Armed Conflict
Law of Armed Conflict/IHL
1,634 Articles
Just Security Podcast: Shaheed Fatima QC on Protecting Children in Armed Conflict
Recent years have seen an escalation in impact of war on children – from the sexual enslavement to the deliberate bombing of their schools – subjecting a generation of children…
“We Could Hold Them for 100 Years If the Conflict Lasts for 100 Years”
Last week, Justice Department lawyer Ronald Wiltsie told a federal district court in Washington, D.C. that the Trump administration is entitled to imprison detainees for 100 years…
Continued Fight for Accountability in Liberia: Another Landmark U.S. Court Decision
For the second time in less than a year, evidence of war crimes in Liberia have been presented in a federal courtroom in Philadelphia. On July 3, Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, former…
Time for a Reckoning in Yemen
Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, Stephen Rapp writes that "Americans are also at risk … of complicity in the crimes committed by coalition forces" in the…
Overdue US Admission that Civilians Were Killed in Syria Strike Is Still Insufficient
It finally admitted to it. After months of denying that any civilians died, the United States-led coalition in Syria has finally recognized that its strike on a boarding school…
Saudi Arabia’s Misleading Email to Congress After Bombing of MSF Cholera Hospital
On a recent Wednesday night in June, Saudi Arabia’s embassy emailed members of the U.S. Congress providing them something between a false and misleading account of an air strike…
The Department of Defense’s Report on Civilian Casualties: A Step Forward in Transparency?
While the Pentagon's new report on civilian casualties is a step in the right direction, future DoD reports should include more detail on specific incidents, including discrepancies…
The Technicolor Zone of Cyberspace, Part 2
What did the UK attorney general say about the principle of sovereignty in cyberspace and countermeasures as a self-help remedy to cyber-enabled breaches of international law?
The Israeli Supreme Court Decision on the Gaza Riots: Factual and Legal Confusion
The Israeli Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the legality of lethal force the Israeli army used against Palestinian protesters in Gaza was unambiguous in its final decision:…
OLC’s Formal (and Remarkably Broad) Defense of the April Syria Strikes
This morning, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel posted a formal, 22-page opinion, concluding that the April 13 airstrikes on Syria were lawful.
The Technicolor Zone of Cyberspace – Part I
Two leading experts on cyber law analyze the U.K. Attorney General's major speech on international law and cyber, delivered at Chatham House last month.
Understanding the Fog of Law: Enduring Ambiguities in International Security Law
The international law governing national security and war is plagued by several critical ambiguities. When can states lawfully resort to armed force? What are the constraints on…