This article considers only the primary report and not the supplementary volume. Responsibility to protect doctrine and humanitarian. This report aimed to address difficult issues regarding gross violations of human rights on the one hand, and the principles of noninterference and sovereignty on the other. Washington post, 20 and yet in 2001, the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss had released a report titled responsibility to protect, which aimed to propose strategies for the international community to deal with humanitarian crises. Responsibility to protect r2p the iciss commission fifteen years on. The international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss, which articulated the idea of the responsibility to protect in 2001, regarded the role of the security council as of paramount importance. Since that time, other governments, international officials, academics and civil society organizations have taken up the responsibility to. They cochaired the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss, whose report, the responsibility to protect, was published in december 2001 and is now available on. The report followed the 911 attacks on the world trade centre and the pentagon, and the. Apr 03, 2016 the peace science digest is a publication to create awareness about the contributions peace research can make to prevent war and violence. The international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss was an ad hoc commission of participants which in 2001 worked to popularize the concept of humanitarian intervention and democracyrestoring intervention under the name of responsibility to protect. The guiding principles and the responsibility to protect. The history of the iciss began at the socalled millenniumgeneral assembly of the united nations in september 2000.
While the outcome was close to the ideas of the iciss report, there were some notable differences. Iciss the responsibility to protect the responsibility to protect introduction the responsibility to protect is a concept of international politics and international law to protect, the people against gross human rights, violations of international humanitarian law and fractures. The iciss report states that only military force which is necessary to protect the civilian population should be used. Canada in turn formed the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss in september 2000 to foster a global political consensus. The responsibility to protect united nations university. Responsibility to protect other bibliographies cite this. The responsibility to protect r2p or rtop is a united nations initiative established in 2005. It consists of an emerging norm, or set of principles, based on the idea that sovereignty is not a right, but a responsibility. International commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss report from 2001 as an alternative to the right to protect. However, the doctrine has roots extending deep into international law traditions.
During the consultations that helped shape the responsibility to protect report, the iciss have. The research essay was first published in transatlantic perspectives on diplomacy and diversity humanity in action press 2015. This came after a decade of atrocities in the 1990s. The iciss commission fifteen years on if it was not for canada we would not have the responsibility to protect, the internationally agreed principle unanimously embraced by the worlds heads of state and. The iciss recategorised sovereignty as responsibility rather than control. The responsibility to protect r2p is a global political commitment to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, endorsed by all member states of the united nations at the 2005 world summit. 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. This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the publication of the landmark report 1 by the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss that first introduced the innovative principle of the responsibility to protect r2p. Detractors argue that r2p is a breach of the system of state sovereignty. The r2p principles were first developed by the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss established by the government of canada in the december 2001 report the responsibility to protect. The report of the international commission on intervention and state. The responsibility to protect is a global political commitment which was endorsed by all member states of the united nations at the 2005 world summit in order to address its four key concerns to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
International law and the responsibility to protect. May 01, 2008 the responsibility to protect r2p doctrine outlines the conditions in which the international community is obligated to intervene in another country, militarily if necessary, to prevent. Untitled international coalition for the responsibility to protect. Giselle lopez wrote responsibility to protect at a crossroads. Bridging the women, peace, and security agenda with the. With its central theme of the responsibility to protect, the report underlines the primary responsibility of sovereign states to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe from mass murder, from large scale loss of life and rape, from starvation. Report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty, international commission on intervention and state sovereignty. In light of the postintervention crisis in libya, this article revisits critically the vision of the responsibility to protect r2p offered in the 2001. The antipolitical theory of responsibility to protect in. Commission on intervention and state sovereignty hereinafter. If the iciss commissions report, with its new emphasis on the responsibility to protect as the central governing theme, can help bring about a more systematic, balanced and less ideological. Rtp was born in 20011 with the publication of a report by the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss 2 aimed at being a comprehensive doctrine. In 2001, the idea of the responsibility to protect r2p was born and outlined in the report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty the iciss report. The idea of such restraint on the councils veto power in situations of mass atrocities was expressed in the 2001 report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss, the groundbreaking document that first articulated the responsibility to protect rtop.
This midterm paper is dealing with the responsibility to protect and how it has a diminishing effect on the importance of the state. An examination of the iciss report, the uns world summit outcome document of 2005 and the experience of the application of the doctrine to the libyan crisis of 2011 demonstrates that this attempt has not succeeded, and that the antipolitical nature of responsibility to protect is a weakness not a strength. The principal argument of the iciss approach which is to be found in the title and which is emphasised again and again in all its considerations is the responsibility to protect. In december 2001, the iciss issued a comprehensive report, the responsibility to protect. Responsibility to protect by international commission on. Responsibility to protect other bibliographies cite. Responsibility to protect and its applicability in libya. The complete book is available for purchase on amazon. Its central theme, reflected in the title, is the responsibility to protect, the idea that sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe from mass murder and rape, from starvation but that when they are. Others, however, claim that r2p simply provides new, legal justifications for the use of force. The international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss published its report, the responsibility to protect, hereafter referred to as the report in 2001.
