62. Abby Zeith and Ruben Stewart: International Humanitarian Law in Urban Warfare

The Voices of War

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My guests today are Abby Zeith and Ruben Stewart from the International Committee of the Red Cross. Abby is a Legal Adviser in ICRC’s Arms and Conduct of Hostilities Unit where her work focuses on urban warfare and the conduct of hostilities more generally.

Ruben is a Military and Armed Groups Advisor in the ICRC unit that manages relations and dialogue with arms carriers. He focuses on Non-State Armed Groups, battlefield behaviour and new technologies.

Abby and Ruben join me today to discuss Urban Warfare, including aspects of International Humanitarian Law that seek to govern it, as well as issues related to the conduct of combatants and impact of Urban Warfare on civilians affected by it. Some of the topics we covered are:

• Abby and Ruben’s backgrounds and entry into the ICRC
• Understanding ‘good faith interpretation’ in International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
• Defining ‘urban warfare’
• Three reason why urban areas are frequently targeted by belligerents
• Challenges for IHL in urban warfare
• Impact of war on moral frameworks
• Lessons captured in ‘Commander’s Handbook on reducing civilian harm in Urban Warfare’
• Importance of appropriate doctrine and training for urban warfare
• Impact of culture on understanding and application of IHL
• Convincing belligerents of the value of IHL
• The costs of non-compliance
• The role of technology in urban warfare
• Passionate discussion about Samuel Moyn’s thesis that humane war is more palatable to domestic audiences and therefore makes war a more appealing political option
• Second and third order effects of urban warfare on civilians
• Key lessons for those fighting urban wars to keep in mind

We referred to a couple of important documents during our chat. You can find the links to those below:

• Reducing Civilian Harm in Urban Warfare: A Commander’s Handbook
• The Roots of Restraint in War

Some additional resources you might find of interest are:

• Urban warfare: an age-old problem in need of new solutions - Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog
• Explosive Weapons with Wide Area Effects: A deadly choice in populated areas
• Understanding Civilian Harm in Raqqa and Its Implications for Future Conflicts