THE WAR REPORT ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2017 ANNYSSA BELLAL THE ACADEMY A JOINT CENTER OF THE WAR REPORT ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The War Report 2017 was supervised and edited by Dr Annyssa Bellal, Strategic Ad- viser on IHL and Senior Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (Geneva Academy). The different sections on selected armed conflicts were written by individual authors and copy-edited by Munizha Ahmad-Cooke. The War Report 2017 also builds on past editions since 2012. The Geneva Academy would like to thank the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE) for its support to the Geneva Academy’s research on this issue. DISCLAIMERS This report is the work of the editor and authors. The views expressed in it do not necessarily reflect those of the Geneva Academy. The qualification of any situation of armed violence as an armed conflict under international law should not be read such as to trigger war clauses in insurance contracts and does not in any way affect the need for due diligence by any natural or legal person in their work in any of the situations referred to. Furthermore, facts, matters or opinions contained in the report are provided by the Geneva Academy without assuming responsibility to any user of the report who may rely on its contents in whole or in part. The designation of armed non-state actors, states or territories does not imply any judgement by the Geneva Academy regarding the legal status of such actors, states or territories, or their authorities and institutions, or the delimitation of their boundaries, or the status of any states or territories that border them. March 2018 ISBN: 978-2-9701003-5-5 © The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Sari Arraf is the author of the sections on Libya, Nigeria and Yemen. He is a Palestinian INFORMATION citizen of Israel and a practising lawyer in that country. He is currently pursuing an LLM degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po (Paris) with a ABOUT THE AUTHORS focus on Middle Eastern Studies. Vicken Cheterian is the author of the section on the Kurdish military formations in the Middle East. He is a member of the Faculty of International Communications and Journalism at Webster University, Geneva, and a Lecturer on International Relations at the University of Geneva Global Studies Institute. : ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2017 4 2017 IN ARMED CONFLICTS : Monste Ferrer is the author of the section on the conflict in Israel/Palestine. She is a INFORMATION ABOUT 5 THE AUTHORS ABOUT INFORMATION THE WAR REPORT: ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2016 4 2016 IN ARMED CONFLICTS REPORT: THE WAR US-trained lawyer from Spain currently pursuing a dual degree graduate programme at Harvard Kennedy School and the Graduate Institute of International and Develop- ment Studies, Geneva. She previously worked for seven years in several US and Asian THE WAR REPORT THE WAR offices of an international law firm. Julie Lambin is the author of the section on Mexico. She is pursuing a Master in In- ternational Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. She specializes in international human rights law and international criminal law and has worked for human rights organizations in Mexico, Brussels and Geneva. Ximena Mercedes Galvez Lima is the author of the section on El Salvador. She is pursuing a Master in International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, focusing on international humanitarian law. She has worked in Bolivia for the U N Office on Drugs and Crime, and on access to justice of vulnerable groups. Laura Baron Mendoza is the author of the sections on Myanmar and the Philippines. She is a Colombian lawyer specialized in conflict resolution, and holds an LLM in In- ternational Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She is currently working, as a lawyer, on the implementation of the Havana peace agreement reached between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP in 2016. Ana Beatriz Balcazar Moreno is the author on the section on Colombia. She is a law- yer specialized in public international law, global governance and accountability. She holds a Master’s degree in Administrative Law from Del Rosario University, Bogotá, and a Master’s degree in European Studies from the Global Studies Institute at the Uni- versity of Geneva. She also obtained a diploma in Political Science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Lyon, a diploma in Transnational Law from the University of Geneva and a diploma in International Affairs and Multilateral Governance from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. Currently, she is pursuing a Master’s degree in International Law at the Graduate Institute, Geneva. Caroline Siewert is the author of the section on Afghanistan and Somalia. She holds law degrees from the Universities of Potsdam and Nanterre, as well as an LLM from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She was previously involved in the work on the Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts project and is currently working in the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross as an Associate. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 13 CONTENTS 7 CONTENTS PART 1 : SUMMARY 16 1. WHAT IS AN ARMED CONFLICT? 17 : ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2017 6 2017 IN ARMED CONFLICTS : 20 THE WAR REPORT: ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2016 6 2016 IN ARMED CONFLICTS REPORT: THE WAR 2. INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT A. CRITERIA FOR THE EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT 20 B. THE GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE OF AN INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT 22 THE WAR REPORT THE WAR C. SUMMARY IHL RULES GOVERNING INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT 22 D. SUMMARY IHL RULES GOVERNING A SITUATION OF BELLIGERENT OCCUPATION 23 E. WHEN DOES AN INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT END? 23 3. NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT 24 A. CRITERIA FOR THE EXISTENCE OF A NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT 24 B. WHEN DOES A NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT END? 26 C. THE GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE OF A NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT 26 D. RULES APPLICABLE IN A NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT 28 4. WHICH ARMED CONFLICTS OCCURRED IN 2017? 29 A. INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2017 29 B. NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2017 30 PART 2 : KEY DEVELOPMENTS OF SELECTED ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2017 32 SELECTED INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS 33 1. THE PALESTINIAN–ISRAELI ARMED CONFLICT: FIFTY YEARS ON 33 A. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT 33 1. The West Bank and East Jerusalem 33 a. Sustained Violence 34 b. Land Expropriation, Economic Stagnation, Demolitions and Settlements 35 c. Freedom of Movement and the Separation Barrier 37 3. EL SALVADOR: HIGH LEVEL OF ARMED GANG VIOLENCE, d. Arbitrary Detention 38 BUT NOT AN ARMED CONFLICT UNDER IHL 64 e. The Palestinian Authority 38 A. HISTORY OF THE VIOLENCE 65 2. The Gaza Strip 39 B. MAIN ARMED GANGS 67 CONTENTS 9 CONTENTS a. The Blockade 40 1. Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) 68 b. Hamas 41 2. Mara Barrio 18 (MS-18) 69 B. PARTIES TO THE CONFLICTS 42 C. KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN 2017: HIGH LEVEL OF ARMED GANG VIOLENCE, : ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2017 8 2017 IN ARMED CONFLICTS : C. KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN 2017: BUT NOT AN ARMED CONFLICT UNDER IHL 70 THE PALESTINIAN–ISRAELI ARMED CONFLICT FIFTY YEARS ON 42 D. WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS 70 1. Settlements 42 2. Fatah and Hamas Reconciliation 45 4. LIBYA: CONFLICT AND INSTABILITY CONTINUE 70 THE WAR REPORT THE WAR 3. Jerusalem 47 A. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT 71 D. WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS 48 B. PARTIES TO THE CONFLICT 77 1. Libyan National Army (LNA) 77 SELECTED NON-INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS 49 2. The Zintani Militias 77 3. Libya Shield Forces (LSF) 77 1. AFGHANISTAN: INCREASED INVOLVEMENT 4. Misratan Third Force 77 49 OF THE UNITED STATES IN COMBAT OPERATIONS 5. Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC) 78 A. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT 50 6. Former Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) 78 B. PARTIES TO THE CONFLICTS 51 7. Islamic State in Libya (ISIL) 78 1. Afghan Forces 51 8. Derna Mujahideen Shura Council (DMSC) 78 2. The United States Armed Forces 51 9. Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB) 79 3. The Taliban 52 10. Libyan National Guard (LNG) 79 52 4. The Haqqani Network C. KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN 2017: CONFLICT AND INSTABILITY CONTINUE 79 53 5. The Islamic State in Afghanistan (Khorasan Branch) D. WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS 82 C. KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN 2017: INCREASED INVOLVEMENT OF THE US IN COMBAT OPERATIONS 53 5. MEXICO: ARMED GANG VIOLENCE SLIDING INTO D. WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS 55 ARMED CONFLICT? 83 A. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT 83 2. COLOMBIA: ARMED GANG VIOLENCE SPOILS B. PARTIES TO THE CONFLICTS 86 THE PEACE PROCESS 55 1. Mexican Security Forces 86 A. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT 56 2. The Sinaloa Cartel 86 B. PARTIES TO THE CONFLICTS 58 3. The Jalisco Cartel New Generation (CJNG) 87 1. Colombian Armed Forces 59 The Zetas 88 2. Criminal bands (BACRIM) 59 La Familia Michoacana 88 3. National Liberation Army (ELN) 61 The Beltran Lyva Organization (BLO) 89 C. KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN 2017: ARMED GANG VIOLENCE SPOILS THE PEACE PROCESS 62 C. KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN 2017: ARMED GANG VIOLENCE SLIDING INTO ARMED CONFLICT? 89 D. WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS 63 D. WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS 91 6. MYANMAR: THE EMERGENCE OF THE ROHINGYA INSURGENCY 9. THE ARMED CONFLICT IN SOMALIA: ESCALATING FATALITIES 127 IN NORTHERN RAKHINE 92 A. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT 127 A. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT 92 B.