Myanmar, the Responsibility to Protect, and the Need for Practical Assistance

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Haacke
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Conflict ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Humanitarian Relief ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
International Response ◽  
Independent Verification ◽  
The Face ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
Cyclone Nargis

AbstractThis paper is concerned with the invocation of the responsibility to protect (RtoP) in the face of the Myanmar authorities' problematic response to Cyclone Nargis. It is animated by four main questions: (1) What were the dynamics leading to calls for the application of the responsibility to protect? (2) In what ways did the invocation of the RtoP affect the provision of humanitarian assistance to cyclone survivors? (3) How has the international response to Cyclone Nargis compared to the way in which Western powers in particular have responded to Myanmar's armed ethnic conflict? (4) What implications and conclusions follow from the Myanmar case for putting RtoP into practice? The article argues that while the applicability of RtoP was much in doubt with respect to the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, its principles nevertheless served as a rhetorical device for Western countries to influence both Naypyidaw and ASEAN as regards the practical need of facilitating humanitarian relief. Noting the available diplomatic support Myanmar enjoys in the UNSC, the paper suggests that the variation characterizing the international response to Myanmar's practices in the Ayeyawady delta and in the ethnic areas is also partly due to the different scale of fatalities and insufficient independent verification of claims regarding atrocity crimes. Generally, the Myanmar case has nevertheless accentuated the need for considering further what practical assistance regional and international actors can render to protect those that are or may become caught up in atrocities.

Responding to Forced Displacement as a Mass Atrocity Crime

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Orchard
Keyword(s):  
Use Of Force ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
International Response ◽  
Mass Atrocity ◽  
State Consent ◽  
Internally Displaced Person ◽  
Atrocity Crimes

The protection of forced migrants and the R2P doctrine are inexorably linked. Refugee and internally displaced person forced movements can be triggered directly through mass atrocity crimes, indirectly as people flee mass atrocities, and even by the international use of force triggered by R2P responses. A range of causes of displacement are international crimes and fall within the R2P. However, the international response to internal displacement situations, in particular, tends to highlight legal and humanitarian based forms of protection and assistance, necessarily limited by the issue of sovereignty and state consent. These provide little direct protection in mass atrocity situations. R2P offers a path around the issue of sovereignty not only through the use of force but also by redefining how humanitarian assistance is provided, as demonstrated by Syria.

scholarly journals R2P Sidelined: The International Response to China’s Repression of Muslim Minorities in Xinjiang

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Rosemary Foot
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Normative Power ◽  
International Response ◽  
Mass Atrocity ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
Muslim Minorities

Abstract There has been a lack of recourse to the language of ‘The Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) in respect of reports that the Chinese government is perpetrating mass atrocity crimes against the Muslim minorities that reside in Xinjiang. What does this suggest about the overall normative power of R2P, and is the neglect of R2P reflective of a more general weakening in provisions designed to deal with wide-scale human rights abuses?

scholarly journals The Civil War in Syria and the International Response

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 281
Author(s):  
Luljeta Kodra
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Strong Response ◽  
International Response ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
Foreign Governments ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Mass Killings

Both parties involved in the civil war in Syria, reached to secure the support of other states and the control over considerable parts of the territory, but none of them could trigger a comprehensive military defeat against the other. The cost of the conflict where government forces as well as armed rebels continue to commit atroccities has been shocking. Security Council with regard to the problem of Syria was divided between a majority who wanted a strong response to implement the Responsibility to Protect and some who did not want. The debate between Western democracies was based on the fact if foreign governments should militarily intervene in Syria, being that they thought military intervention could aggravate the conflict and could increase the sufferings of ordinary Syrians. However individual countries and regional organizations took actions to maintain their responsibility to protect. The use of the veto by the permanent members of the Security Council to prevent the implementation of the "Responsibility to Protect " which aims to end the massive atrocities is inconsistent with the goals of the United Nations and makes the Security Council inappropriate on the situation when his involvement to resolve conflict situations is an urgent need. State sovereignty can no longer constitute an unrestricted license to mass killings and other atrocity crimes.

The Alternatives to War

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Pattison
Keyword(s):  
Just War ◽  
Just War Theory ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Military Action ◽  
Comprehensive Account ◽  
The Face ◽  
Normative Issues ◽  
Better Than

If states are not to go to war, what should they do instead? In The Alternatives to War: From Sanctions to Non-violence, James Pattison considers the case for the alternatives to military action to address mass atrocities and aggression. He covers the normative issues raised by measures ranging from comprehensive economic sanctions, diplomacy, and positive incentives, to criminal prosecutions, non-violent resistance, accepting refugees, and arming rebels. For instance, given the indiscriminateness of many sanctions regimes, are sanctions any better than war? Should states avoid ‘megaphone diplomacy’ and adopt more subtle measures? What, if anything, can non-violent methods such as civilian defence and civilian peacekeeping do in the face of a ruthless opponent? Is it a serious concern that positive incentives can appear to reward aggressors? Overall, Pattison provides a comprehensive account of the ethics of the alternatives to war. In doing so, he argues that the case for war is weaker and the case for many of the alternatives is stronger than commonly thought. The upshot is that, when reacting to mass atrocities and aggression, states are generally required to pursue the alternatives to war rather than military action. Pattison concludes that this has significant implications for pacifism, Just War Theory, and the responsibility to protect doctrine.

China’s response to the 2014–2016 Ebola crisis: Enhancing Africa’s soft security under Sino-US competition

2020 ◽  
pp. 0920203X2097854
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Cabestan
Keyword(s):  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Strategic Competition ◽  
International Response ◽  
Disaster Relief Operations ◽  
Relief Operations ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Military Teams

The 2014–16 Ebola crisis in West Africa was China’s very first opportunity to demonstrate its willingness and ability to play a meaningful role in addressing public health emergencies of international concern. China’s decision to participate in the international response to the outbreak was part of an ambition to enhance its contribution to Africa’s security in general and health security in particular and to exert more influence on global norms. The specific role played by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), especially its Academy of Military Medical Sciences, in Sierra Leone and Liberia is part of an ongoing effort to increase China’s involvement in international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. It was the first time that it sent medical military teams to set up and operate infectious disease hospitals overseas. This participation also underscores the PLA’s crucial role in fighting epidemics overseas as well as at home, as the current COVID-19 pandemic illustrates. The Ebola crisis enables us to explore aspects of the PLA’s overseas missions, some of which are humanitarian and others which generally enhance China’s influence as a great power in Africa and in the world in the context of a growing Sino-US strategic competition.

scholarly journals The Dog That Didn’t Bark? A Response to Dunne and Gelber’s Analysis of RtoP’s Influence on the Intervention in Libya

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan Hehir
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
International Response ◽  
Global Responsibility ◽  
Resolution 1973

In this article I challenge the argument presented by Tim Dunne and Katherine Gelber in ‘Arguing Matters: The Responsibility to Protect and the Case of Libya’ (Global Responsibility to Protect vol. 6, iss. 3, 2014). I argue that the evidence supplied by Dunne and Gelber to support their argument that the Responsibility to Protect played a role in the debate on the international response to the crisis in Libya is based on an unsustainable expansion of what constitutes RtoP language, fails to acknowledge the historical evolution of human rights-orientated discourse, and exaggerates the extent to which references were made to RtoP during the debates preceding Resolution 1973.

A Crime against Humanity? Implications and Prospects of the Responsibility to Protect in the Wake of Cyclone Nargis

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Langmore ◽  
Ashley McLachlan-Bent
Keyword(s):  
East Asian ◽  
International Community ◽  
Military Regime ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
International Debate ◽  
International Assistance ◽  
Disaster Assessment ◽  
Cyclone Nargis ◽  
Threshold Criteria ◽  
Coercive Intervention

AbstractIn May 2008 Cyclone Nargis created significant international debate when the ruling military regime in Myanmar refused to allow international relief supplies and specialists into the country. The discussion that followed included invoking the principle of Responsibility to Protect as a way of forcing the regime to accept international assistance. This proposal caused sharp division amongst governments, relief agencies, journalists and citizens. The regime's shocking refusal to accept assistance constituted a crime against humanity and, as such, deserved consideration as an R2P situation. The damage which military action involves was severely underestimated by those proposing it and although the situation following Nargis clearly met the threshold criteria, permitting coercive intervention, the precautionary principles were not satisfied, thus making coercive intervention under R2P impermissible. The involvement of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) following Nargis facilitated entry of disaster assessment teams and some aid into Myanmar. In light of Myanmar's fear of intervention in its affairs, the international community should have used R2P to frame a response and worked with ASEAN from the outset to pressure the regime to respond to the disaster more effectively.

La "responsabilitŕ di proteggere". Riflessioni a margine del caso birmano

2009 ◽  
pp. 33-53
Author(s):  
Giustiniani Flavia Zorzi
Keyword(s):  
Combined Effect ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
World Summit ◽  
Humanitarian Emergency ◽  
Natural Catastrophe ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Hypothetical Scenario ◽  
Cyclone Nargis

- The responsibility to protect doctrine was designed at the dawn of the new millennium to resolve situations when a State fails to protect its people against avoidable suffering. While it received a great deal of attention in doctrinal debates, the expectations put on it were not matched by reality. Indeed the concept, as endorsed by the international community in the 2005 UN World Summit declaration, is conspicuous by its scarce innovative value and its ambiguities. Among the questions left unanswered there is, in particular, the problem of its applicability in humanitarian emergency situations due to the combined effect of a natural catastrophe and the criminal behaviour of territorial authorities. This latter situation, so far considered as a hypothetical scenario, became true in Myanmar following the passage of cyclone Nargis. The Burmese emergency can thus be taken as a test-case whose inquiry will enable us to scrutinize the actual extent of the responsibility to protect.

Côte d’Ivoire

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles T. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Cote D'ivoire ◽  
Côte D’Ivoire ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
The Political ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Cote D’Ivoire ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
International Response ◽  
Côte D'ivoire

This chapter examines the international response to Côte d’Ivoire’s post-election crisis in 2010/11. In particular, it analyses the elements that relate to the responsibility to protect (R2P), including how R2P informed the political and practical responses to the crisis. It identifies the major contentions/issues that the case highlights about the nature and future of R2P. It argues that despite the relative inattention paid to this case in the academic literature to date, the experience of Côte d’Ivoire offers important insights into the opportunities and challenges associated with all three pillars of R2P and recalls debates around the responsibility to rebuild as well as the emergent relationship between the R2P framework and protection of civilians in United Nations peace operations.

Responsibility to Protect in International Criminal Law

Postgenocide ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 112-134
Author(s):  
Jobair Alam
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Mass Atrocity ◽  
Jus Cogens ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
Normative Foundations

This chapter considers the worst contemporary state-led prosecution of a minority group, which amounts to genocide, namely the Rohingya. It examines the atrocity crimes committed against them under international criminal law (ICL) and the application of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) thereupon. It suggests that such atrocities are constitutive of violations of jus cogens which warrants obligatio erga omnes. Accordingly, the perpetrators can be brought to justice under inter/national and universal jurisdictions, which, nonetheless, has not yet occurred. Given the failure of ICL mechanisms, the normative foundations of the R2P can provide valuable tools for intercepting mass atrocity crimes. The Rohingya—who face direct and structural violence at the hands of the Myanmar state—need protection from these crimes. The chapter explains how insular national politics can undo the gains made by the international community in upholding the distinctiveness of humanitarian claims through the application of the R2P.

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