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A collection of codes of conduct issued by armed groups*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2012

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Foreword

This issue of the International Review of the Red Cross addresses the importance of understanding armed groups and the norms by which they are bound. One way of gaining insight into armed groups and engaging with them on improving respect for the law is to examine the rules and decisions that they choose to adopt.

In 2008, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) published a study on increasing the respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) in non-international armed conflicts.1 The study identified codes of conduct as one of the legal tools to improve compliance of armed groups with IHL.2 While they do not guarantee respect for the law, codes of conduct provide an important glimpse into the ideological and organizational structure of an armed group, its chain of command, and the rights and obligations that the hierarchy of the armed group chooses to bestow on its members. Furthermore, codes of conduct can provide a basis upon which legal representations can be made and accountability required regarding norms of IHL.3

Several authors in this edition of the Review discuss the importance of codes of conducts for understanding and engaging with armed groups.4 The Review has thus decided to include a collection5 of codes of conduct, or relevant extracts thereof.6 All materials in this collection are publicly available.7 They originate from various geographic areas and time periods – from China in 1947 to Libya in 2011 – and provide an insight into different armed groups' views of and appreciation of humanitarian norms.8 The publication of these codes of conduct does not in any way imply endorsement by the Review of the content of these documents.

Type
Armed Groups and International Law
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 93 , Issue 882: Understanding armed groups and the applicable law , June 2011 , pp. 483 - 501
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2012

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References

1 Michelle Mack, Increasing Respect for International Humanitarian Law in Non-international Armed Conflicts, ICRC, Geneva, February 2008.

2 Other tools mentioned in the study include special agreements, unilateral declarations, and inclusion of humanitarian law in ceasefire or peace agreements (ibid.).

3 Ibid., p. 16.

4 In particular, see Sandesh Sivakumaran, ‘Lessons for the law of armed conflict from commitments of armed groups: identification of legitimate targets and prisoners of war’, and Olivier Bangerter, ‘Reasons why armed groups choose to respect international humanitarian law or not’, in the present issue.

5 A broader collection of documents relating to issues of IHL (including unilateral declarations, deeds of commitment, codes of conduct, special agreements, and memoranda of understanding) will soon be made available online by Geneva Call (see http://www.genevacall.org (last visited 16 December 2011)).

6 Codes of conduct are often introduced by political statements, which have not been reproduced here.

7 The present collection is in no way exhaustive, owing largely to the fact that not many codes of conduct are publicly available or disseminated.

8 Additionally, for the code of conduct of the Taliban, see the annex to Munir, Muhammad, ‘The Layha for the Mujahideen: an analysis of the code of conduct for the Taliban fighters under Islamic law’, in International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 93, No. 881, March 2011, p. 103CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 See S. Sivakumaran, above note 4.

10 The ELN and FARC declarations of behavioural norms are exceptionally included in the present collection because they serve the purpose of codes of conduct.

11 See Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005, p. xxxvi.

12 See Sassòli, Marco, ‘Taking armed groups seriously: ways to improve their compliance with international humanitarian law’, in International Humanitarian Legal Studies, Vol. 1, 2010, pp. 20–26Google Scholar; Somer, Jonathan, ‘Jungle justice: passing sentence on the equality of belligerents in non-international armed conflict’, in International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 89, No. 867, 2007, pp. 661–662Google Scholar; Sivakumaran, Sandesh, ‘Binding armed opposition groups’, in International & Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 369, 2006, pp. 374–375CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Andrew Clapham, Human Rights Obligations of Non-state Actors, Oxford University Press, New York, 2006, pp. 28–29.

13 See M. Mack, above note 1, p. 22.

14 See Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (ADH), ‘Rules of engagement: protecting civilians through dialogue with armed non-state actors’, October 2011, p. 6, available at: http://www.adh-geneva.ch/docs/publications/Policy%20studies/Rules%20of%20Engagement.pdf (last visited 6 December 2011).

15 See Olivier Bangerter, ‘Disseminating and implementing international humanitarian law within organized armed groups: measures armed groups can take to improve respect for international humanitarian law’, in International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Non-state Actors and International Humanitarian Law: Organized Armed Groups – A Challenge for the Twenty-first Century, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2010, pp. 187, 192, 196; see also M. Sassòli, above note 12.

16 See S. Sivakumaran, above note 4.

17 See O. Bangerter, above note 4.

18 Reproduced in Xiaodong, He, ‘The Chinese humanitarian heritage and the dissemination of and education in international humanitarian law in the Chinese People's Liberation Army’, in International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 83, No. 841, pp. 141–153Google Scholar.

19 Declaration of Undertaking to Apply the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Protocol I of 1977, Annex C – Basic Rules of the New People's Army, pp. 90–91.

20 Published in David Arce Rojas, Petróleo y Derecho Internacional Humanitario, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Santa Fe de Bogotá, 1998, pp. 143–147.

21 Source: annex to a message from both organizations to their militants, November 2009, available at: http://redbarrio.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/farc-y-eln-detienen-la-confrontacion-entre-las-dos-fuerzas/ (last visited 30 September 2011).

22 Reprint with permission from Jeremy Weinstein, Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2007, pp. 371–374. The complete document is printed in Ondoga Ori Amaza, Museveni's Long March from Guerrilla to Statesman, Fountain, Kampala, 1998, pp. 246–251. The exact date of signing is unknown.

23 Special Court for Sierra Leone, Prosecutor v. Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao (the RUF accused), Case No. SCSL-04-15-T, Judgment (Trial Chamber), 2 March 2009, available at: http://www.sc-sl.org/CASES/ProsecutorvsSesayKallonandGbaoRUFCase/TrialChamberJudgment/tabid/215/Default.aspx (last visited 24 October 2011).

24 Source: text adapted from slides available at: http://www.ejiltalk.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Final-Libyan-LOAC-Guidelines-17-May-2011.ppt (last visited 30 September 2011).