Synopses & Reviews
Armed opposition groups generally fight governments, seeking overthrow and/or secession. But who is accountable under international law for the acts committed by these groups, or for the failure to prevent these acts? Zegveld examines the need legally to identify the parties involved when armed internal conflict arises, and the reality of their demand for rights. Although currently most armed conflicts are internal, they remain largely uncharted territory in law. This award-winning study will be of interest to academics, postgraduate students and professionals involved with armed conflict and international relations.
Review
"...well grounded in both the scholarly and legal literature...The primary strength of the book is its thorough, skillful, and well-documented legal analysis." Perspectives on Political Science
Review
"Particularly relevant in that many, if not most, of today's conflicts are internal rather than international in nature... the thesis is well thought-out, argued, and documented. Overall, this is a very good study of a still evolving and important area of international law. This is a book that most academic law libraries with both human rights and humanitarian law collections should have." Choice
Synopsis
A discussion of issues of accountability in international law of internal armed groups.
About the Author
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).
Table of Contents
Table of treaties and declarations; Table of cases; Table of other documents; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. The Normative Gap: 1. Legal restraints on armed opposition groups as such; 2. Substantive obligations of armed opposition groups as such; Part II. The Accountability Gap: 3. Accountability of group leaders; 4. Accountability of armed opposition groups as such; 5. Accountability of the state for acts of armed opposition groups; 6. The quest for accountability; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.