How to legally assess the situation when humanitarian actors in non-international armed conflicts are arbitrarily denied access to the affected civilian population? The book answers this question from the perspective of the five main actors involved in humanitarian relief in non-international armed conflicts: the affected State, non-State armed groups, humanitarian actors, non-belligerent States and the affected civilian population. It examines the legal regulations and consequences for each of these actors. In doing so, the book not only draws attention to existing legal gaps and challenges, but also encourages readers to rethink outdated legal concepts and discuss new approaches.
The open access publication of this book has been published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Vijitha Veerakatty, Dr.iur. (2021), University of Bern, is currently Deputy Head of the European Law and Schengen/Dublin Coordination Division at the Swiss Federal Office of Justice and Expert Consultant at Ximpulse Ltd. on international human rights protection, local governance, and peacebuilding.
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1âCurrent Situation
2âConditions for Providing Humanitarian Relief
3âCan Consent to Relief Operations Be Withheld?
4âAims of This Book
5âStructure of the Book
Part 1 International Humanitarian Relief in Non-international Armed Conflicts 1âActors Involved in Relief Actions
1âAffected State
2âNon-state Armed Groups
3âHumanitarian Actors
4âNon-belligerent States
5âCivilians
2âLegal Framework
1âOverview
2âRelevant Laws and Principles
3âThe Concept of Humanitarian Relief
1âHistorical Perspective
2âDefining Humanitarian Relief
3âImplementation of International Humanitarian Relief
4âDilemma: Principle of âDo No Harmâ
4âSituation of Non-international Armed Conflicts
1âDefinition
2âDistinction from Internal Tensions and Disturbances
3âDistinction from International Armed Conflict
Part 2 Rights and Duties of the Actors Involved in Relief Actions 5âIntroduction
6âRights and Duties of the Affected State
1âStateâs Sovereignty as a Core Principle
2âRights and Duties
7âRights and Duties of Non-state Armed Groups
1âBound to International Law
2âRights and Duties
8âRights and Duties of Humanitarian Actors
1âAdherence to Humanitarian Principles
2âRights and Duties
9âRights and Duties of Non-belligerent States
1âCooperation with Humanitarian Actors
2âRights and Duties
10âRights and Duties of Civilians
1âRight on Respect and Protection
2âA Right to Receive Humanitarian Relief?
3âDuty Not to Take Part in Hostilities and Impede Relief Actions
Part 3 Arbitrary Withholding of Consent to Relief Operations 11âCharacteristics of Withholding of Consent
1âWithholding and Withdrawing of Consent
2âForms of Expression
12âProhibition of Arbitrary Withholding of Consent
1âLegal Basis
2âAssessing Arbitrariness
13âViolation of Other International Obligations
1âRelevant Breaches of Law
2âBreaches of ihl Obligations
3âBreaches of ihrl Obligations
4âBreaches under International Criminal Law
Part 4 Legal Consequences of Arbitrary Withholding of Consent 14âIntroduction
15âAccountability of the Affected State
1âState Responsibility
2âResponsibility for Violation of Human Rights Treaties
3âIndividual Responsibility under Criminal Law
16âAccountability of Non-state Armed Groups
1âNo Direct Responsibility of the Armed Group
2âDetermination of Breaches within Monitoring Mechanisms
3âIndividual Responsibility of the Members of the Armed Group
17âRemedies for Humanitarian Actors
1âPossibility of Providing Relief without Consent?
2âBilateral Dialogues and Public Pronouncement
18âRemedies for Non-belligerent States
1âObligation and Entitlement to Act
2âNon-judicial Mechanisms
3âJudicial Mechanisms
19âRemedies for Civilians
1âHuman Rights Complaint Procedures
2âClaims Commissions
3âRights as Victims before the icc
Part 5 Legal Gaps and Required Developments 20âIntroduction
21âCurrently Existing Gaps in the Law
1âLaw Governing Humanitarian Relief
2âLegal Status of Non-state Armed Groups
3âLegal Remedies
22âDevelopments Needed
1âEnhancing Knowledge of the Applicable Law
2âFurther Legal Regulations
3âIndependent International Body for Assessing Arbitrariness
4âIntegration of Non-state Armed Groups
5âNew Enforcement Mechanism
âConclusion
1âSummary
2âClosing Remarks
Reports, Resolutions and Statements
Table of Cases
Bibliography
Index
This book will be of interest to academics and students in the field of international humanitarian law. It is also a book for practitioners, including humanitarian actors, governments, and non-State actors.