Book launch: The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law’ by Katharine Fortin
The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights hosted a panel discussion on 8 November 2017 to mark the launch of Dr Katharine Fortin’s new book The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law. Next to Dr Fortin, the panel consists of Professor Andrew Clapham (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) and Ezequiel Heffes (Thematic Legal Advisor, Geneva Call).
About the book
The book was published in August 2017 by with a foreword by Professor Andrew Clapham from the Graduate Institute of Advanced Studies. It book explores the dilemma that, although it is increasingly common for UN bodies to hold armed groups to account under human rights law, there has long remained doubt about the extent to which this practice can be legally justified.
The book brings significant new understanding to the question of whether and when armed groups might be bound by human rights law. In doing so, the book draws upon social science literature on armed conflict to present a new viewpoint on the role that human rights law plays vis-Ã -vis international humanitarian law in armed conflicts.
In the words of Professor Clapham, Dr Fortin’s theories "represent a significant contribution to the knowledge in this field and have taken us considerably forward in our understanding of how to achieve greater accountability for human rights violations committed by armed groups".
Katharine Fortin is Assistant Professor of public international law and human rights at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ’s Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM).