International human rights law and international humanitarian law are two branches of public international law that share the objective of protecting individuals. However, resulting from different historical and political processes, these two legal regimes are not based on the same principles and their institutional systems are very distinct. This research aims to study how the bodies responsible for monitoring the implementation of the main regional and universal human rights instruments use international humanitarian law. The attention will be focused on the contribution that these bodies are likely to make to the implementation of international humanitarian law but also and above all on the impact that taking the latter into account can have on the protection of human rights.

The questions arising are to what extent the use of international humanitarian law by the organs responsible for the protection of human rights is possible, useful and conducive to achieving the object and purpose of those instruments, with the monitoring of the application of which they are entrusted. It is clear that the role of international humanitarian law in their work can only be very limited unless they betray their mandate and transform themselves into judges of the law of armed conflict.