Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC)

Unique identifier / Notation

SO0102

Synonyms

Armed conflict not of an international character Internal armed conflict NIAC

It is widely accepted today that two key conditions must be met for a situation of violence to be considered a Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC) and therefore subject to International humanitarian law (IHL): the non-state party/parties must be organized, and the violence between the parties must be sufficiently intense. The existence of a NIAC is not predicated on any other threshold or condition. In particular, political or other motivations of the parties play no role in the classification of a conflict. (adapted from ICRC, 2024)

Primary reference(s)

ICRC, 2024. Opinion Paper, “How is the term ‘armed conflict’ defined in IHL?” Accessed 31 May 2025.

Annotations

Additional scientific description

Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions provides for "the case of armed conflict not of an international character," and the definition of Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC) offered herein reflects the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s understanding based on practice and international case-law (ICRC, 2016). The category of NIAC includes:

Armed conflicts between a State Party and one or more organised non-State Parties (ICRC, 2016).
Armed conflicts which do not include a State Party but are between two or more organised non-State Parties (UN, 1998).

Confrontations must occur between organised Parties possessing organised armed forces (ICRC, 2016). While NIAC occurs predominantly within a State, NIAC may feature extraterritorial aspects (ICRC, 2016) and/or become internationalised with the involvement of foreign States in support of one or more Parties (ICRC, 2016).

Armed violence must meet a minimum threshold of intensity that distinguishes it from situations not considered NIAC, including the following:

"Internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence and other acts of a similar nature" (UN, no date; Article 1 of Additional Protocol II).
"Banditry, unorganized and short-lived insurrections, or terrorist activities" (ICRC, 2016).

The intensity of violence is assessed on a case-by-case basis based on cumulative evidence relating to objective criteria, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) developed a non-exhaustive set of 'indicative factors' that can be used as examples to determine 'the seriousness of attacks' (ICTY, 2008).

In the view of the ICRC, the classical NIAC approach must be complemented by a support-based approach to third-party operations in pre-existing NIACs. The decisive element here is the third party's direct and effective contribution to the collective conduct of hostilities through the support it provides to the state(s) involved in the pre-existing NIAC (ICRC, 2024).

The termination of NIAC is also based on objective criteria and not the declaration of a ceasefire, armistice, or peace agreement. International humanitarian law "extends beyond the cessation of hostilities until…a peaceful settlement is achieved" (ICTY, 1995: para. 70). The termination of NIAC may be initiated when one of the Parties is summarily defeated and ceases to exist or otherwise dissolves, or when there is a lasting absence of armed confrontations between the original Parties.

Metrics and numeric limits

The identification and classification of NIAC is not conducted by a central authority, and the minimum threshold of intensity and duration for an armed confrontation to be considered a situation of NIAC is determined on a case-by-case basis (ICRC, 2016).

There are numerous academic conflict datasets available that provide their own operational thresholds for the minimum number of annual fatalities for NIAC events and trends to be included. For example, two of the most influential academic conflict datasets, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (Uppsala Universitet, no date) and the Correlates of War (The Correlates of War Project, no date) apply annual conflict-related fatality thresholds of 25 and 1000, respectively.

Key relevant UN convention / multilateral treaty

Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions

• Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention) (ICRC, 1949).
• 1977 Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (ICRC, 1977).
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) (last amended 2010) (UN, 1998).

Drivers

The Global Platform underscored the security implications of climate change and disasters and encouraged more context-specific disaster risk reduction and resilience-building strategies in conflict-affected countries and fragile contexts based on risk assessments that integrate disaster, climate risks and conflicts (UNDRR, 2019).

Impacts

Armed conflict carries immediate and severe impacts on human lives, health, and dignity with increasing numbers of military personnel and civilians being killed, wounded, treated without dignity, arbitrarily detained and/or separated from their families. They may have been targeted on purpose, forced to leave their homes, and deprived of their basic rights as human beings, such as the right to supplies essential to their survival” (ICRC, 2023).

In situations of armed conflict, international humanitarian law aims to protect people, the environment, livelihoods, infrastructure, education systems, health systems, and cultural objects and property, to name a few. Impacts could include impacts from the use of biological agents (BI0602), chemical agents (CH0903), nuclear agents (TL0603) and explosive agents (TL0306). Additionally, explosive ordnance (explosives remnants of war) (SO0201) and environmental degradation from conflict (SO0202) may have impacts.

Multi-hazard context

Since the 1970s, an emerging body of work has sought to deepen and nuance understanding of the construction of disaster risk, and the intersection of natural hazards with violence, conflict and fragility. The interplay between disasters, climate change, environmental degradation, and fragility should be recognized, including in the context of water-related risk (Peters, 2019).

The dynamic nature of systemic risks, new structures to govern risk in complex, adaptive systems and to develop new tools for risk-informed decision-making that allow human societies to live in and with uncertainty. This is particularly needed where environmental, health and financial systems, supply chains, information and communication systems are clearly vulnerable. These are challenged by, and are causal drivers of, disruptive influences such as climate change, loss of biodiversity and ecological systems degradation, disease outbreaks, food shortages, social unrest, political instability and conflict, financial instability and inequality. They also create vulnerability on multiple spatial scales (local to global) and across different timescales (from immediate to decadal and beyond) (UNDRR, 2019).

Disasters can also impact people who have already been forcibly displaced by conflict or other reasons (UNDRR, 2025).

Risk Management

Everyone has the right to protection against hazards, regardless of whether they live in a relatively peaceful and stable society, or one where challenges associated with violence, conflict and fragility are rife. Where these challenges exist, vulnerabilities are highest and capacities to manage disaster risk are often insufficient. For these reasons, conflict contexts require dedicated support for disaster risk reduction (Peters, 2019).

Disaster risk reduction naturally takes preventive action seriously, advocating for more investment in preparedness and mitigation. This position has transformed the agenda from better managing disasters to reducing disaster risk. Flexibility, the ability to work within complexity and the nimbleness to respond and incorporate large-scale shifts in global agendas are required now more than ever. In this spirit, greater collaboration is required between disaster risk reduction and peacebuilding and conflict prevention communities. The disaster risk reduction community should not be seen as a separate actor; rather disaster risk reduction should be integrated into the platforms and processes that exist in fragile and crisis settings (Peters, 2019).

International humanitarian law (IHL) is a set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare. International humanitarian law is also known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict. International humanitarian law is part of international law, which is the body of rules governing relations between States. International law is contained in agreements between States – treaties or conventions –, in customary rules, which consist of State practice considered by them as legally binding, and in general principles. International humanitarian law applies to armed conflicts. It does not regulate whether a State may actually use force; this is governed by an important, but distinct, part of international law set out in the United Nations Charter (ICRC, 2004).

Monitoring

Monitoring armed conflicts involves observing, tracking, and analyzing various aspects of conflict situations to understand their dynamics, impact, and potential for escalation or de-escalation. This can be done through various methods, including satellite imagery, field reports, and online portals, with the goal of informing decision-makers and promoting peace efforts.

Various mechanisms exist including the Geneva Academy Rule of Law in Armed Conflict Online Portal (RULAC) which classifies all situations of armed violence that amount to an armed conflict under international humanitarian law. Currently, it monitors more than 110 armed conflicts and provides information about parties, the latest developments, and applicable international law. Some of these conflicts make the headlines, others do not. Some of them started recently, while others have lasted for more than 50 years (Geneva Academy, no date).