Pre-colonial African communities had a well-established system of human rights protection applicable to armed conflicts, which became lost as a result of the break-up of traditional societies. This paper will show that traditional rules can be revived and integrated into future conflict management efforts. The ancient authentically African roots of international humanitarian law (ihl) could serve as receptors forming the basis for ihl and human rights law dissemination. Listening to local communities and learning about their aspirations and cultural practices should inform the peacebuilding programmes which need to be introduced before the cessation of hostilities. In the long run, engaging the armed non-state actors in the development of norms, could help improve certainty and predictability of ihl. Recent efforts by Geneva Call comprising a study of indigenous cultural norms relating to civilians’ protection in Mali underline the growing importance of integrating local approaches in ihl dissemination.

殖民前的非洲社区拥有适用于武装冲突的完善的人权保护体系，由于传统社会的瓦解，这种体系已不复存在。本文将说明可以恢复传统规则，并将其整合到未来的冲突管理工作中。古代真正的非洲国际人道主义法（ihl）根源可以作为构成ihl基础的接受者和人权法的传播。聆听当地社区并了解他们的愿望和文化习俗，应该为建设和平方案提供信息，这些方案必须在停止敌对行动之前实行。从长远来看，让武装的非国家行为者参与准则的制定可以帮助提高国际人道法的确定性和可预测性。日内瓦电话会议最近的一项研究包括对与马里平民保护有关的土著文化规范的研究，突显了将当地方法纳入国际人道法传播的重要性日益提高。