Geneva Academy>
12 December 2022
Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts online portal (RULAC) classified the armed violence opposing the Mexican armed forces to the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG, Jalisco Cartel New Generation) and to the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as the armed violence between these two gangs as non-international armed conflicts (NIACs).
According to this classification – based on the level of violence and on the level of organization of the drug cartels – international humanitarian law (IHL) applied to these clashes in addition to international human rights law (IHRL) and war crimes could be committed.
‘This was the only case on RULAC where armed violence involving drug cartels was considered as amounting to NIACs’ explains Dr Chiara Redaelli, Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy.
Geneva Academy
MSF
MSF>
This declassification does not mean that the violence decreased throughout the country, that there are fewer victims or that the overall situation improved.
‘While the armed violence between the government and the drug cartels, as well as between cartels themselves, remains high, it has become increasingly challenging to attribute these instances of violence and clashes to specific armed groups. As we cannot attribute these acts of violence to a specific drug cartel, we cannot conclude that the intensity of violence’s requirement is met, and, therefore, conclude with certainty that these three NIACs are still ongoing’ explains Dr Redaelli.
‘This declassification does not leave a protection gap. Indeed, IHRL continues applying to these clashes. This means that the applicable framework is the law enforcement paradigm as opposed to IHL’ she adds.
As a Researcher at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in Colombia, Cielo Linares supports ICTJ’s work with Colombia’s Truth Commission and Special Jurisdiction for Peace, focusing on restorative justice, memory, prevention and reparation. In this interview, she tells about programme and what it brings to her career.
Our podcast In and Around War(s) returns for a third season with the first episode discussing the weaponization of water.
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.
Adobe Stock
This project addresses the human rights implications stemming from the development of neurotechnology for commercial, non-therapeutic ends, and is based on a partnership between the Geneva Academy, the Geneva University Neurocentre and the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.
Geneva Academy ICRC