Geneva Conventions

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The Protection of Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna under International Humanitarian Law

March 24, 2026

Natia Kalandarishvili-Mueller

Viktoriia Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist whose reporting focused on crime, human rights and Russia’s actions in occupied Ukraine, died in Russian captivity. She was a freelance journalist, working for various independent news outlets such as Ukrainska Pravda, as well as the Ukrainian service Radio Free Europe. Viktoriia disappeared on 3 August 2023. She was captured in summer 2023 while reporting near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station during her fourth trip into Russian-occupied territory. Viktoriia was held without charge or access to legal services and had almost no contact with the outside world. She died in detention after a year, aged 27, under unknown circumstances. Preliminary forensic findings indicate that in detention, the journalist was tortured, had burn marks from electro shocks, suffered broken ribs, and her head was shaved. When Viktoriia’s body was returned in February 2025 to Ukraine, her brain, eyes and larynx were missing. This post examines the international humanitarian law (IHL) framework that governed the protection of Viktoriia Roshchyna in a situation of military occupation. It reflects on whether…

Attacks on dual-use objects and the prohibition of terrorising civilians: the attacks on Iran’s oil facilities

March 23, 2026

Lizaveta Tarasevich

Late on Saturday, March 7, the Israeli military conducted a series of strikes against several oil storage facilities in and around Tehran, igniting large fires at the facilities. By the following morning, Iran’s capital was reported to be covered in thick smoke from the burning depots. Later on Sunday, reports emerged that “black” rain,…

Key Common Provisions and Protection of Civilians in the 2025 Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention

March 16, 2026

Mona Rishmawi

As international lawyers debate the resilience of international law in the face of its most serious breaches, including aggression and mass atrocities against civilians, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has released its Updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention under the overarching title Protecting Civilians in Good Faith (the “2025 Commentary”). Grounded in a…

GC IV: Internment in Non-Occupied Territory

March 6, 2026

Jelena Pejic

International humanitarian law (IHL) treaties use a range of terms to denote deprivation of liberty, one of which is internment. While there is no legal definition, internment is understood to mean the non-criminal detention of a person based on the serious security threat his or her activity poses to a detaining authority. It is the most common form…

Subsequent practice in the ICRC’s updated Commentary on GC IV

February 27, 2026

Abhimanyu George Jain and Ellen Policinski

Since 2011, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been engaged in a project to revise and update its Commentaries on the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols. Updated Commentaries on the first three Geneva Conventions were released in 2016, 2017 and 2020, and the updated Commentary on the…

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Evacuation Orders: An Unlawful Use of Precautionary Measures?

April 2, 2026

Hussein Badreddine

Introduction Around 800,000 Lebanese residents have been displaced so far since the beginning of this round of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. On 2 March 2026, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) issued evacuation orders directing residents of villages and towns in southern Lebanon to leave their homes and move north of the Litani River, effectively…

From Gaza to Lebanon: Forcible Displacement Dressed in Humanitarian Garb

April 17, 2026

Eitan Diamond

Ellen Nohle

In recent hostilities, first in the Gaza Strip and now in Lebanon, the Israeli military has adopted a new modus operandi: issuing blanket relocation directives instructing millions of people to indefinitely leave their places of residence (evacuation orders in Lebanon were discussed here). The apparent objective is to enable Israel to engage an enemy embedded in densely…

Domestic Courts and the States’ Obligation to Prevent Genocide and Serious Violations of IHL: The Brussels Court of Appeal’s Interlocutory Judgment of 16 March 2026

May 26, 2026

Coline Minguet

On 16 March 2026, the Brussels Court of Appeal (hereafter, the “Court”) issued an interlocutory judgment in summary proceedings (référé) concerning the alleged failure of the Belgian State to comply with its international obligations in relation to the risk of genocide and serious violations of international humanitarian law (“IHL”) in Gaza (hereafter, the “Judgment”). The…

Ensuring Accountability and Remedy for Victims of Mercenarism: Colombia at an Inflection Point

August 10, 2026

Olivia Herman

Sorcha MacLeod

In March 2026, the Colombian Parliament and then-President Petro agreed to accede to the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (International Convention). With the deposit of the accession instruments, Colombia will end a multi-year gap in the Convention’s adoption and become its 39th State party. This move represents a significant…