Detention by non-State armed groups: translating law to practice

April 4, 2023 11 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Detention / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict Tilman Rodenhäuser & Eloïse Lefebvre

From the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north of Syria, ...

A common enemy: aggregating intensity in non-international armed conflicts

April 22, 2021 17 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Law and Conflict Chiara Redaelli

Contemporary non-international armed conflicts are increasingly fought by a myriad of non-State actors, often engaging in hostilities against a common enemy and at ...

ICRC engagement with non-State armed groups: why and how

March 4, 2021 9 mins read Access / Analysis / Armed Groups / Humanitarian Action / Influencing Behaviour in Armed Conflict / Sexual Violence Jelena Pejic, Irénée Herbet & Tilman Rodenhäuser

In 2020, the ICRC counted 614 armed groups of concern to the organization’s humanitarian operations ...

Aggregated intensity: classifying coalitions of non-State armed groups

October 7, 2020 15 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Law and Conflict / Religion Jelena Nikolic, Thomas de Saint Maurice & Tristan Ferraro

With an ever-increasing number of non-State armed groups and a growing tendency for non-international armed conflicts (NIAC) to be fought by coalitions, it ...

Black magic, zombies and dragons: a tale of IHL in the 21st Century

September 3, 2019 14 mins read Armed Groups / Conduct of Hostilities / Counterterrorism / Generating Respect for IHL / Humanitarian Principles / Law and Conflict / New Technologies / Scope of application / Sexual Violence / Technology in Humanitarian Action / Terrorism and IHL / The most read blog posts in 2019 Helen Durham

As we marked the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions last month, I want to ...

Administration of justice by armed groups: Some legal and practical concerns

November 22, 2018 13 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Detention / Law and Conflict / Religion Ezequiel Heffes

Geneva Call recently issued a report on challenges faced by armed non-State actors (ANSAs) in ...

Behind the scenes: The Roots of Restraint in War study

June 18, 2018 11 mins read Armed Groups / Generating Respect for IHL / Humanitarian Action / Influencing Behaviour in Armed Conflict / Law and Conflict / Religion / Sexual Violence Fiona Terry & Brian McQuinn

The Roots of Restraint in War—a study that updates the 2004 Roots of Behaviour in ...

Ten armed groups share their views on education in armed conflict

May 2, 2018 12 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict Ezequiel Heffes & Carolin Nehmé

It is well known that armed non-State actors (ANSAs) often pose a threat to education. ...

Can religious leaders play a role in enhancing compliance with IHL?

December 20, 2017 12 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Generating Respect for IHL / Law and Conflict / Religion Ioana Cismas & Ezequiel Heffes

The effectiveness of international humanitarian law (IHL) faces challenges from different quarters. Parties may be ...

Drawing the line between armed groups under IHL

July 22, 2016 9 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Law and Conflict / Religion Ellen Nohle

From Nigeria to Russia, the number of entities claiming affiliation with the Islamic State Group (ISG) is on the rise. In Colombia, concerns ...