Analysing Non-State Armed Groups’ Internal Communications : Recognising Principles of International Humanitarian Law

Abstract

Although the majority of global armed conflicts occur within national borders, most international humanitarian laws address situations of international armed conflict. Non-international armed conflict is regulated by a limited number of laws, and one of the most important players on the international plane in an armed conflict context, the non-state armed group, struggles with legal recognition due to the state-centric nature of the international law system. Therefore, it is vital that the law applicable to non-international armed conflict is adhered to as well as possible. This role is under international law awarded to the International Committee of the Red Cross, an organisation that under the premise of being the ‘guardian of international humanitarian law’ is conferred upon the responsibility to further disseminate and educate international actors on the laws applicable to situations of armed conflict.

In order to increase the effectiveness of such activities, this thesis seeks to contribute to the operationalisation of education efforts by recognising the existence of a core set of principles that can be discerned from non-state armed groups’ internal communications. By researching these often easily neglected soft law documents, namely codes of conduct, internal manuals, oaths, international commitments and so on, and comparing them and analysing them in light of the laws applicable to non-international armed conflict, namely Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, customary international humanitarian law, and Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, a body of ‘customary non-state armed group law’ has been recognised.

By researching these soft law documents and analysing them according to abovementioned international humanitarian law instruments, five principles of international humanitarian law can be recognised. The principle of distinction, the prohibition of looting, the use of anti-personnel mines, the use of child soldiers, and the humane treatment of prisoners all find widespread support in non-state armed groups internal communications and can therefore undoubtedly be said to belong to customary non-state armed group law. These findings further advance the dissemination of international humanitarian law by specifying which rules that are less known or adhered to by non-state armed groups need to lie at the centre of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ dissemination and education efforts.