scholarly journals Examining of Relationship between Responsibility to Protect & Sovereignty of States in Light of Practice of International Community

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 256
Author(s):  
Alireza Karimi ◽  
A. Koosha ◽  
M. Najafi Asfad ◽  
M. T. Ansari

With the end of the civil war and fading of military and ideological competitions of the superpowers and drastic changes in the international system, maintaining peace and security has been closely associated with the political, social economic and cultural structures of states and their behavior in observing the criteria of human rights. The Security Council as an organ, established for keeping Peace and Security has experienced great opposition to the sovereignty of states by using human rights rules as an alibi, and even has paved the way for military intervention. Normally, material breach of the human rights criteria and fundamental liberties can endanger the international peace and security. In this type of situations, the issue can be discussed in the Security Council with the request of the general assembly and the general secretary. IF the Security Council confirms a threat consequent to the material violation of human rights rules, it can enforce the required actions, regarding its obligations and authorities. The intervention of the Security Council as a representative of the international community with regard to taking decisions for humanitarian intervention in the context of the responsibility to protect and denying the absolute sovereignty of states on one hand and encouraging the states to guarantee the observance of civil rights of people and enabling them in the field of public welfare and even military intervention and protecting nations against tragedies such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, on the other hand are significant challenges. Although the responsibility to protect is practiced in the direction of legitimate intervention in the domestic affairs of sovereign nation – states with the objective of protecting humanitarian rules, actually after 2001, the chances for humanitarian measures have been decreased. In this article, we will examine this issue that from the beginning of the third millennium what effects, the concept of responsibility to protect has had by limiting the sovereignty of states and redefining it, aligned with the humanitarian intervention by the Security Council?

Author(s):  
Richard Caplan

States – Western ones, at least – have given increased weight to human rights and humanitarian norms as matters of international concern, with the authorization of legally binding enforcement measures to tackle humanitarian crises under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. These concerns were also developed outside the UN Security Council framework, following Tony Blair’s Chicago speech and the contemporaneous NATO action over Kosovo. This gave rise to international commissions and resulted, among other things, in the emergence of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) doctrine. The adoption of this doctrine coincided with a period in which there appeared to be a general decline in mass atrocities. Yet R2P had little real effect – it cannot be shown to have caused the fall in mass atrocities, only to have echoed it. Thus, the promise of R2P and an age of humanitarianism failed to emerge, even if the way was paved for future development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 897-919 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Wallace Brown ◽  
Alexandra Bohm

Cosmopolitans often argue that the international community has a humanitarian responsibility to intervene militarily in order to protect vulnerable individuals from violent threats and to pursue the establishment of a condition of cosmopolitan justice based on the notion of a ‘global rule of law’. The purpose of this article is to argue that many of these cosmopolitan claims are incomplete and untenable on cosmopolitan grounds because they ignore the systemic and chronic structural factors that underwrite the root causes of these humanitarian threats. By way of examining cosmopolitan arguments for humanitarian military intervention and how systemic problems are further ignored in iterations of the Responsibility to Protect, this article suggests that many contemporary cosmopolitan arguments are guilty of focusing too narrowly on justifying a responsibility to respond to the symptoms of crisis versus demanding a similarly robust justification for a responsibility to alleviate persistent structural causes. Although this article recognizes that immediate principles of humanitarian intervention will, at times, be necessary, the article seeks to draw attention to what we are calling principles of Jus ante Bellum (right before war) and to stress that current cosmopolitan arguments about humanitarian intervention will remain insufficient without the incorporation of robust principles of distributive global justice that can provide secure foundations for a more thoroughgoing cosmopolitan condition of public right.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cherine Foty

