Civilian Casualties (CIVCAS)

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Local elderly residents take shelter in the basement of an undisclosed church on October 12, 2020 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. Boxes and blankets are placed in piles on the floor and there are a few chairs and benches on which people sit. A person walks past the camera using a walking cane.

Power Politics Obstructs Protection of Civilians in — and After — the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Five measures that Azerbaijan and Armenia, along with Russia, Turkey, and the international community must take now to improve conditions.
Women wait with children in a ward at a malnourishment treatment centre in Yemen's northern Hajjah province on November 22, 2020. The beds the children lie in are covered in netting, and the walkways between beds are very small since the beds are crowded together.

Biden Must Stick to His Pledge to End US Support for the Yemen War

The war in Yemen is a global mark of shame, and the resulting humanitarian disaster threatens the lives of 24 million people.
Graves of people including children who were killed in the war including airstrikes carried out by warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition, are seen at a cemetery on June 17, 2020 in Sana'a, Yemen.

Defense Policy Negotiations Near Completion in Congress, With Human Rights Provisions in Play

Issues at stake include militarization of law enforcement, civilian casualties, military base renaming, arms transfers, and more.
Patmanathan Kokilavani holds photos of her two children at a protest site for loved ones of the disappeared on May 13, 2019 in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka. Behind her are numerous photos strung on a wall of others who are disappeared.

Human Shields and Proportionality: How Legal Experts Defended War Crimes in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Civil War constitutes an unprecedented case in terms of the number of people who were framed as human shields and the mobilization of prominent human rights…
US sailors stand next to F/A-18 Super Hornets parked on the bow of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) anchored off Manila bay on June 26, 2018.

Anticipating the Human Costs of Great Power Conflict

Conspicuously absent from policy and planning documents about great power conflict is a clear-eyed assessment of the likely human costs of such a conflict or considerations for…
A Somali woman walks in an internally displaced people (IDP) camp as hundreds of people recently fled from southern Somalia US's airstrikes against al Shebab, in Baidoa, autonomous South West State of Somalia, on December 18, 2018.

Plan to Pull U.S. Troops from Somalia is Cold Comfort Amid Civilian Toll of Air War

AFRICOM insists its aim is to ‘degrade’ al-Shabaab. But the US military campaign is taking a heavy toll on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
The damaged interior of the hospital in which the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) medical charity operated is seen on October 13, 2015 following an air strike in the northern city of Kunduz.

Five Years On: Military Accountability and the Attack on the MSF Trauma Center in Kunduz

On the fifth anniversary of the tragic attack by the U.S. military on the Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, a former U.S. military legal adviser…
The damaged interior of the hospital in which the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) medical charity operated is seen on October 13, 2015 following an air strike in the northern city of Kunduz.

Online Symposium on Civilian Casualties: The Law of Prevention and Response

An important symposium series, “Civilian Casualties: The Law of Prevention and Response,” is kicking off on Wednesday (September 30) at noon EDT.
Graffiti showing a US drone is depicted on a wall to protest against US drone strikes on September 19, 2018 in Sana'a, Yemen.

State Dept. Inspector General Report: A Troubling Message on Arms Sales

"A stunning revelation given the repeated, severe cases of civilian casualties resulting from Saudi-led Coalition operations over the past several years."
Just Security

AFRICOM’s Improved Civilian Casualty Reporting System Still Leaves Gaps for Somalia

Only with more ways to submit reports and the proper followup can the U.S. military start to rebuild trust among communities harmed by its actions.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper (L) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley, testify about the Defense department budget during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 4, 2020.

DOD’s New Ex Gratia Policy: What’s Right, What’s Wrong, and What’s Next

On June 22, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued an interim policy regulation for providing ex gratia payments to civilians harmed as a result of U.S. military operations. It…
Smoke billowing out of buidlings following a coalition air strike in the western al-Daraiya neighbourhood of the embattled northern Syrian city of Raqa on September 5, 2017.

Toward a Consistent and Coherent Ex Gratia Policy for Civilian Casualties

The summer of 2017 was an extended nightmare for the Badrans. Over the course of several weeks, 39 members of Rasha Badran’s family, most of them women and children, were killed…
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