PhD Thesis

Title: Proliferation and Fragmentation of Non-State Armed Groups in Contemporary Armed Conflicts: Normative and Practical Challenges

Expected Completion Date: 2025

PhD Supervisor: Andrew Clapham
 

Recently, the vast majority of armed conflicts are internal armed conflicts involving a staggering number of armed groups. Considering the proliferation and fragmentation of armed groups in these conflicts, the thesis looks into the applicability to and the scope of international law obligations of various forms of non-state armed groups in contemporary armed conflicts.

Profile

Marishet is a PhD Student in International Law at the Graduate Institute. His research focuses on the applicability of International Humanitarian Law to non-state armed groups specifically addressing fragmentation of armed groups. His areas of interest include human rights law, humanitarian law, rights of persons with disabilities, etc. His research on the legal protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in Ethiopia is published on the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. He holds LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights; LLM in International Human Rights Law from Addis Ababa University and LLB from Jimma University in Ethiopia. Previously, he was engaged in teaching and researcher activities in Jigjiga University and Wolaita Soddo University, both in Ethiopia.

Research Interests

• International Humanitarian Law
• Human Rights Law
• Non-State Armed Groups
• Internal Armed Conflicts
• The Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Academic Work Experience

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant in Jigjiga University and Wolaita Soddo University, Ethiopia

Relevant publications and works

1. Marishet Hamza, ‘Engaging with Non-State Armed Groups through ad hoc Commitments: The Practice of the UN Special Representative on Children in Armed Conflicts and the Geneva Call’, (2022) 1 East African Journal of International Humanitarian Law 1. 

2. Marishet Hamza, ‘Fragmented Armed Groups in International Humanitarian Law’ (2021) 4 Humanitäres Völkerrecht 98.

3. Marishet Hamza, ‘Constitutional Protection of the Right to Self-Determination: A Comparative Analysis of the Ethiopian Experience vis-à-vis International Law’ (2021) 29 International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 277.

4. Marishet Hamza, ‘Legal Capacity of Persons with Disabilities in Ethiopia: The Need to Reform Existing Legal Frameworks’ (2017) 55 International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 8.

5. Marishet Hamza, Alliance between Armed Groups and the Effect on Classification of Conflicts: Focus on the TPLF-OLA Alliance, (blogpost), AAU IHL Clinic, 2021.

6. Marishet Hamza and Fikre Tinsae, The Ethio-Sudan Border Conflict in the Disputed ‘Al-Fashqa’ Territory: What are the International Law Issues at Stake? (blogpost) AAU IHL Clinic, 2021.

7. Marishet Hamza., “The Conflict in Tigray: “an armed conflict” or a “law enforcement operation”: resolving the puzzle and its legal relevance”, (blogpost), AAU IHL Clinic, 2020.

FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS AND AWARDS

Fellow at Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin (2018-2019)

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Hans Wilsdorf Foundation Grant (2019/2020)

Graduate Institute PhD Scholarship (2020-2025)