PROTECTING EDUCATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA REGION

Doctoral Working Papers 2022, 2022

The recent past and the current situation in Ukraine and the development of events in Afghanistan showed the world the shortcomings of the international law of post-conflict resolution. We can characterize armed conflicts, and even in the lack of universally accepted definition we have some guiding principles about the beginning of an armed conflict and the end. However, we do not have any exit strategies. We do not have strategies on rebuilding. Various States developed modern lethal military arsenals involving the up-to-the-minute artificial intelligence solutions to start an armed conflict, or to defend themselves, but our toolkit for reconstruction remained on a Stone Age level. We have the possibility to use nuclear weapons or autonomous lethal systems to win a war, but we have only stone axes to rebuild a functional state from the ruins. That makes us-human beings-vulnerable. The lack of a legally binding instrument on the most elementary procedural issues in a postconflict situation has its effects on a various fields of public international law. Among them it effects international refugee law, migration law, international criminal law, international human rights law and the eldest and most stable pillar of the branch of law concerning armed conflicts: international humanitarian law as well. Moreover it has negative effects on global and national economy, and some aspects of the internal law of states as well. The writer of these thoughts tries to highlight the serious need of universally recognized and accepted legal guidelines or principles of exit strategies of armed conflict situations.

The Nigerian state has been locked in a brutal hostility with Islamic insurgents in the last five years. The hostility has resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and and destruction of properties worth millions of naira. It has been a matter of debate within the legal circle, International Human Rights bodies, Social Activists and the Nigerian Government to wit the nature of the conflict. For obvious reasons, the Government has continued to reject the idea that the conflict is a non-international armed conflict as projected by the international bodies, jurists and social activists. This paper is an attempt to critically evaluate the nature of the hostility between the Nigerian state and the Boko Haram insurgents. It is the considered view of the writer, among other things, that the conflict has reached the threshold of non-international armed conflict. It also discovers that the hostility has recorded some grave violations of the jus in bello. In this respect therefore, the paper advocates that the International Humanitarian Law should duly apply in the context of the war.

Madhvendra , 2019

This project concerns the problems that surround the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law in non-international armed conflicts. The provisions applicable to such conflicts are common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions together with Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions. The main problems surrounding the implementation of these provisions are of various natures. States always tend to be declined to admit that a situation within the states meets the requirements for non-international armed conflicts. States are not going to accept to recognize armed rebel forces as parties to such conflicts. Armed insurgent factions, on the other hand, lack motivation to apply the rules since this measure will probably not change their status and treatment under the domestic laws of the State. In addition, the concept of international armed conflict, where a prima facie non-international armed conflict turns international by the involvement of a third State or States, is creating confusion on which legal framework should be applicable. The conclusion is that since the problems surrounding the implementation and enforcement in non-international armed conflicts are various and not easily dealt with under the current provisions, a solution to this problem would be to create one single legal framework for all armed conflicts, abandoning the current division between international and non-international armed conflicts. This would help in the application of the rules and in addition make it easier for the parties involved to abide by them. Unfortunately, it seems that such a solution is yet far away.

Armed conflict causes a wide range of human tragedies, leaving in their wake people with basic needs that humanitarian and human rights organisations endeavor to meet, according to the means at its disposal. This therefore suggests that, had restraints been observed there could not be that type of tragedy beyond proportion, to the international concern, which states may bear the burden, in a form contribution to solve the attendant problems resulting from such an armed conflict. This paper reveals that there is abundant non observance of humanitarian tenet, some due to the claim of states that they are not party to a particular treaty or the other. This is necessary, since there is a new development of modern armed conflict, with new categories of combatants. That being the case, it is worthy of note that, many tenets have already found their bearing in customary international humanitarian law. In addition, modern humanitarian law had been strongly influenced by human rights doctrines It is therefore recommended that, whether a state is a party to an international humanitarian law treaty or not, the need to safeguard humanity is therefore necessary.

Tilburg Law Review, 2007

Journal of Politics and Law

This study was aimed to investigate issues associated with the education rights of children in international and non-international armed conflict and the influence of armed conflict on educational staff and facilities in war-torn countries. Relevant international conventions are reviewed to evaluate their effectiveness in curbing the influence of armed conflict on children's education. The study highlights the importance of international humanitarian law (IHL) in inhibiting attacks against students, educational staff, and educational facilities during armed conflict. It also reviews conventional and non-conventional methods of protection and suggests ways in which IHL may be clarified and developed to enhance the supervision of the provision of education during armed struggles. The article concludes that it is necessary to have specific international conventions, oversight bodies and relevant educational obligations in order to guarantee law enforcement and require countries or ...

2018

The issue of the existence of the internal armed conflict concerns both legal factors and political factors (recognition of the existence of the internal armed conflict). From a legal point of view, to declare a violent social phenomenon as internal armed conflict, we must resort to the specific rules of international humanitarian law: Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Article 1 of the First Additional Protocol to these conventions of 1977. However, these regulations, while describing the general parameters of the existence of an internal armed conflict, do not establish clear legal criteria for delimiting the internal armed conflict of internal tensions and disturbances or other forms of non-armed conflicts. This regulatory shortcoming has led to the emergence in the jurisprudence of some states, but also in the international one, of criteria for the existence of the internal armed conflict.

International Conflict and Security Law - A Research Handbook, by Sayapin, Atadjanov, Kadam, Kemp, Zambrana-Tévar and Quénivet (eds), T.M.C. Asser Press / Springer, 2022

This unique two-volume book covers virtually the whole spectrum of international conflict and security law. It proceeds from values protected by international law (Part I), through substantive rules in which these values are embodied (Part II), to international and domestic institutions that enforce the law (Part III). It subsequently deals with current challenges in the application of rules of international conflict and security law (Part IV), and crimes as the most serious violations of those rules (Part V). Finally, in the section on case studies (Part VI), lessons learnt from a number of conflict situations are discussed. Written by an international team of experts representing all the major legal systems of the world, the book is intended as a reference work for students and researchers, domestic and international judges, as well as for legal advisers to governments and international and non-governmental organisations.

This Paper analysed the legality of the use of force in International law and seeks to establish whether the 2022 Russian Ukraine War can be deemed legal or illegal.

Scientific approaches in jurisprudence: collective monograph. Boston : Primedia eLaunch, 213 р. , 2020

The issue of ensuring national security in societies in a state of armed conflict is becoming relevant for the respective states among the priorities of domestic and foreign policy. Addressing these issues requires non-standard approaches in terms of organization of work of a state mechanism, consolidation of efforts of all stakeholders, and the focus of a civil society. After the two world wars, the international community worked out a number of recommendations of the maintenance of international peace and security, prevention and abolition o f war, prohibition of propaganda for war and so on. In the Charter, The United Nations sets out the fundamental principle of reliance on the peaceful settlement of disputes and the peaceful resolution o f conflict. Despite all efforts, the issue of armed conflicts in the world has not yet been resolved. Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Sudan and other countries of the African continent, which have had or are having active armed conflicts; Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Syria - this is by no means an exhaustive list of those states that have faced the problems of conflict and post-conflict societies. It means that despite the efforts of the international community, establishment of a large number of humanitarian organizations, adoption of international norms in this area, armed conflicts cannot be avoided.