Organizing Rebellion: Non-State Armed Groups under International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law, and International Criminal Law

The number of non-state actors, in the past not accountable for committing international crimes or violating human rights, is proliferating rapidly. Their ways of operating evolve, with some groups being increasingly fragmented and others organizing transnationally or in cyber space. As non-state armed groups are involved in the vast majority of todays armed conflicts and crisis situations, a new and increasingly important question has to be raised as to whether, and at what point, these groups are bound by international law and thereby accountable for their acts. Breaking new ground in addressing international human rights law, international criminal law, and international humanitarian law in one swoop, Rodenhausers text will be essential to academics and practitioners alike.

Introduction Part 1 - The Required Degree of Organisation of a Non-State Party to an Armed Conflict under International Humanitarian Law 1: Of Rebels, Insurgents, and Belligerents: Non-State Parties in the History of Warfare 2: Parties to Non-International Armed Conflicts under International Treaty Law 3: Organised Armed Groups in Contemporary International Practice Part 2 - The Degree of Organisation Required from Non-State Armed Groups to have Obligations under International Human Rights Law 4: Human Rights, Natural Rights, and their Applicability beyond the State-Individual Relationship 5: The Fallacy of Effective Human Rights Protection under Relevant Treaty Law when Armed Groups Commit Violations 6: A Three-Pronged Approach to Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Armed Groups Part III - The Required Degree of Organisation of Non-State Entities to Commit International Crimes or to Create Contexts in which Individuals Commit Them 7: Conceptual Considerations on the Notion of Crimes against Humanity 8: The Historical Development of Crimes against Humanity and Jurisprudence of the Rwanda, Former Yugoslavia, and Sierra Leone Tribunals 9: The 'State or Organizational Policy' Requirement for Crimes against Humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 10: Non-State Entity Involvement in Genocide Conclusion