Business Insider explains the legal ramifications of the situation now being declared a “civil war” – I didn’t realize it made a legal difference:
The conflict in Syria was effectively declared a civil war by the Red Cross on Sunday, as the “most intense” fighting since the start of the uprising was reported in Damascus.The Red Cross had previously designated Idlib, Homs and Hama as war zones, but the change in status means international humanitarian law applies wherever fighting occurs throughout the country
Combatants will now be officially subject to the Geneva Conventions, and will be more exposed to war crimes prosecutions, after the ICRC declared that the conflict was a “non-international armed conflict”, or in lay terms a civil war.
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