Recommended Citation
Ezequiel Heffes,
The 1949 Geneva Conventions at 75: Examining the Place of Non-State Armed Groups,
57 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L.
139
(2025)
Available at:
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol57/iss1/19
Abstract
When the 1949 Geneva Conventions were adopted seventy-five years ago, the armed conflict landscape was very different from the one we currently observe. Back then, although non-State armed groups (NSAGs) existed, their regulation was considered to fall (almost exclusively) under the relevant territorial State’s internal laws. Nowadays, on the contrary, every time the international community discusses the application of international law to armed conflict, questions emerge about the role, status, and behaviors of NSAGs. Due to their involvement in the majority of armed conflicts, NSAGs have become immovable actors of the international humanitarian legal scene. Many of these queries arise as a result of the dual nature of these entities, which operate at both domestic and international normative levels and hold different legal standings within each framework. While domestically, NSAGs are typically deemed unlawful by territorial States, international law remains agnostic regarding their legality and focuses instead on their obligations during armed conflict situations. This Article considers these dynamics and, in light of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, reflects on (i) how international law deals with NSAGs; (ii) how NSAGs behave in armed conflict with respect to their international obligations; and (iii) the mechanisms and initiatives that exist to increase humanitarian norms’ compliance by NSAGs in conflict settings. This examination leads to the conclusion that these non-State actors do not staunchly adhere to or entirely disregard their international legal obligations; instead, NSAGs may follow certain rules while disregarding others, and these variations will depend on various factors.
(Abstract from author.)