The challenges of asymmetric warfare : enhancing compliance with International Humanitarian Law by Organized Armed Groups / María Alejandra Martinovic.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Martinovic, María Alejandra, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Humanitarian law.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (157 pages) : illustrations, tables

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Hamburg, [Germany] : Anchor Academic Publishing, 2016.

Summary:

All armed conflicts, whether international or non-international, are characterized by some sort of asymmetry. Disparities between parties to armed hostilities have always been an issue as a matter of fact, although not necessarily addressed by International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as a matter of law. IHL remains a stranger to such situations, for it is based on its equal applicability to all parties of a conflict. Nonetheless, contemporary conflicts have shown that the said equality may no longer be the rule, but rather the exception. This refers in particular to non-international armed conflicts where parties are inherently asymmetrical and the weaker ones tend to act in straightforward violation of universally hailed rules in order to engage their technologically advanced and more resourceful enemy. Accordingly, the ways in which asymmetric actors behave during armed conflicts challenge IHL's basic foundations, and the fact that civilians still endure the burden of hostilities, as their primary victims, underpins the necessity for further efforts in the attempt to promote respect for IHL. This work assesses diverse alternatives to respond to these brutal forms of asymmetric confrontations, with a view on those mechanisms which best address the causes why non-state actors deny not only complying with IHL from a legal perspective but also contemplating policy-making considerations.

Contents:

The Challenges of Asymmetric Warfare. Enhancing Compliance with International Humanitarian Law by Organized Armed Groups

TABLE OF CONTENT

TABLE OF LEGAL INSTRUMENTS

TABLE OF CASE LAW

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. ASYMMETRIC WARFARE

i. General Features

ii. Specific Features

III. NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS

i. Legal Framework

ii. Geographical scope of application

IV. ORGANIZED ARMED GROUPS

i. Legal Considerations

ii. Other Relevant Considerations

iii. The Conduct of Hostilities: targeting OAGs

V. THE IMPACT OF ASYMMETRIES ON IHL COMPLIANCE AND OTHER MODERN DEBATES

i. Implications on the Principle of Distinction

ii. Implications on the Principle of Proportionality

iii. Implications on the Principle of Reciprocity

iv. The Debate on IHL's Aptitude to Address Modern Warfare

VI. COMPLIANCE WITH IHL: WHY YES, WHY NOT?

i. Is IHL Endowed with Binding Nature for OAGs?

ii. Whys and wherefores of incompliance

VII. THE PROBLEMS OF IMPLEMENTATION &amp

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS

i. Jurisdictional Inconveniences

ii. The Obligation to Ensure IHL Respect

VIII. MEETING THE CHALLENGE

i. Best Practices: lessons learnt

ii. Further Inputs

iii. Preliminary Observations

IX. CONCLUSION

ANNEX I

ANNEX II

ANNEX III

ANNEX IV

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed December 7, 2016).

ISBN:

3-96067-561-5