The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria recently determined that the fighting in Syria is not an “armed conflict” (PDF) — the legal term for war — under international law because the opposition forces are not sufficiently organized. Yet surely the protesters, dissident fighters and terrified citizens caught up in the violence in Syria believe they are at war.

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Opinion: Call Syria conflict a war

Colombia’s president passes a controversial law that aims to compensate an estimated four million victims of the country’s 47-year armed conflict.

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Colombia passes victims’ land law

Abidjan, Ivory Coast – Room for a peaceful resolution dwindled here as both men who claim to be president hardened their positions amid increasing accounts of political killings and abductions. Nearly 200 people have been killed in Ivory Coast political violence that must be halted and fully investigated, the United States told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday. read more

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Ivory Coast: Hopes for Peace Dwindle