ICRC
11 December 2019
The majority of today’s armed conflicts are non-international, opposing states to armed non-state actors (ANSAs) or between ANSAs themselves. In this context, ANSAs’ compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) is a major challenge in today's armed conflicts.
‘While many violations of IHL and IHRL are committed by ANSAs, how they understand, interpret or can implement their international obligations has not yet been scientifically explored. This is precisely the objective of our research project with Geneva Call that aims at collecting ANSAS’ practice and interpretation of IHL and IHRL norms’ explains Dr Annyssa Bellal, Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on IHL at the Geneva Academy.
Our new Research Brief From Words to Deeds: A Study of Armed Non-State Actors’ Practice and Interpretations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Norms summarizes the focus, objectives, methodology and research questions of this project.
‘How and why do ANSAs view, interpret and act upon IHL and IHRL norms, and what can the humanitarian community learn from these practices to enhance the effectiveness of its protection interventions and thus increase ANSAs’ level of compliance with international law are the overarching research questions of our study’ underlines Annyssa Bellal.
This research brief, along with the research project, its rationale and some of its preliminary findings will be discussed at a side event at the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, co-organized by the Geneva Academy and Geneva Call.
Adobe
Our new research brief examines the complex relationship between digital technologies and their misuse in surveillance, cyberattacks, and disinformation campaigns.
Geneva Academy
Mô Bleeker, UNSG Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, shares how her work as Senior Fellow at the Geneva Academy contributes to our shared goals.
ICRC
Co-hosted with the ICRC, this event aims to enhance the capacity of academics to teach and research international humanitarian law, while also equipping policymakers with an in-depth understanding of ongoing legal debates.
Adobe
This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.
Oliver Peters / Pixabay
The ‘Counter-Terror Pro LegEm’ project combines legal analysis with social science research to (1) examine the effectiveness of counterterrorism measures and their effects on human rights and (2) analyse the structure of terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda or the Islamic State and see whether they qualify as ‘organized armed groups’ for the purpose of international humanitarian law.
ICRC
As a yearly publication, it keeps decision-makers, practitioners and scholars up-to-date with the latest trends and challenges in IHL implementation in over 100 armed conflicts worldwide – both international and non-international.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy