LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT AND THE NOTION OF VOLUNTARY HUMAN SHIELDS: ANY WAY OUT OF THE QUAGMIRE?

Abstract

The growing prevalence of voluntary human shields in recent armed conflicts have exposed a significant lacuna in the existing international humanitarian law legal regime, and this requires urgent regulation as a result of the conducts and consequences of contemporary armed conflicts. This work explores some of the challenges that any attempt at regulation must address including assessing voluntariness and issues of capacity, limitations against direct participation in hostilities, the prohibition against shielding legitimate military targets, state responsibility, uniformity and concordance with existing international humanitarian law, and limiting targeting decisions motivated by reciprocity.The paper adopts the doctrinal research method of data collection using analytical approach in reviewing the relevant laws, statutes, textbooks and judicial decisions relative to the subject. The work concludes with a proposal for the nature, form and contents of future regulation in issues relating to voluntary human shields for the purposes of an effective respect and compliance with the rules and principles of the laws of armed conflict, otherwise referred to as “international humanitarian law (IHL)”.