Extending International Criminal Law beyond the Individual to ...

926 JICJ 6 (2008), 899^926
criminal law, such as the obligations associated with crimes against humanity
and genocide. The extent to which other crimes such as torture, enforced
disappearances, or the recruitment of children into an armed group, represent
international obligations for the armed group as such has been subject to
debate. It is suggested that the better view is that, just as we have moved
away from the assumption that ‘companies cannot commit offences’,
we should no longer assume that armed opposition groups have no obligations
beyond those established through international humanitarian law. Put more
positively, we are witnessing a series of developments in legal and political
fora at the international level that suggest that corporations have international
obligations ç particularly in the field of international criminal law. We
are also in the presence of legal and other activity premised on the idea
that armed opposition groups violate international criminal law. Old
assumptions are giving way to new realities.