The Unseen War: Rethinking IHL’s Applicability to Mexico’s Armed Conflict with Drug Cartels
(2025) JAMM07 20251Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- This thesis argues that the escalating and protracted violence in Mexico, commonly known as the ‘war on drugs,’ constitutes a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) under international humanitarian law (IHL), calling for a formal application of this legal framework. Despite its devastating humanitarian consequences, the conflict is often mischaracterised within a law enforcement paradigm, contributing to continuous legal ambiguity, human rights abuses, and a lack of accountability. Through a rigorous re-examination of the NIAC criteria, namely the intensity of violence and the organisation of the parties, this research demonstrates that the actions of major drug cartels, such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel,... (More)
- This thesis argues that the escalating and protracted violence in Mexico, commonly known as the ‘war on drugs,’ constitutes a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) under international humanitarian law (IHL), calling for a formal application of this legal framework. Despite its devastating humanitarian consequences, the conflict is often mischaracterised within a law enforcement paradigm, contributing to continuous legal ambiguity, human rights abuses, and a lack of accountability. Through a rigorous re-examination of the NIAC criteria, namely the intensity of violence and the organisation of the parties, this research demonstrates that the actions of major drug cartels, such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, definitively meet the threshold for armed conflict. Their sustained armed confrontations, use of military-grade weaponry, and profound impact on civilian populations are extensively documented.
Some of the inherent and current challenges in applying IHL to this context are addressed and refuted. These include concerns about the conflict's potential perpetual nature, the cartels' economic motivations, the perception of legitimisation, and complexities of targeting. Furthermore, this thesis asserts that IHL's status-neutral principles are designed to regulate conduct in any armed conflict, irrespective of its origin or objectives, and that its application would impose crucial protective obligations on all parties. Ultimately, this research concludes that formal NIAC recognition and IHL implementation offer the Mexican state a vital legal compass since it would enhance accountability, provide a clearer regulatory framework for military operations, foster greater civilian protection, and enable more effective engagement by international humanitarian actors, addressing a crisis that current frameworks have failed to mitigate. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9193259
- author
- Moreno Niño, Graciela LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JAMM07 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- International humanitarian law (IHL) Humanitarian crisis Non-international armed conflict (NIAC) War on drugs Armed violence Drug Cartels Mexico International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Civilian protection Human Rights
- language
- English
- id
- 9193259
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-13 11:02:04
- date last changed
- 2025-06-13 11:02:04
@misc{9193259, abstract = {{This thesis argues that the escalating and protracted violence in Mexico, commonly known as the ‘war on drugs,’ constitutes a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) under international humanitarian law (IHL), calling for a formal application of this legal framework. Despite its devastating humanitarian consequences, the conflict is often mischaracterised within a law enforcement paradigm, contributing to continuous legal ambiguity, human rights abuses, and a lack of accountability. Through a rigorous re-examination of the NIAC criteria, namely the intensity of violence and the organisation of the parties, this research demonstrates that the actions of major drug cartels, such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, definitively meet the threshold for armed conflict. Their sustained armed confrontations, use of military-grade weaponry, and profound impact on civilian populations are extensively documented. Some of the inherent and current challenges in applying IHL to this context are addressed and refuted. These include concerns about the conflict's potential perpetual nature, the cartels' economic motivations, the perception of legitimisation, and complexities of targeting. Furthermore, this thesis asserts that IHL's status-neutral principles are designed to regulate conduct in any armed conflict, irrespective of its origin or objectives, and that its application would impose crucial protective obligations on all parties. Ultimately, this research concludes that formal NIAC recognition and IHL implementation offer the Mexican state a vital legal compass since it would enhance accountability, provide a clearer regulatory framework for military operations, foster greater civilian protection, and enable more effective engagement by international humanitarian actors, addressing a crisis that current frameworks have failed to mitigate.}}, author = {{Moreno Niño, Graciela}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{The Unseen War: Rethinking IHL’s Applicability to Mexico’s Armed Conflict with Drug Cartels}}, year = {{2025}}, }