Armed groups
An “organized armed group” is the armed wing of a non-state party to a non-international armed conflict, and may be comprised of either:
- dissident armed forces (for example, breakaway parts of state armed forces); or
- other organized armed groups which recruit their members primarily from the civilian population but have developed a sufficient degree of military organization to conduct hostilities on behalf of a party to the conflict.
The term organized armed group refers exclusively to the armed or military wing of a non-state party to a non-international armed conflict. It does not include those segments of the civilian population that are supportive of the non-state party such as its political wing.
See also Non-international armed conflict
OUTLINE
Chapter 12, VIII. Who is bound by the law of NIAC?
Chapter 12, IX. Consequences of the existence of a NIAC on the legal status of the parties
Chapter 13, XI. 8. Necessity and ways to engage non-State armed groups
CASES
- France/Opinion on Humanitarian Exemptions in Sanctions Regimes and Counterterrorism Measures
- Colombia/Displacement of Civilians
- Colombia, Response of armed groups to COVID-19
- Iraq, IHL and Environmental protection
- Yemen, UN Report on the Armed Conflicts since 2014
- Israel/Lebanon/Hezbollah Conflict in 2006
- South Africa, S. v. Petane
- Case Study, Armed Conflicts in the former Yugoslavia
- Former Yugoslavia, Special Agreements between the Parties to the Conflicts
- ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Tadić
- United States, Kadic et al. v. Karadzic
- Case Study, Armed Conflicts in the Great Lakes Region (1994-2005)
- ICTR, The Prosecutor v. Jean-Paul Akayesu
- Switzerland, The Niyonteze Case
- Colombia, Constitutional Conformity of Protocol II
- Germany, Government Reply on the Kurdistan Conflict
- Philippines, Application of IHL by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines
- UN Security Council Resolution on the Conflict in Syria
- Yemen, Obstructing Medical Care
- UN, Secretary-General’s Reports on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict
- Geneva Call, Puntland State of Somalia adhering to a total ban on anti-personnel mines
- Afghanistan, Code of Conduct for the Mujahideen (Arts 34-37, 46-47 and 67)
- Health Care in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas
- Turkey/Iraq, Turkish Military Operations in Northern Iraq
- Engaging Non-state Armed Groups on the Protection of Children
- Central African Republic, Coup d’Etat
- United States, Use of Armed Drones for Extraterritorial Targeted Killings
- The armed conflict in Syria
- Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health
- United States of America, Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
- Philippines, Armed Group Undertakes to Respect Children
- Somalia, the fate of Children in the conflict
- Syria, Code of Conduct of the Free Syrian Army
- General Assembly, The use of drones in counter-terrorism operations
- U.S., Lethal Operations against Al-Qa’ida Leaders
- Syria, Press conference with French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin
- ICRC, International Humanitarian Law and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts in 2015 (Paras. 70, 71, 82)
- ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadzic
- Libya, Report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2014/15)
- South Sudan: Medical Care Under Fire
- Health Care in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas
- Syria, Press conference with French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin
- Israel/Palestine, Operation Protective Edge (Gaza, 13 June - 26 August 2014)
- Mali, Accountability for the Destruction of Cultural Heritage
- Sweden/Syria, Can Armed Groups Issue Judgments?
- Yemen, Potential Existence and Effects of Naval Blockade
- United Kingdom, The Case of Serdar Mohammed (Court of Appeal and Supreme Court Judgments)
- El Salvador, Supreme Court Judgment on the Unconstitutionality of the Amnesty Law
- United States, Jurisprudence Related to the Bombing of the U.S.S. Cole
- Central African Republic, Report of the UN Independent Expert, July 2016
- Syria, Report by UN Commission of Inquiry (March 2017)
- Afghanistan, Bombing of a Civilian Truck
- Syria, the Battle for Aleppo
- ICC, Confirmation of Charges against LRA Leader
- Colombia Peace Agreement
- UN/Colombia, Human Rights Committee Clarifications and Concluding Observations (2016)
- International Criminal Court, Trial Judgment in the Case of the Prosecutor V. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo
- Belgium, Prosecution of Terrorist Crimes in the context of Armed Conflict
- Iraq, The Battle for Mosul
- Germany, Aerial Drone Attack in Mir Ali/Pakistan
- Eastern Ukraine, Attacks Against and Military Use of Schools
- Eastern Ukraine, OHCHR Report on the Situation: November 2016 - February 2017
- Syria, Syrian rebels treat captured Filipino soldiers as 'guests'
- Mexico, The "War on Drugs"
- Central African Republic/Democratic Republic of Congo/Uganda, LRA attacks
- Iraq, Crimes by Militia Groups
- Central African Republic, No Class: When Armed Groups Use Schools
- South Sudan, AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan
- Lake Chad Basin, Multinational Joint Task Force and Boko Haram
- Cameroon, Dead and Missing Persons
- Syria: Attacks on Oil Infrastructure
- Eastern Ukraine: Detention And Death Sentences By Armed Groups
- South Sudan, The Nuer “White Armies”
- South Sudan, Activities of Oil Companies
- Somalia/Kenya, Al-Shabab Attacks
- Geneva Call and the Chin National Front
- The Netherlands/Ukraine, Classification of the Situation and Combatant Status (2014)
- Mexico, Recapture of Ovidio Guzmán, One of the Leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel
- Switzerland, Swiss Federal Criminal Court Finds Liberian Commander Guilty of War Crimes
- Somalia, The Death of Bilal Al-Sudani
- Colombia, Special Jurisdiction for Peace, Crimes against the Environment in Cauca
BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESOURCES
Suggested readings:
BASSIOUNI Cherif M., “The New Wars and the Crisis of Compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict by Non-State Actors”, in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 98, No. 3, 2008, pp. 711-810.
