The Ethical Dimension of Non-State Armed Groups (Part I)

Please note that this entry is part of an extended essay written by the author during his internship with the South-South Network on Non-State Armed Group Engagement (SSN). Nevertheless, the opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarliy reflect the view of the SSN.

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MILF insurgents in Mindanao, Philippines. Image: Keith Bacongco

Combining my academic background (philosophy/ethics) with my area of work and interest (security issues), I will explore a topic that has not yet attracted much attention by scholars, researchers or the public. While there are considerable research efforts in the field of military ethics (take for example the quarterly Journal of Military Ethics) that is concerned with ethical considerations of national armed forces, the ethical and moral dimension of Non-State Armed Groups (NSAG, also known as Violent Non-State Actor, VNSA) is characterized by a severe shortage in research. This is not surprising, considering that the majority of researchers in this field are based in and come from western countries that are not or only marginally affected by NSAGs but who’s armies are involved in conflicts abroad that often raise ethical concerns. Examples for very popular discussions in the field of military ethics revolve around the use of UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles, commonly referred to as “drones”) for “targeted killing” or the torture of enemy combatants and the denial to concede the status “Prisoners of War” to them. This entry is sort of an introduction where I will explain why research and discussion of these issues matters and describe the current state of research. In the next entry I will discuss if NSAGs bear social or moral responsibility. Part III will finally identify particular ethical dimensions that are unique to or especially applicable for NSAGs.

Why does it matter?

Bombed out vehicles in Aleppo, Syria

The United Nations stopped counting the death toll of the Syrian Civil War, but estimates speak of 140.000 victims since the beginning of the Syrian Revolution in 2011. The full extent of the destruction, however, cannot be captured with these figures. Both the Syrian Armed Forces and the rebels have committed terrible warcrimes. The Syrian economy and society are  permanently damaged and will need many years of recovery after the fighting stops.

The Syrian example is only one of many, and it is a preview of the future of warfare. While the 20th century has already seen many conflicts involving extralegal military groupings, this is and will continue to be the prevalent phenomenon of the 21st century. In his book Wars, Guns, and Votes, Paul Collier, professor of economics at Oxford University and author of the famous The Bottom Billion, states that “[t]he wars that will fill our television screens this century will be civil wars, not international wars” (p. 121). His prediction is backed by the data presented in the Conflict Barometer 2012, a publication of the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research (HIIK). It holds that, “as in previous years, about 80 percent of all conflicts were domestic” and adds that “[t]he average intensity calculated for all domestic conflicts observed (2.63) was approx. one intensity level higher than that of interstate conflicts (1.57)" (p. 3-4; The brand new Conflict Barometer 2013 will be available on their website later today). NSAGs are by their nature participants in civil wars and other intrastate violent conflicts, in which they fight on at least one side. Following the South-South Network (SSN) for Non-State Armed Group Engagement’s working definition, in this paper the term NSAG refers “to rebel or insurgent groups, i.e. groups that are armed, use force to achieve their political/quasi-political objectives, and are autonomous from the state. As used here, NSAGs do not refer to state-controlled militias or paramilitaries, civil defense units, mercenaries, private military and security companies, proxy armed forces and the like.”

Iraqi insurgents from northern Iraq. Image: Menendj

Although NSAGs are by no means a new phenomenon, it was only after the end of Cold War that they became an increasingly important subject of research and international debate. Jörn Grävingholt et al. of the German Development Institute explain the increased degree of attention by referring to the concept of “human security”, which, after the dissolution of ideological bipolarity, became “a new guiding concept of international efforts to ensure peace and prevent violence”. By adopting this policy, the focus shifted to “those whose actions are primarily responsible for guaranteeing – or endangering – human security” (p. 18). This view is also hold by Troy S. Thomas, member of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs, et al., who call the violent non-state actor “today’s most ubiquitous adversary” and claim that such groups “play a prominent, often destabilizing role in nearly every humanitarian and political crisis faced by the international community" (p. 2). With NSAGs being key players in the future of warfare, further attention for ethical implications is necessary in this area by academics, professional researchers and the public.

The focus on the ethical dimension of NSAGs is especially important with a view to the enormous impact that civil wars have on affected and neighboring societies. A working paper by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue asserts that NSAGs play a critical role “as they address key issues of human security, including the illicit trade in small arms, the recruitment of child soldiers and the use of landmines” (p. 13).

Soldier near a refugee camp in the Central African Republic

The misuse of small arms and light weapons (SALW) by NSAGs includes the killing and injuring of combatants and civilians during the period of active warfare and often results in the mass flight of the local population. In their paper Civil Wars Kill and Maim People—Long After the Shooting Stops, Hazem A. Ghobarah et al. found proof that, with the collapse of the public health system, “civil wars greatly raise the subsequent risk of death and disability from many infectious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious respiratory diseases.” The paper also argues that “civil wars increase the risk of death and disability through the breakdown of norms and practices of social order” (p. 30-31), a finding that is highly interesting in respect to the ethical dimension of NSAGs.

Finally, civil wars have tremendous consequences on the economy of affected societies. In Wars, Guns, and Votes, Paul Collier estimates that the economic costs of a typical civil war in a society of the bottom billion “are the equivalent to losing around two years of income, or some $20 billion." (p. 137; In his book The Bottom Billion, Collier identifies four development traps. Low income countries that are caught in at least one of these traps are defined as bottom billion countries.)

Many of the above mentioned impacts and consequences of civil war have two things in common: They are (1) highly persistent and will affect societies long after the civil war has ended and they also have (2) very negative effects on neighboring countries. For example, the neighbor states of countries that are affected by civil war suffer from raising HIV/AIDS rates as well as increases in the number of homicides. Furthermore, civil wars caused tremendous damage to neighboring economies.

The current state of research

When it comes to the ethical dimension of NSAGs, most of the research that is been conducted focusses on the closely related area of legal issues. Some scholars look into the field of international criminal law and how it could be extended to NSAGs. Another area of discussion is the Human Rights obligation of NSAGs in general as well as in violent conflicts in particular. Apart from Human Rights, many researchers focus on the compliance of NSAGs with International Humanitarian Law, the law of armed conflict. These legal questions are topped off by the discussion how and if NSAGs are punishable. Apart from legal issues, some publications deal with the moral misconduct committed by NSAGs, for example the use of landmines or the employment of child soldiers.

So much about the importance and state of research. In my next entry I will focus on the uncharted territory on the map of ethics and NSAGs.