Why does the ICRC classify armed conflicts?
 

The ICRC classifies armed conflicts solely to fulfil its humanitarian mission. This mission includes carrying out its functions under the Geneva Conventions, their Additional Protocols and the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, promoting respect for international humanitarian law and providing protection and assistance for the victims of conflicts.
 

On what criteria does the ICRC base its classification of a non-international armed conflict?
 

The ICRC bases its classification exclusively on humanitarian law, which establishes two criteria that must be met for a situation of violence to be classified as a non-international armed conflict: that the armed groups have a minimum level of organization and that the violence between the parties reaches a minimum threshold of intensity. Both criteria must be met for that classification to apply. The ICRC carries out a technical and objective analysis of reliable information collected in the territories to check whether these two criteria are met.
 

Under humanitarian law, are the motives of an armed group relevant for classifying it as a party to a non-international armed conflict?
 

Under humanitarian law, the motives of an armed group – whether political, economic, religious, ethnic or other – are not taken into account when determining whether it is a party to a non-international armed conflict or whether humanitarian law can be applied. Moreover, when a conflict is classified as a non-international armed conflict and humanitarian law is applied, this law does not grant armed groups or their members a special status. It neither permits nor prevents a state from negotiating with armed groups.