Abstract
The intersection between International Humanitarian Law (IHL), International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and International Criminal Law (ICL) norms is becoming more pronounced in the geared move towards the preservation of the rights and the human dignity of victims of armed conflict. Not until about a decade and half ago, this relationship was considered pseudo. But with the increased wave of conflicts situations across the globe, the synergy between these regimes of protection has not only been evident but normal and natural against the backdrop of their increasing relevance in both standard setting and penalties’ prescription for violations. It is against this background that this paper considered the nature of rights cum protective valves encapsulated in these bodies of laws and their efficacies in times of war. It was found by this paper that the milieux within which they apply vary a great deal. While IHRL apply mostly in peace time and minimally during armed conflicts, the opposite is the case with IHL whose specialty always manifest in conflict situations. On the other hand, ICL is almost always evoked only after an armed conflict to bring grave violators to justice. The paper concludes that the rights of victims of armed conflict are better protected by the synergized application of these regimes and therefore recommends the strengthening of the interplay that exists between them.
Keywords: Humanity, Humanitarian, Rights,complementarity,Regimes,Criminal