Accountability of Armed Opposition Groups in International Law

Liesbeth Zegveld

jul 2002 · Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law Libro 24 · Cambridge University Press

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Who is accountable under international law for the acts committed by armed opposition groups? In today's world the majority of political conflicts involve non-state actors attempting to exert political influence (such as overthrowing a government or bringing about secession). Notwithstanding their impact on the course of events, however, we often know little about these groups, and even less about how to treat their actions legally. In this award-winning scholarship, Liesbeth Zegveld examines the need to legally identify the parties involved when internal conflicts arise, and the reality of their demands for rights. Her study draws upon international humanitarian law, human rights law and international criminal law to consider a fundamental question: who is accountable for the acts committed by non-state actors, or for the failure to prevent or repress these acts? This study will be of interest to academics, postgraduate students and professionals involved with armed conflict and international relations.

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LIESBETH ZEGVELD practises as an international and criminal lawyer. In 1998, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to do research at New York University and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C. For her dissertation on armed opposition groups she received the degree 'cum laude' and The Netherlands' Human Rights Award, 2000. She is the co-author, with Frits Kalshocven, of the third edition of Constraints on the waging of war: an introduction to international humanitarian law (ICRC 2001).