Andrew Clapham

Human rights obligations of non-state actors

INTRODUCTION 1. Old Objections and New Approaches 2. Thinking Responsibly About the Subject of Subjects 3. Charcteristics of International Human Rights Law 4. The United Nations 5. The World Trade Organization and the European Union 6. Corporations and Human Rights 7. Non-State Actors in Times of Armed Conflict 8. Selected UN Human Rights Treaties 9. Regional Human Rights Bodies 10. National Legal Orders 11. Dignity and Democracy 12. Complexity, Complicity, and Complementarity

Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors in Conflict Situations

The threat to human rights posed by non-state actors is of increasing concern. The author addresses the international obligations of belligerents, national liberation movements and insurgent entities, looks at the growing demands that such armed groups respect human rights norms and considers some of the options for holding private military companies accountable with regard to human rights abuses. The argument developed throughout this article is that all sorts of non-state actors are increasingly expected to comply with principles of international human rights law.

Issues of Complexity, Complicity and Complementarity: From the Nuremberg Trials to the Dawn of the New International Criminal Court

The lecture explores issues related to the international criminal responsibility of corporations for war crimes.

Human Rights and International Criminal Law

Although one might see international criminal law as a natural progression of human rights law, this chapter points to the tensions between the two branches and warns against conflating human rights with atrocity crimes.

Weapons and Armed Non-State Actors

The chapter looks at when arms transfers to armed groups will be illegal under international law, when the use of certain arms by armed groups will be illegal and what are the factors which allow us to consider armed groups bound by these prohibitions at the international level. The situation in Syria is highlighted and there are references to the ongoing negotiations at the United Nations for an Arms Trade Treaty. Particular attention is paid to the issue of the obligations of armed groups under human rights law and recent developments which suggest that such groups are bound by international law even where, as in the early stages of the Syria fighting, the militia or armed group are not necessarily in control of territory or in a situation of armed conflict.

The United Nations

Monitoring progress in the implementation of the TFA provisions is essential to form evidence for policymaking, and to identify gaps to address and needs for capacity-building and technical assistance. The United Nations Regional Commissions have been jointly conducting the United Nations Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, every two years since 2015, to serve this purpose.