Applicability of International Humanitarian Law in Asymmetric Warfare: A Review on Sri Lankan Civil War

Abstract

Today's armed conflicts are not the same as the conventional and systematic wars described in history books. In the 21st century, the political concept of “War” has been replaced by the factual concept of “Armed Conflict.” International Humanitarian Law is the main international legal branch that governs and regulates armed conflicts. In simple meaning, the ‘Law of War’. However, the irregular forms of modern armed conflicts are challenging the scope of the application of International Humanitarian Law on the contemporary battlefield.

In this 4th generation of warfare, States have lost their monopolistic authority in war. Non-state actors such as guerrilla movements & terrorist groups have increased their activities. In this sense, most of today's armed conflicts can be underlined as ‘Asymmetric Armed Conflicts’ generally waring between states and non-state actors.

However, the states and respective governments are reluctant to apply International Humanitarian Law to the internal asymmetric armed uprisings. At the same time, there are difficulties in classifying contemporary asymmetric armed conflicts into the conventional classification of warfare in accordance with the criteria adopted under International Humanitarian Law. These legal ambiguities have not been well examined yet. Therefore, these matters should be addressed according to jurisprudential and political parameters.

There is a lacuna in jurisprudential studies on ‘Asymmetric warfare and applicability of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Non-International Armed Conflicts (NIACs).’ This research, therefore, primarily seeks to fill the existing knowledge and research vacuum regarding asymmetric warfare with reference to the Sri Lankan context.