CASSESE Antonio, “The Status of Rebels under the 1977 Geneva Protocol on Non-international Armed Conflicts”, in ICLQ, Vol. 30/2, 1981, pp. 416-439.
CLAPHAM Andrew, “Non-State Actors”, in CHETAIL Vincent (ed.), Post-conflict Peacebuilding: a Lexicon, Oxford, OUP, 2009, pp. 207-213.
CLAPHAM Andrew, The Rights and Responsibilities of Armed Non-State Actors: The Legal Landscape and Issues Surrounding Engagement, Geneva, Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, February 2010, 45 pp.
HENCKAERTS Jean-Marie, “Binding Armed Opposition Groups through Humanitarian Treaty Law and Customary Law”, in Proceedings of the BrugesColloquium, Relevance of International Humanitarian Law to Non-State Actors, 25th-26th October 2002, in Collegium No. 27, Spring 2003, pp. 123-138.
EWUMBUE-MONONO, “Respect for International Humanitarian Law by Armed Non-State Actors in Africa”, in IRRC, Vol. 88, No. 864, December 2006, pp. 905-924.
LA ROSA Anne-Marie & WUERZNER Carolin, “Armed Groups, Sanctions and the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law”, in IRRC, Vol. 90, No. 870, June 2008, pp. 327-341.
SASSÒLI Marco, “Taking Armed Groups Seriously: Ways to Improve Their Compliance with International Humanitarian Law”, in Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, Vol. 1, 2010, pp. 5-51.
SASSÒLI Marco, “Possible Legal Mechanisms to Improve Compliance by Armed Groups with International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law”, 2003, Armed Groups Project, online: http://www.armedgroups.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=45.
SIVAKUMARAN Sandesh, “Binding Armed Opposition Groups”, in ICLQ, Vol. 55, Part 2, April 2006, pp. 369-394.
SIVAKUMARAN Sandesh, “Courts of Armed Opposition Groups: Fair Trials or Summary Justice?, in Journal of International Criminal Justice, Vol. 7, No. 3, July 2009, pp. 489-513.
SOMER Jonathan, “Jungle Justice: Passing Sentence on the Equality of Belligerents in Non-International Armed Conflict”, in IRRC, Vol. 89, No. 867, September 2007, pp. 655-690.
SZABLEWSKA Natalia, “Non-State Actors and Human Rights in Non-International Armed Conflicts”, in South African Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 32, 2007, pp. 345-360.
VEUTHEY Michel, “Le rôle des acteurs non étatiques dans le respect du droit international humanitaire”, in Annuaire français de relations internationales, Vol. 10, 2009, pp. 993-1117.
ZEGVELD Liesbeth, Accountability of Armed Opposition Groups in International Law, Cambridge, CUP, 2002, 260 pp.
Further readings:
HIGGINS Noëlle, “The Regulation of Armed Non-State Actors: Promoting the Application of the Laws of War to Conflicts Involving National Liberation Movements”, in Human Rights Brief, Vol. 17, Issue 1, 2009, pp. 12-18.
HOFMANN Claudia, “Engaging Non-State Armed Groups in Humanitarian Action”, in International Peacekeeping, Vol. 13, No. 3, September 2006, pp. 396-409.
TENEFRANCIA Roselle C., “A Breed of its Own: Characterizing the CARHRIHL as a Legal Document”, in Ateneo Law Journal, Vol. 54, 2009, pp. 149-163.
BELLINGER John [et al.], “War Bound by Law: Non-State Actors and the Law of Armed Conflict in the Twenty-First Century”, in Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law, Vol. 20, No. 3, 2010, pp. 331-471
CLAPHAM Andrew, “Non-State Actors”, in CHETAIL Vincent (ed.), Post-conflict Peacebuilding: a Lexicon, Oxford, OUP, 2009, pp. 200-213