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ICRC>
25 February 2021
From Syria to Mali, Afghanistan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the majority of today’s armed conflicts are non-international in character and involve one or several armed non-state actors (ANSAs).
ANSAs are key players in today’s armed conflicts. They directly impact civilian populations and pose an increasing global challenge for States and non-State actors, such as humanitarian NGOs. Yet, the international community often struggles to understand and engage with them.
ICRC
ICRC
Enough Project
While it is not controversial that international humanitarian law (IHL) applies to ANSAs this, however, has largely assumed a ‘top-down’ approach of the international legal system, employed to impose international obligations on ANSAs without considering their actual views or interpretation of the rules, or their capacity to implement them. This trend may in turn explain the lack of ownership of, and compliance with, international law by these actors.
To address these issues, the Geneva Academy started researching on ANSAs back in 2009 via a series of projects, which:
These projects and their outputs were not only based on solid academic research, but were also policy-driven and considered the views of practioners, NGOs, international organizations as well as States. The UN Secretary-General relied on the results of our research in his 2010 report on the protection of civilians (at para 54).
‘We also mainstream the question of ANSAs in all our research, teaching and training on armed conflict, including in our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal, which provides, for each non-international armed conflict, a detailed analysis of the various ANSAs involved’ underlines Professor Gloria Gaggioli, Director of the Geneva Academy.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy
Enough Project>
As one of the leading research institutions on the study of ANSAs, we continue to work on this issue via two dedicated research projects.
The first project aims at finding policy solutions to the difficult theme of human rights obligations of ANSAs.
The second will potentially impact the scientific and broader international community by:
ICRC
ICRC>
Our Strategic Adviser on IHL and Senior Research Fellow Dr Annyssa Bellal is recognized worldwide as a leading expert on ANSAs. She is the author of several publications on this issue and is regularly invited at conferences and experts meetings to discuss the different aspects of ANSAs’ impact on international law and relations.
Her intervention before the United Nations Security Council for the 70th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions highlighted, as contemporary challenges in armed conflicts, the prevalence of non-international armed conflicts and the need to increase ownership of humanitarian norms among ANSAs.
In 2020, the Geneva Academy received through Dr Bellal a major grant from UKRI to conduct, in collaboration with Geneva Call, research on ANSAs and their practice and interpretation of IHL and human rights norms.
UN
News
Adobe
We are launching today a one-month crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for a scholarship to allow a talented European student with limited means and resources to follow our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
News
Daniel Fyfe follows our online Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict while working as an Associate Expert at OHCHR in Geneva on UN treaty bodies’ individual communications procedures.
Event
Adobe
This IHL Talk will explore various issues related to the potential establishment of a 'Special Tribunal for Aggression' and will discuss whether it is the best or most appropriate option to make sure that the crime of aggression does not go unpunished.
Event
Special Jurisdiction for Peace
In this discussion co-organized with the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the UN in Geneva, the President of Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace Magistrate Roberto Vidal will discuss the challenges and achievements of this body.
Training
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.
Training
Adobe
This training course will focus on the most efficient human rights mechanisms – at national and international levels – to promote and protect human rights in the private sector and address corporations’ human rights abuses.
Project
The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.
Project
CCPR Centre
The Geneva Human Rights Platform collaborates with a series of actors to reflect on the implementation of international human rights norms at the local level and propose solutions to improve uptake of recommendations and decisions taken by Geneva-based human rights bodies at the local level.
Publication
Geneva Academy
Publication
Canva
