A Turn to Non-State Actors: Inducing Compliance with International Humanitarian Law in War-Torn Areas of Limited Statehood

TL;DRAbstract

Many of the perpetuated armed conflicts in the Great Lakes Region in Africa take place in wartorn areas of limited statehood. These conflicts are characterized by a high number of civilian victims, often resulting from utter disregard for international humanitarian law. Here, the rise of armed, violent non-state actors collides with the State-centric traditional nature of public international law. Thus, (classical) compliance structures seem to lose their significance, as they predominantly rely on the State for law enforcement and therefore mainly accommodate States’ interests when inducing compliance. The working paper suggests that the international community responds to these challenges by allocating competences to other actors than the State. Particularly, international organizations increasingly contribute to enforcing international humanitarian law. However, since these organizations are dependent on their member States’ political willingness to support measures for inducing com

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