Geneva Academy>
2 May 2023
In addition to the ongoing non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) that oppose the Sudanese armed forces to a number of non-state armed groups in the country, our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal just classified a parallel NIAC between Sudan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Hamadan.
Since the fighting between RSF and the Sudanese Army began on 15 April 2023, clashes have been reported across Sudan in Darfur, Merowe, al-Fasher, el-Obeid, Nyala, Kassala, Kabkabiya, the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, Gadariff, Damazin, and Kosti.
‘Both the intensity of these clashes, along with the level of organization of RSF allow us to conclude today to the existence of a NIAC – despite the adoption and extension of a ceasefire agreement as violence continues’ underlines Dr Chiara Redaelli, Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy.
‘As a consequence, international humanitarian law applies to these clashes and war crimes can be committed in this context’ she adds.
The entry on this conflict provides detailed information about this armed group, the classification and applicable international law.
The Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts (RULAC) online portal systematically qualifies situations of armed violence using the definition of armed conflict under international humanitarian law. RULAC also identifies the parties to these conflicts and applicable international law. It currently monitors more than 110 armed conflicts involving at least 55 states and more than 70 armed non-State actors.
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Half of the class of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights pleaded on 20 April on the current armed conflict in and around Gaza.
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Our Research Fellow Dr Eugénie Duss answers our questions related to this update that follows the attacks carried out by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israel’s subsequent Iron Sword operation.
The Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts project (RULAC) is a unique online portal that identifies and classifies all situations of armed violence that amount to an armed conflict under international humanitarian law (IHL). It is primarily a legal reference source for a broad audience, including non-specialists, interested in issues surrounding the classification of armed conflicts under IHL.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin
The IHL-EP works to strengthen the capacity of human rights mechanisms to incorporate IHL into their work in an efficacious and comprehensive manner. By so doing, it aims to address the normative and practical challenges that human rights bodies encounter when dealing with cases in which IHL applies.
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