The creation of the responsibility to protect doctrine reformulated the historical notion of humanitarian intervention. The new doctrine was centered around the principle of nonintervention, a basic precept of the u.n. Charter system, with its initial report explicitly excluding regime change disguised as humanitarian intervention as external to the scope of the doctrine. Military intervention was only to be the means of last resort after the exhaustion of several preliminary mechanisms. In its implementation, the broad mandate of the responsibility to protect has been harshly criticized because it opens the possibility for powerful States, often seeking regime change, to interfere in the domestic affairs of weaker States. This article will first discuss (i) the chronology and evolution of the doctrine, (ii) situating it in the context of the u.n. Charter prohibition on the use of force and articulating its nonbinding nature. It will then examine (iii) the cases of Libya and Syria, focusing on the initial decision to intervene and how the dissemination of misinformation has served to promote military interventions where they would otherwise be considered illegitimate. The article will conclude with a brief discussion of (iv) how the international community can move beyond misapplication and seek to limit its abuse.


2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantine Antonopoulos

Abstract The power of the Security Council to adopt military measures for the maintenance of international peace and security has never been implemented as originally envisaged by the text of the UN Charter. The Council never acquired armed forces permanently at its disposal and under its command and control and it adopted the practice of authorisation of force leaving coalitions of willing States or regional organisations to implement it by conducting an operation under their command and resources with minimum control by the Council. The mandate of the operation in an enabling resolution is in principle a safeguard against abuse but its interpretation lies primarily (but not exclusively) with the participating States. The SC action in Libya intended to protect civilians (humanitarian intervention). Moreover, it revealed the real dimensions of humanitarian intervention and the vagaries of responsibility to protect: a suspension of the substance of Article 2(4).


Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (56) ◽  
pp. 193-209
Author(s):  
Jakub Kościółek

The article presents the evolution of the approach to humanitarian intervention that in the 21st century had been framed in the concept of Responsibility to Protect. The article focuses particularly on the possibility of adopting R2P rule in Africa, especially second and third pillar of this mechanism Various cases of conflict in Africa and other types of security threats are discussed herein; those which were actually implemented and situations where they were had to be foregone. This description serves the purpose of defining situations when the R2P mechanism is found useful in continental security measures as well as indicating the factors needed to implement it in practice, regardless of pure declarations from regional states and organizations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-450
Author(s):  
Simon Adams

The failure of the international community to adequately respond to patterns of discrimination against the ethnic Rohingya minority in Myanmar (Burma) eventually led to a genocide. The so-called “clearance operations” launched by Myanmar’s military in August 2017 tested the resilience of the international community’s commitment to defending human rights and upholding its Responsibility to Protect (R2P) populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Two years later the UN Security Council has still not adopted a single resolution to name the crime committed against the Rohingya, or to hold the perpetrators accountable. Nevertheless, Rohingya survivors and international civil society have continued to campaign for justice under international law, and to advocate for targeted sanctions to be imposed on those responsible for atrocities. Faced with an inert Security Council, some UN member states have adopted inventive diplomatic measures to uphold their responsibility to protect.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Glanville

AbstractThe concept of the responsibility to protect (R2P) holds that not only do sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their populations, but so too does the international community. The international community is said to be responsible for encouraging and assisting states to protect and also for taking collective action to enforce the protection of populations in instances where states fail to carry out their obligations. This idea that the international community itself bears not merely a right but a responsibility to protect, through military intervention if necessary, is perhaps the most novel aspect of the R2P concept, and it would seem to have extraordinary implications. Yet it remains largely under-examined. In this article, I consider how the notion that the international community bears a responsibility to protect might be fruitfully understood and conceptualised. After briefly outlining from where this idea has emerged, I consider two interrelated questions: What kind of responsibility is it – moral, legal, or political, or some combination of the three? And who in particular bears the responsibility – the international community broadly speaking, particular international institutions such as the Security Council, regional organisations, or individual states?


2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan J. Kuperman

NATO's 2011 humanitarian military intervention in Libya has been hailed as a model for implementing the emerging norm of the responsibility to protect (R2P), on grounds that it prevented an impending bloodbath in Benghazi and facilitated the ouster of Libya's oppressive ruler, Muammar al-Qaddafi, who had targeted peaceful civilian protesters. Before the international community embraces such conclusions, however, a more rigorous assessment of the net humanitarian impact of NATO intervention in Libya is warranted. The conventional narrative is flawed in its portrayal of both the nature of the violence in Libya prior to the intervention and NATO's eventual objective of regime change. An examination of the course of violence in Libya before and after NATO's action shows that the intervention backfired. The intervention extended the war's duration about sixfold; increased its death toll approximately seven to ten times; and exacerbated human rights abuses, humanitarian suffering, Islamic radicalism, and weapons proliferation in Libya and its neighbors. If it is a “model intervention,” as senior NATO officials claim, it is a model of failure. Implementation of R2P must be reformed to address these unintended negative consequences and the dynamics underlying them. Only then will R2P be able to achieve its noble objectives.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-67
Author(s):  
Irawati Handayani

AbstractHuman rights issues have become a common topic that continuously being discussed around the world. The major concern of international community on the protection of basic human rights leads to a challenge for the nation state to fulfill its commitment to protect the basic rights of their people from the possibility of harm that comes from internally or externally. Meanwhile, the principle of mutual understanding and respect among states and non-interference to domestic affairs of particular state has been generally recognized as the main principle in international law. Sometimes, a conflict that occurred inside a state, which is theoretically becomes a domestic issue, could be escalated and become a mutual concern of international society. When a human right violation occurred inside a state, ideally international community can not only ‘sit and watch’. Especially when the violations are classified as grave breaches of human rights. The world community has a moral obligation to offer an assistance and search a solution to end that violations.It is cleary noted that Article 2 (4) and Article 2 (7) United Nations (UN) Charter should not be regarded as an absolute prohibition of interference. Those articles are the limitation so that the intervention should not endangered territorial integrity, political independence and not contrary to the purposes of UN. However, the territorial integrity would be broken if the state lose their territory permanently, and in the context of humanitarian intervention there is no taking over a territory, since the main purpose is only to restore the condition as a result of human rights violation that occurred. Based on this assumption so intervention not contrary to UN Charter. One thing should be emphasized is that the requirements for intervention have to be very clear.Following an unsettled debate on criterion of humanitarian intervention, a few years ago there were a new concept which is believed as an improvement or a ‘new face’ from humanitarian intervention. It called the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect. Generally, both of these concepts have similarity, especially with the main purpose on guarantee basic human rights and provide such protection when the authorized government is unable and unwilling to do so. However, the RtoP doctrine can not also avoid its controversy. The main discussion on this doctrine particularly questioning the legal status of this doctrine in international law and whether RtoP is only a new form of humanitarian intervention.Keywords: humanitarian internvention, responsibility to Protect (R2P), duty to protect, non intervention, customary international law.AbstrakIsu mengenai HAM telah menjadi topik umum yang terus menerus didiskusikan diseluruh dunia. Perhatian utama dari komunitas internasional dalam hal perlindungan mendasar HAM selanjutnya menantang negara-negara untuk melakukan pemenuhan komitmen mereka agar melakukan perlindungan hak-hak mendasar dan tindakan yang dapat mengancam baik secara internal maupun secara eksternal. Sementara itu prinsip salaing pengertian dan penghargaan antar negara, prinsip non-intervensi dalam hubungan domestik telah diakui sebagai prinsip utama dalam hukum internasional. Kadang, konflik yang lahir di dalam negeri, yang secara teori adalah konflik domestik, dapat menjadi perhatian bersama masyarakat internasional. Pada saat terjadi pelanggaran HAM didalam suatu negara, seharusnya komunitas internasional tidak hanya ‘duduk dan melihat’. Khususnya pada saat terjadi pelanggaran yang dikategorikan sebagai pelanggaran berat terhadap HAM. Komunitas negara mempunyai kewajiban moral untuk menawarkan bantuan dan mencari solusi untuk mengakhiri pelanggaran tersebut.Seperti yang dijelaskan dalam Pasal 2 (4) dan Pasal 2 (7) Piagam PBB, pasal-pasal ini tidak dapat diangap sebagai larangan absolut interfensi. Pasal-pasal tersebut adalah pembatasan sehingga intervensi tidak membahayakan inegritas wilayah, indpendensi politik dan tidak bertentangan dengan tuujuan PBB. Meskipun demikian, integritas wilayah dapat hilang apabila negara kehilangan wilayahnya secara permanen, dan dalam konteks intervensi kemanusiaan tidak ada pengambil alihan wilayah, karena tujuan utamanya hanya untuk mengembalikan kedaaan pada saat terjadinya pelanggaran HAM. Berdasarkan asumsi tersebut, maka intervensi tidak bertentangan dengan Piagam PBB. Hal lain yang harus diperjelas bahwa alasan intervensi haruslah jelas.Mengikuti perdebatan yang tidak kunjung sellesai tentang kriteria intervensi kemanusiaan, beberapa tahun yang lalu dibuatlah suatu konsep yang dianggap sebagai wajah baru dari intervensi kemanusiaan. Secara umum, kedua konsep ini mempunyai kesamaan, terutama dengan tujuan utama dalam menjamin HAM dan menyediakan sejumlah perlindungan pada saat pemerintah yang berwenang tidak mampu dan tidak dapat memberikan jaminan HAM. Meskipun demikian, Doktin RtoP tidak dapat terhindar dari kontroversi. Diskusi utama dari doktrin ini adalah pertanyaan tentang status hukum dari doktrin hukum internasional dan apakah RtoP merupakan bentuk lain dari intervensi kemanusiaaan. Kata kunci: intervensi kemanusiaan, tanggung jawab untuk melindungi (R2P), kewajiban perlindungan, non intervensi ̧ hukum kebiasaan internasional.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Hans Corell

The point of departure in the present article is that the UN Security Council must be reformed. But this reform should not focus on extending the membership of the Council, which seems to be the main issue in the discussion at present. It is imperative that the Council is maintained as an executive organ since this is a precondition for its effective functioning. Too many members would destroy this requirement completely, in particular if additional members are granted veto power. Already 15 members may be past the limit for an executive organ. Additional members will endanger the Council’s ability to fulfil its obligations under Art. 24 of the UN Charter: the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Instead, the reform should focus on resolving the real problem with the Council, namely the manner in which the permanent members sometimes behave. The exercise of the veto power must be in conformity with the UN Charter, which now must be viewed against the background of the development of international law since the UN was established more than 70 years ago. The manner in which some permanent members exercise their veto power is simply not in conformity with the Charter. Against this background it is absolutely necessary that the five permanent members engage in a profound discussion about their performance and the manner in which the veto power is exercised. Here, there is need for statesmanship. The members of the Security Council, and in particular the permanent members, must lead by example. What the Council must focus on is conflict prevention. This requires determination and consequence. The focus must be on the challenges that humankind is facing and will face ever more in the future and the threats to international peace and security that these challenges are causing. The need for the rule of law and protection of human rights are obvious elements in this analysis. Furthermore, the growth of the world population in combination with climate change simply must be addressed in an effective manner. The Council must focus attentively on these ‘conflict multipliers’. The discussion must also focus on peacekeeping and responsibility to protect. With respect to responsibility to protect there is great need for improvement. We cannot accept in the 21st century that fundamental human rights are violated and that crimes against international humanitarian law are being committed on a large scale without consequences. Another important element in this context is empowerment of women. In addressing these questions there is need for close cooperation with regional organizations. This cooperation already exists, but the question is how it can be developed and what lessons can be learnt from the past. Since the five permanent members are also recognized as nuclear-weapon States under the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty, they must confirm their obligations under this treaty and make serious their obligation to work for a nuclear-weapon free world. A reform along the lines discussed in the present article can be made without amending the UN Charter.


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