Armed Groups, Rebel Coalitions, and Transnational Groups: The Degree of Organization Required from Non-State Armed Groups to Become Party to a Non-International Armed Conflict

Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 2016, Vol. 19, Springer, pp. 3-35, December 2017

Posted: 2 Jan 2018

See all articles by Tilman Rodenhäuser

Tilman Rodenhäuser

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID); International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Date Written: 2017

Abstract

Identifying non-state parties to armed conflicts becomes increasingly complex. As seen in recent conflicts in Syria, Libya, Yemen, or the Central African Republic, turmoil or inter-communal tensions escalate into armed conflicts, armed groups fragment increasingly, and some armed groups operate transnationally. Over the past decade, international jurisprudence developed numerous indicative factors to identify organized armed groups. While recognizing their great value, this chapter proposes to take a step back from these concrete indicators in order to recall broad but fundamental characteristics that any party to non-international armed conflict needs to have under international humanitarian law. It is shown that every party to a non-international armed conflict has to fulfil three criteria: it has to be (1) a collective entity; (2) with capabilities to engage in sufficiently intense violence; and (3) internal structures sufficient to ensure respect for basic humanitarian norms. Building on this basic understanding, the chapter provides an analysis of two questions that are highly relevant in contemporary conflicts but understudied: First, what link needs to exist between different armed groups in order to be considered one party to a conflict? And second, at what point can two or more groups that operate in different states form one transnational party to conflict?

Keywords: Non-state armed group, Organized armed group, Non-international armed conflict, Party to a conflict, Organization Organization criterion, Transnational conflict, Transnational armed group, Global war on terrorism, Islamic State

Suggested Citation

Rodenhäuser, Tilman, Armed Groups, Rebel Coalitions, and Transnational Groups: The Degree of Organization Required from Non-State Armed Groups to Become Party to a Non-International Armed Conflict (2017). Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 2016, Vol. 19, Springer, pp. 3-35, December 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3093289

Tilman Rodenhäuser (Contact Author)

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) ( email )

PO Box 136
Geneva, CH-1211
Switzerland

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ( email )

19 avenue de la Paix
Geneva, CH 1202
Switzerland

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