Geneva Academy
19 March 2020
The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter of Boko Haram, has been operating in northeastern Nigeria and along Lake Chad, since it left Boko Haram back in 2016, is engaged in protracted armed violence against the government.
In 2019, armed confrontations between ISWAP and the Nigerian armed forces took place consistently over the year. Since the beginning of 2020, ISWAP has conducted a number of deadly attacks against the Nigerian army, while clashes between ISWAP and the governmental forces resulted in the death of several Nigerian soldiers and ISWAP fighters.
Research conducted led to the conclusion that the level of armed violence and of organization of ISWAP allows classifying this situation as a non-international armed conflict (NIAC).
Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) website, therefore, provides a detailed analysis and legal classification of this conflict, including information about parties, its classification and applicable international law.
This new NIAC complements the Nigeria entry, which already entails information about the NIAC between the Nigerian armed forces and Boko Haram, which has also been updated to reflect recent development.
‘We also analysed the clashes between Boko Haram and ISWAP and concluded that, while occasional fighting still takes place between these two armed groups, the intensity was never high enough to conclude that there is a NIAC between ISWAP and Boko Haram. However, that fighting clearly demonstrates that Boko Haram and ISWAP are distinct armed groups involved in distinct armed conflicts against the government.’ explains Dr Chiara Redaelli, Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy.
Ansaru is an armed group also known as the Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa and al-Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel. It is a Jihadist splinter group of Boko Haram and is based in the northeastern part of Nigeria. Following fighting in 2012 and 2013, armed confrontations between Ansaru and the government have substantially decreased. Furthermore, in 2016 Ansaru’s leader was arrested by Nigerian armed forces. However, since January 2020, Ansaru has started operating again and has claimed armed attacks for the first time since 2013.
‘While the intensity of violence is not enough to conclude that there is a NIAC between the government of Nigeria and Ansaru, we will continue to monitor this development and the evolution of the situation.’ stresses Dr Chiara Redaelli.
Geneva Academy
Our recent expert meeting, conducted in collaboration with the ICRC, addressed the growing involvement of civilians in cyber and digital operations during armed conflicts.
ECHO
Our new research project IHL in Focus – launched at the beginning of the year – has been presented and discussed at the 2024 European Humanitarian Forum, a major yearly event convened by the European Union focusing on prominent humanitarian issues and challenges.
Adobe
This IHL Talk will explore various issues related to the prosecution of ecocide and other environmental crimes.
ICRC
This online short course discusses the extent to which states may limit and/or derogate from their international human rights obligations in order to prevent and counter-terrorism and thus protect persons under their jurisdiction.
Oliver Peters / Pixabay
The ‘Counter-Terror Pro LegEm’ project combines legal analysis with social science research to (1) examine the effectiveness of counterterrorism measures and their effects on human rights and (2) analyse the structure of terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda or the Islamic State and see whether they qualify as ‘organized armed groups’ for the purpose of international humanitarian law.
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.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy