Chapter I - Introduction

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The role of armed groups has emerged as an essential topic of discussion in the areas of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL). This increase in attention has been motivated by the increase in the number of noninternational armed conflicts (NIACs) during the past decades and the necessity to address the multiple legal challenges that armed groups pose. According to The War Report, in 2017 there was a total of 55 armed conflicts, out of which 38 were considered NIACs; in 2018, 51 of the 69 armed conflicts were considered to be NIACs. Consequently, the majority of armed conflicts are now non-international, involving the participation of a series of armed groups. In this regard, the UN Secretary-General has emphasised the effects of this proliferation and the multiple violations committed by armed groups by indicating that:

The consequences for civilians have been devastating, as armed groups have often sought to overcome their military inferiority by employing strategies that flagrantly violate international law. These range from deliberate attacks against civilians, including sexual violence, to attacks on civilian objects such as schools, to abduction, forced recruitment and using civilians to shield military objectives.

Likewise, the International Council on Human Rights Policy identified the most common violations committed by armed groups, including arbitrary deprivation of the right to life; disregard for the protection owed to civilians caught up in conflict; torture and ill-treatment; abuses against children; abuses against women; and arbitrary deprivation of liberty and due process. Most violations have been committed by armed groups in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Syria, among others. The harm which armed groups can cause requires that the international legal regulation becomes more effective in addressing their actions and also attaches reparative consequences thereto. In particular, the UN Secretary-General has reiterated ‘the need to ensure accountability for violations, for both parties to conflict and individual perpetrators’ as well as provide justice to victims. He has furthermore pointed to the development of ‘further measures to promote the responsibility of armed groups and non-State actors’ as one of the priorities in the protection of civilians in conflict.