Conference: Complementing IHL: Exploring the Need for Additional Norms to Govern Contemporary Conflict Situations

The Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will host a conference on "Complementing IHL: Exploring the Need for Additional Norms to Govern Contemporary Conflict Situations," June 1-3, 2008, in Jerusalem. (I previously noted the call for papers here.) The program (with links to a number of the draft papers) is here. Why attend?

The international laws of armed conflict, known as IHL (international humanitarian law), were developed by the international community in the aftermath of World War II in an attempt to reduce the harm to civilians during periods of armed conflict. However, many (if not most) modern conflict situations in the world – such as those in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Kosovo – no longer conform to the classic inter-state or even intra-state models of violence that underlie the application of IHL. This important international conference brings together 30 experts in an attempt to identify types of conflict situations that are at present inadequately regulated, and to explore the potential for developing IHL or locating new normative sources that may apply. In doing so, the conference hopes to encourage the development of international law in ways that are conducive to the attainment of IHL's overriding goals: the mitigation of harm and suffering and the promotion of humanitarian interests, even in times of conflict.