author would like to thank Dr Afonso Seixas-Nunes for the translation. For a more up to date analysis, see, among others, Haque and O’Connell 1. Introduction …

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The ICJ Wall Advisory Opinion and Israel’s Right of Self-Defence in Relation to the Current Armed Conflict in Gaza

The ongoing armed conflict in Gaza raises many questions, issues and emotions relating to the background of the conflict, the almost unprecedented savagery of the attack by Hamas on southern Israel on 7 October and the widespread destruction and deprivation caused by the intense bombardment of Gaza and denial of adequate relief to alleviate the …

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Known Unknowns: or the things that you thought you knew about a ceasefire in Gaza that it turns out you did not

Since the obscene attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023, the Israeli Defence Force has dropped between 18 and 35 kilotonnes of ammunition on the Gaza Strip on thousands of “targets”. Among these targets are hospitals, refugee camps, schools and mosques. For context, the combined explosive power of the two atomic bombs dropped …

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Engaging Armed Groups on Environmental Protection and Climate Change

On Tuesday 31 October, the Centre on Armed Groups, ODI Global Risks & Resilience and Fight for Humanity are co-organising a policy briefing on “Engaging Armed Groups on Environmental Protection and Climate Change“. The event, part of Geneva Peace Week, will delve into the potential of engaging with armed groups on climate change and environmental …

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Al Hassan blog symposium – Complicity in Torture and the ICC

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity before the ICC in 2018 for his alleged role in mass torture, rape, sexual slavery, and other atrocities, while the leader of Ansar Eddine and its short-lived Sharia state in Mali in 2012. After four years of trial proceedings, the prosecution, …

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Threats Unseen: Why violent extremism must not be forgotten in the New Agenda for Peace

In March 2023, ISIS (also known at ISIL and daesh) was listed as the world’s most deadly terror group for an eighth consecutive year. This is something we all should be concerned about; but equally worrying — and perhaps even the larger threat — is how quickly and completely the group has fallen off the …

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