Engagement with armed groups? General discussion and case study.

Abstract: This dissertation examines the legal accountability of armed opposition groups by looking at a range of different standards of accountability such as international human rights law, international humanitarian law, fundamental standards of humanity and national criminal law. The advantages and disadvantages of these different measures for the engagement with armed opposition groups are explored. Following this legal analysis, the study examines which forms of engagement with abuses by armed groups have been shown to be successful in the past. As the multiplicity of different conflict situations does not allow for a general answer to this question this is done in way of a case study of the Northern Irish situation. Having studied some of the more practical problems of engagement, notably resource aspects, and the public perception of such an engagement, there is an exploration of whether the earlier findings lead to any conclusions about the suitability or otherwise of human rights organisations engaging with paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. Again, this is done in way of a case study, examining the situation faced by Northern Ireland's primary human rights organisation, the Committee on the Administration of Justice.