The NSAG handbook: helping non-State armed groups reduce civilian harm during urban warfare

March 30, 2023 8 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Urban warfare Ruben Stewart & Celia Edeline

Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. As the number ...

Preventing and eradicating the deadly legacy of explosive remnants of war

February 23, 2023 13 mins read Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Weapons Eirini Giorgou

The deadly legacy of armed conflict continues to claim lives long after the fighting is ...

ICRC engagement with armed groups in 2022

January 12, 2023 11 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action Matthew Bamber-Zryd

In line with its mandate, the ICRC engages with all parties to an armed conflict, including non-State armed groups. The ICRC has a ...

Urban warfare: an age-old problem in need of new solutions

April 27, 2021 17 mins read Analysis / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict / Urban warfare Laurent Gisel, Pilar Gimeno Sarciada, Ken Hume & Abby Zeith

Urban warfare is not a new phenomenon; cities have featured as a stage for violence ...

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 ...

Out of balance: Global counter-terrorism & the laws of war

September 15, 2017 6 mins read Counterterrorism / Religion Stéphane Ojeda

In recent years, the UN Security Council has strengthened its global counter-terrorism (CT) framework, perhaps more so than at any point since 9/11. ...

Fighting together: Obligations and opportunities in partnered warfare

March 28, 2017 10 mins read Analysis / Law and Conflict / Partnering in Warfare Cordula Droege & David Tuck

Partnered warfare — i.e. activities in support of Parties to armed conflict—is a reality that demands attention. For civilians, the sick, the wounded and for ...

Introducing the second multi-blog series on the updated Geneva Conventions Commentaries

February 21, 2017 2 mins read Analysis / Conduct of Hostilities / ICRC Commentaries / Law and Conflict The editors

In order to bring to light the significance of the updated Commentary on the First Geneva ...

Behind the scenes: Updated commentary on the First Geneva Convention

February 1, 2017 5 mins read ICRC Commentaries / Law and Conflict / Online publications / Sexual Violence Jean-Marie Henckaerts

Last month saw the publication of the updated Commentary on the First Geneva Convention which ...

non-state armed groups