By Benadeta Mwaura - Reporter
Kenya, 2 February 2026 - A comprehensive new study by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights warns that the international legal framework meant to limit the humanitarian impact of armed conflict is approaching a “critical breaking point,” as devastating violations of international law continue with alarming frequency across the globe.
The findings, published this week in the War Watch report, catalogue widespread harm to civilians and persistent impunity for serious breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL).
The War Watch study surveyed 23 active armed conflicts around the world between July 2024 and the end of 2025, concluding that well over 100,000 civilians were killed in each of those two years as hostilities raged in places from Gaza and Ukraine to East and Central Africa.
The research underscores that this level of civilian mortality continues despite the Geneva Conventions and related treaties, which were developed after World War II to protect non-combatants and constrain the conduct of warfare.
Some of the most harrowing statistics spotlight the scale of human suffering:
Gaza: The territory’s total population declined by an estimated 10.6 percent compared with pre-conflict levels, with 18,592 children and about 12,400 women killed by the end of 2025, even after an October 2025 ceasefire, the report notes hundreds more deaths occurred in subsequent fighting.
Ukraine: Civilian fatalities in Ukraine rose sharply in 2025, with 2,514 deaths reported, a 70 percent increase on 2023 levels, amid deliberate targeting of populated areas with drones and long-range systems.
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): The study documents an “epidemic of sexual and gender-based violence” affecting women and girls of all ages, perpetrated by multiple armed actors.
Sudan: Reports of brutal abuses, including prolonged gang rapes of civilians following the fall of El Fasher to rebels, illustrate how conflict-related violence can descend into atrocities with minimal accountability.
International humanitarian law, also known as the law of armed conflict or jus in bello, comprises rules designed to protect those not participating in hostilities and to impose limits on the means and methods of warfare.
Central instruments include the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, which enshrine protections for civilians, medical personnel, prisoners of war and humanitarian aid operations.
The War Watch report stresses that while such legal frameworks exist, there is a widening gap between legal commitments and actual conduct on the battlefield.
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Serious violations of IHL, from deliberate attacks on civilians to widespread torture, rape and violations of basic protections, occur “on a huge scale and with rampant impunity,” according to the study’s authors.
Stuart Casey-Maslen, the lead author of the War Watch report, warned that “atrocity crimes are being repeated because past ones were tolerated,” and that inaction today could further erode the relevance of IHL as a constraint on violence.
To reverse this trend, the report proposes a series of policy and legal interventions, including:
Bans on arms sales to parties where there is a clear risk weapons will be used for serious violations of IHL.
Prohibitions on certain types of weaponry, such as unguided gravity bombs and inaccurate long-range artillery in populated areas, and restrictions on drones and AI targeting mechanisms.
Stronger support for war crimes prosecutions, including adequate political and financial backing for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and national war crimes tribunals, even though several major powers are not ICC members.
These suggestions aim to reinforce accountability and deterrence, fundamental pillars often cited as necessary for IHL to function effectively. Current enforcement mechanisms have struggled to hold perpetrators to account, particularly in conflicts involving powerful states or non-state armed groups.
The erosion of IHL protections comes amid broader trends documented by humanitarian organisations showing that civilians now shoulder a disproportionate burden of contemporary armed conflicts.
Recent humanitarian outlook reports note that hundreds of millions of people live in conflict-affected areas with limited access to basic services, and that violations of humanitarian norms contribute to cascading crises in food insecurity, displacement and public health.
Experts and policymakers warn that without concerted international action to reinforce the norms and mechanisms of humanitarian law, the legal barriers designed to limit the horrors of war may become increasingly symbolic rather than substantive.
Strengthening compliance, improving accountability for war crimes and updating legal protections to address new technologies, from drones to AI-driven targeting, will be essential if international law is to maintain its role in safeguarding human dignity amid conflict.
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