This report, written by Anastasia Shesterinina, Ezequiel Heffes, Konstantina Karagkouni, and Fight for Humanity co-Director Anki Sjöberg, is the first issue of the Beyond Compliance Paper Series of the Beyond Compliance Consortium. The paper synthesises current evidence on compliance and restraint by armed actors, moving beyond a focus on international humanitarian law (IHL) to include international human rights law (IHRL) and broader forms of restraint from violence and abuse.

The report focuses on the most common form of contemporary armed conflict, non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) and non-state armed groups (NSAGs). Compliance is understood to mean conformity with applicable legal obligations, and restraint to denote measurable reductions in harm, whether by refraining from prohibited acts or by adopting measures such as orders, training and disciplinary actions.

The report concludes with recommendations for international actors seeking to engage with NSAGs on humanitarian matters.