however, with this purpose (guarantee human safety), practice itself terrorist acts; it
must act within the Law. And here I move on to a second example of a highly complex
situation. I am referring to a generalized situation of violence, of a domestic or noninternational armed conflict: in said situation, along with the application of criminal
law to the perpetrators of terrorist acts and of International Human Rights law with
regard to violations perpetrated by State bodies or agents, International Humanitarian
Law – with its current institutional shortages – is also applied.
89.
For years I have been defending the concomitant application of International
Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law (cf. infra). In the end what is
important is to guarantee that nobody is left without the protection of the Law. The
matter of the exact realm of the addressees of the regulations of International
Humanitarian law in domestic or non-international armed conflicts has resulted in
debates and controversies. The doctrine is inclined to consider all those involved in
said conflicts, even those that support the parties involved in them, as addressees of
said regulations and bound by it.56 The applicability of International Law to all those
involved in domestic armed conflicts has the effect of gradually strengthening the
protection of the defenseless,57 of possible victims.
90.
This means that, moved by the needs themselves of protection, International
Humanitarian Law has transcended its previous inter-state point of view, and it
currently extended its realm of application to non-state groups and entities, to armed
groups that oppose domestic conflicts, who may have compromised their criminal
responsibility.58 (cf. infra) This development is not limited to a purely doctrinal level,
and it has currently also found its expression in international jurisprudence: recently
the Appellate Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leon stated, in the case of
Prosecutor versus Sam Hinga Norman (jurisdiction, decision of 05.31.2004), that
"it is well settled that all parties to an armed conflict, whether
States or non-State actors, are bound by International Humanitarian
Law, even though only State may become parties to international
treaties."59
91.
Thus, the obligations of International Humanitarian Law are imposed both to
States and to individuals and groups, to non-state entities, to armed insurgents in
general, and the States have not questioned this notable development of International
Humanitarian Law in the practice.60 It also deals with the growing needs of protection
of human beings in situations of domestic (and also international) armed conflict.
.
Cf. M. Sassòli y A.A. Bouvier et alii, How Does Law Protect in War?, Geneva,
ICRC, 1999, p. 215.
56
.
Cf., v.g., C. Ewumbue-Monono, "Respect for International Humanitarian Law
by Armed Non-State Actors in Africa", 88 International Review of the Red Cross
(2006) n. 864, pp. 905-923.
57
.
Cf. L. Zegveld, The Accountability of Armed Opposition Groups in International
Law, Cambridge, University Press, 2002, pp. 3-260.
58
.
Cit. in A. Clapham, "Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors in Conflict
Situations", 88 International Review of the Red Cross (2006) n. 863, pp. 497-498.
59
.
Ibid., pp. 498, 500-501 y 521-523. – On the operation, in general, of the
Special Court for Sierra Leona, cf. [Several Authors,] Internationalized Criminal Courts
- Sierra Leone, East Timor, Kosovo and Cambodia (eds. C. Romano, A. Nollkaemper y
J.K. Kleffner), Oxford, University Press, 2004, caps. VII-IX, pp. 125-180.
60