Implementing International Humanitarian Law Through Human Rights Mechanisms

Completed in December 2021

Beyond the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), international humanitarian law (IHL) lacks mechanisms to effectively ensure its own compliance. Such structural flaw of its system prompted a general recourse to the better-equipped human rights machinery, even if the opportuneness of this tendency has long been – and remains – debated in both intergovernmental and scholarly forums.

If some human rights mechanisms provide unique opportunities for victims affected by armed conflict (such as individual complaints before universal and regional treaty bodies), others remain criticized for being inherently political, too slow to deal with violations, or disconnected from the realities of conflict, thus antagonizing important military stakeholders.

This research project – carried out by Emilie Max – examined how IHL could be more systematically, appropriately, and correctly dealt with by the human rights mechanisms emanating from the UN Charter, as well as from universal and regional treaties.

NEWS

Emilie Max at her desk at the Geneva Academy News

Meet our Researchers: Émilie Max

20 January 2020

Émilie Max is one of our researchers. She tells us about her background, the research projects she works on and why she decided to work in this field.

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A session of the UN Human Rights Committtee at Palais Wilson News

New Paper Discusses IHL Implementation through Human Rights Mechanisms

31 October 2019

After a reminder on mechanisms established by the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional Protocols of 1977, the paper summarily frames the relationship between IHL and international human rights law and assess the competence and practice of political mechanisms emanating from the Charter of the United Nations, as well as of universal and regional treaty-based mechanisms.

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OUTPUT

Towards an IHL Expert Pool

The research piloted the creation of an IHL expert pool at the service of universal and/or regional treaty-based human rights mechanisms to be hosted at the Geneva Academy. Experts participating in this pool would share their knowledge and experiences in order to provide advice/guidance notably to UN treaty bodies  – notably through amicus curiae, public positions and comments of drafts – depending on the avenues foreseen in the relevant human rights treaties.

Framing the Issue and Identifying Lessons Learned

The Working Paper Implementing International Humanitarian Law through Human Rights Mechanisms: Opportunity or Utopia? identifies lessons learned from the practice of human rights mechanisms in order to assist stakeholders – especially States – in potentially adopting a coherent and systematized positioning vis-à-vis the implementation of IHL by such mechanisms

Publications

Cover of the publication

Implementing International Humanitarian Law Through Human Rights Mechanisms: Opportunity Or Utopia?

October 2019

Émilie Max

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Past Events

The role of human rights mechanisms in implementing international humanitarian law

13-14 November 2019

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MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

An LLM class News

Apply to our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights!

27 November 2023

Applications for the 2024–2025 academic year of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights are open. They will run until 26 January 2024 for applications with a scholarship and until 24 February 2024 for applications without a scholarship.

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A GHRP training course News

Geneva Human Rights Platform’s Training Hub: Expanding Offerings and Partnerships for 2024

16 February 2024

2023 has been a busy and fruitful year for our Geneva Human Rights Platform’s Training Hub which starts 2024 with an enhanced offer.

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A hand on a wire fence Event

Recognition of Gender Apartheid as an International Crime: Significance and Challenges

18 April 2024, 18:00-19:30

This panel will address crucial questions surrounding the necessity of a legal framework for gender apartheid under international law.

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Burning oil fields in Kuwait Event

The Prosecution of Ecocide and Other Environmental Crimes: State of the Law and Way(s) Forward

11 April 2024, 12:30-14:00

This IHL Talk will explore various issues related to the prosecution of ecocide and other environmental crimes.

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Open dump Training

Protecting Human Rights and the Environment

2-20 September 2024

Participants in this training course, made of two modules, will examine the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights and the environment, familiarizing themselves with the respective implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

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Madagascar, Miarinarivo district. Women transplanting rice. Project

The Rights of Peasants

Started in May 2008

After having provided academic support to the negotiation of the UN Declaration for ten years, this research project focuses on the implementation of the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.

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Project

Follow-up Review Pilot Series

Started in November 2021

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Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment: Understanding its Scope, States Obligations and Links with Other Human Rights

published on March 2024

Christophe Golay, Baïna Ubushieva

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Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

Environmental Human Rights as a Tool in Early Warning and Conflict Prevention The Role of the Human Rights Council

published on January 2024

Erica Harper, Baïna Ubushieva

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