Human Rights & IHL

Just over 70 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, putting into motion decades of efforts at the international level to secure rights for individuals. Nevertheless, the rise of populism and nationalism around the world now threaten the existence of the human rights' system.

Periods of insecurity or wartime constitute additional threats to the enjoyment and fulfilment of human rights.

In addition to human rights, in times of war, civilians are also meant to be protected under international humanitarian law (IHL), a separate body of law that was specifically adopted to render the conduct of war more humane.

BIICL provides training on international human rights law, as well as on humanitarian law, and seeks, through its research and publications, to clarify how these areas of law apply in practice.