Targeting Drug Lords: Challenges to IHL between Lege Lata and Lege Ferenda

By Chiara Redaelli, and Carlos Arévalo 

 This article aims to clarify how international humanitarian law (IHL) rules on targeting apply when drug cartels are party to a non-international armed conflict. The question of distinguishing between a cartel’s armed forces and the rest of the cartel members is a pertinent matter. It is crucial to avoid considering every drug dealer a legitimate target, just as we do not consider that everyone working for the government is a legitimate target. Nevertheless, it is unclear at what point a member of a cartel would change from being a criminal to being a member of the armed wing of the cartel, hence becoming a legitimate target. The present article will suggest a teleological approach to solving this conundrum. 

International Review of the Red Cross (2023), 105 (923), 652–673.