Responsibility to protect

The responsibility to protect (R2P or RtoP) is a global political commitment which was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly at the 2005 World Summit in order to address its four key concerns to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.[1][2] The doctrine is regarded as a unanimous and well-established international norm over the past two decades.[3]

The principle of the responsibility to protect is based upon the underlying premise that sovereignty entails a responsibility to protect all populations from mass atrocity crimes and human rights violations.[4][5][6] The principle is based on a respect for the norms and principles of international law, especially the underlying principles of law relating to sovereignty, peace and security, human rights, and armed conflict.[7][8] The R2P has three pillars:

  1. Pillar I: The protection responsibilities of the state – "Each individual state has the responsibility to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity"
  2. Pillar II: International assistance and capacity-building – States pledge to assist each other in their protection responsibilities
  3. Pillar III: Timely and decisive collective response – If any state is "manifestly failing" in its protection responsibilities, then states should take collective action to protect the population.[9][10]

While there is agreement among states about the responsibility to protect, there is persistent contestation about the applicability of the third pillar in practice.[9] The responsibility to protect provides a framework for employing measures that already exist (i.e., mediation, early warning mechanisms, economic sanctions, and chapter VII powers) to prevent atrocity crimes and to protect civilians from their occurrence. The authority to employ the use of force under the framework of the responsibility to protect rests solely with United Nations Security Council and is considered a measure of last resort.[11]

The responsibility to protect has been the subject of considerable debate, particularly regarding the implementation of the principle by various actors in the context of country-specific situations, such as Libya, Syria, Sudan, Kenya, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Palestine, for example.[12][13][14][15][16][17] [18]

  1. ^ "Responsibility to Protect – Office of The Special Adviser on The Prevention of Genocide". www.un.org. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  2. ^ "About the Responsibility to Protect". www.globalr2p.org. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  3. ^ "What is R2P?". Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Mission Statement". United Nations: Office of the special adviser on the prevention of genocide. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Sovereignty as Responsibility". The Brookings Institution. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  6. ^ "The Responsibility to Protect: Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty" (PDF). ICISS. December 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. ^ http://otago.ourarchive.ac.nz/handle/10523/2279. (Judson 2012).
  8. ^ Hehir, Aidan (2011), "Chapter 7, The responsibility to protect and international law", in Cunliffe, Philip (ed.), Critical Perspectives on the Responsibility to Protect: Interrogating Theory, Practice, New York, NY: Taylor and Francis e-Library, pp. 84–100, ISBN 978-0-203-83429-9
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Paragraphs 138–139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document" (PDF). GCR2P. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Libya and the Responsibility to Protect". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  13. ^ "R2P down but not out after Libya and Syria". openDemocracy. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Debating the Responsibility to Protect in Libya, Syria". ICRtoP Blog. 6 April 2012. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  15. ^ Tutu, Desmond (9 November 2008). "Taking the responsibility to protect". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  16. ^ "The 'Responsibility to Protect' at 10". E-International Relations. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  17. ^ Brockmeier, Sarah; Stuenkel, Oliver; Tourinho, Marcos (2 January 2016). "The Impact of the Libya Intervention Debates on Norms of Protection". Global Society. 30 (1): 113–133. doi:10.1080/13600826.2015.1094029. ISSN 1360-0826.
  18. ^ Rendon; et al. (17 November 2020). "What Does the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Mean for Venezuela?". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 18 September 2024.