Human Rights Protection During Armed Conflict

of Law
Moscow, 2019

Nagorno-Karabakh 
Case concerning the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Overview of the cases in which Article

2 or Article 3 applied
Conclusion

population
increased lethality 

  
lex specialis 
International Human Rights Law 
(IHRL)  
always applicable   
provides protection for every human being regardless of his or her

status  
essentially territorial 

Law

"Lex specialis derogat generali", but
the protection provided by Human Rights

law continued in armed conflict
nothing in Human Rights treaties shows that they would not be applicable in context of armed conflict

"Human Rights Law and Humanitarian Law are complementary and mutually reinforcing"
© Human Rights Council

to life)
Article 3 (Prohibition of torture)
Article 5 (Right to liberty

and security) 
Article 6 (Right to a fair trial)
Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life)
Article 13 (Right to an effective remedy) 

2009 (Grand Chamber)  
A continuing violation of:
-Article 2 (right to life)

on account of the failure of the authorities to conduct an effective investigation into the fate of the nine men who disappeared;
-Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman treatment) in respect of the applicants;  
-Article 5 (right to liberty and security) by virtue of the failure of the authorities to conduct an effective investigation into the fate of two of the missing men.

Article 2 (right to life) of the Convention. The use

of potentially lethal force against the applicant had not been “absolutely necessary” and had not been justified by any of the exceptions permitted under Article 2 of the Convention. 

June 2015 (Grand Chamber – judgment on the merits)
A continuing

violation of:
-Article 1 (protection of property) of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention; 
-Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the Convention; 
-Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the Convention.

Chamber – judgment on the merits) 
A continuing violation of: 
-Article 1

(protection of property) of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention;
-Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life); 
-Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the Convention. The Court considered in particular that while it was justified by safety considerations to refuse civilians access to the village, the State had a duty to take alternative measures in order to secure the applicant’s rights as long as access to the property was not possible.

18 July 2013 (Grand Chamber)
-a violation of Article 7 (no punishment

without law) of the Convention
The Court found that the applicants could have received lower sentences had the 1976 Code been applied.

v. Russia 
Al-Skeini and Others v. the United Kingdom
Kadirova and Others v. Russia
Jaloud

v. the Netherlands

Inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3)
 Er and Others v. Turkey
 Pitsayeva and Others v. Russia
Meryem Çelik and Others v. Turkey
Al-Saadoon & Mufdhi v. the United Kingdom
Hassan v. the United Kingdom
Benzer and Others v. Turkey

branches of law are mutually reinforcing
While IHL is applicable in

situation of armed conflict, whether it is international or non-international, IHRL is applicable regardless for such context
Although IHL is applied as lex specialis, the protection provided by IHRL continued in armed conflict
Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 of ECHR are frequently applied in situation of armed conflict
IHRL provides more coherent as well as a more realistic regulation of conduct in armed conflicts in general and in non-international armed conflicts in particular

1950
ICRC, “How is the term “armed conflict” defined in international

humanitarian law?”
Jean Pictet et al., eds., Geneva Convention I for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field: Commentary (Geneva, ICRC, 1952), p. 32.  
Prosecutor v. Duško Tadic ́, para. 70. 
Prosecutor v. Ramush Haradinaj et. al., case No. IT-04-84-T, Judgement of 3 April 2008, paras. 49 and 60. 
Varnava and Others v. Turkey 
Andreou v. Turkey 
Chiragov and Others v. Armenia 
Sargsyan v. Azerbaidjan 
Maktouf and Damjanović v. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Al-Skeini and Others v. the United Kingdom