Armed Conflict • International Law
Law of Armed Conflict/IHL
1,649 Articles
Moves toward greater transparency on the use of lethal force [UPDATED]
Unless I’m overlooking something, this weekend’s strike directed at Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, in the province of Baluchistan, was only the second…
Transparency, Review, and Relief: The Far-Reaching Implications of the Kunduz Report
Thus far, many discussions of the US military’s release of a 120-page detailed report of the lawfulness of its attack on the Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) facility in Kunduz,…
The UK’s Report on Drones and Targeted Killing Leaves Unanswered Questions
Yesterday, the British Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights published the report of its months-long inquiry into the use of drones for targeted killing. The 110-page…
What the Kunduz Report Gets Right (and Wrong)
Over the past week, many thoughtful posts have appeared, here and elsewhere, reacting to the US military’s report on the 2015 airstrike of a Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF)…
Recklessness, War Crimes, and the Kunduz Hospital Bombing
Last Friday, the US military announced that it was disciplining 16 service members involved in the bombing of the Médicins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan that…
US Government Concludes no “War Crimes” in Kunduz Strike, But Fails to Explain Why
The US government’s 120-page report on the Kunduz airstrike — in which US forces killed 42 civilians and destroyed a Médicins Sans Frontières hospital — found that US forces…
We Need to Know More About the US’s Role in Yemen
A crowd quickly gathered when I arrived last month in what remained of the market in Mastaba, a small highway town in northern Yemen. A week earlier, on March 15, warplanes from…
The International Discussion Continues: 2016 CCW Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons
Last week, States Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), the international treaty banning or restricting the use of land mines, blinding lasers, and other…
The State Department Adviser Signals a Middle Road on Common Article 1
In his remarks to the American Society of International Law earlier this month, State Department Legal Adviser Brian Egan stated that the United States’ commitment to upholding…
Are all “members” of ISIL targetable?
Rita Siemion and Heather Brandon of Human Rights First have published a comprehensive post on some of the more important aspects of Brian Egan’s speech to ASIL. (My own…
International Law à la Carte: Brian Egan’s Jus ad Bellum Doctrine
Last week’s speech by State Department Legal Adviser Brian Egan laying out the legal and policy rationales behind the US’s war against ISIL was largely overlooked in the mainstream…
Readers’ Guide on Recent Developments in International Criminal Law
It has been a busy few weeks in international criminal law, with a range of important judgments out of the International Criminal Court, the International Tribunal for the former…