That is the responsibility of a state for the protection of and the welfare of its citizens. The responsibility to protect in international law has been widely debated over the last few years. It seeks to narrow the gap between member states preexisting obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law and the reality. Iciss report the responsibility to protect december. The responsibility to protect r2p or rtop is a global political commitment which was endorsed by all member states of the united nations at the 2005 world summit in order to address its four key concerns to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Within four years, r2p was endorsed unanimously at a united nations summit of world leaders as. Each individual state has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This is a responsibility, first and foremost, for each individual state whose primary raison d etre and duty is to protect its population. The responsibility to protect, international commission on intervention and state sovereignty the responsibility to protect.
After a year of intense worldwide consultations and debate, the commission now presents its pathbreaking report. With these words kofi annan commented on the iciss report the responsibility to protect in the autumn of 2001, shortly after the 11th september. In 2001 the iciss came up with its report, named the responsibility to protect 16. Its two key provisions may be summarized as follows. In light of the postintervention crisis in libya, this article revisits critically the vision of the responsibility to protect r2p offered in the 2001 report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss frequently taken as the conceptual bedrock for r2p doctrine. Lecture 16 responsibility to protect flashcards quizlet. A pragmatic standard of humanitarian intervention, inter national security, vol. International humanitarian law and the responsibility to protect. Next, rtop in its threepillar form is a complex norm, containing more than one prescription. The impact of the iciss report on state sovereignty. Understanding rtop in 2001, the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss released the responsibility to protect report, which redefined collective security by introducing a concept of shared responsibility. The responsibility to protect in natural disasters. The responsibility to protect r2p asserts that sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their populations from genocide and other mass atrocities but that when they are unable or unwilling to do so, a responsibility of the broader community of states also comes into play. The international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss was an ad hoc commission of participants which in 2001 worked to popularize the concept of humanitarian intervention under the name of responsibility to protect.
The responsibility to protect appears to be a relatively new doctrine, its current form established by the report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty the iciss in december 2001. The expression responsibility to protect was first presented in the report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss, set up by the canadian government in. The iciss commission fifteen years on 5 responsibility to protect r2p. Iciss reframed the language and tone of debate by no longer speaking of a right of outsiders to intervene but a responsibility in the first instance, of the state concerned to protect.
Jan 18, 2014 washington post, 20 and yet in 2001, the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss had released a report titled responsibility to protect, which aimed to propose strategies for the international community to deal with humanitarian crises. Sovereignty iciss in 2001 entitled a responsibility to protect. This bibliography was generated on cite this for me on wednesday, february 11, 2015. He was a commissioner for the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss, and one of the principal authors of their report the responsibility to protect 2001. The crisis in libya as part of the 2014 humanity in action diplomacy and diversity fellowship. Iciss is listed in the worlds largest and most authoritative dictionary database of abbreviations and acronyms. The international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss report, the responsibility to protect, lays emphasis on military intervention as a key component of r2p.
Though a relatively new term, having it origins in the 2001 report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss, the responsibility to protect r2p has come to dominate the debate on how the international community should respond to intrastate crises see international commission on intervention and state sovereignty 2001, cited under. Norm robustness and the responsibility to protect journal. In essence, the responsibility to protect framework envisaged by the iciss is founded on a continuum of obligations that of, the responsibility to prevent, react and rebuild, which lies first and foremost with the state. We link the work of academics to peacebuilders, peace advocates, educators, the media, elected officials, and others who can benefit from the research. Most notably, the responsibility to protect r2p is a new and evolving concept in international relations that addresses the failure of states whether unable or unwilling to protect their populations from mass atrocities. Responsibility to protect ghosts of rwanda frontline pbs. He was also senior advisor on reforms and principal writer of the united nations. Jan 07, 20 from the iciss report to the 2005 world summit. The responsibility to protect r2p places the international community under an obligation to take coercive action for the protection of lives in the circumstances of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. It is regarded as both too discredited by abuse, and too much focused on the agents of intervention as opposed to its actual or supposed beneficiaries. The responsibility to protect report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty the responsibility to protect. Research, bibliography, background, supplementary volume to the report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty ottawa. As is well known, the discussion originated in the report issued in december 2001 by the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss, an initiative of the canadian government. The main factors influencing the evolution of the r2p.
R2p was clarified with the 2001 report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss. Responsibility to protect at 15 international affairs. Iciss in december 2001 released the report responsibility to protect, which embraces th e new idea of state sovereignty. International commission on intervention and state sovereignty. A critical return to the responsibility to protect. The commission focused on the responsibility of states to protect their. He explains that the the r2p means that sovereign states have a r2p their own citizens from avoida.
After a year of intense worldwide consultations and debate, the commission now presents this pathbreaking report. The report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty iciss on. Report of the international commission on intervention and state. Iciss report the responsibility to protect december 2001. The responsibility to prevent peace science digest. Implementing the responsibility to protect, outlining three principles, or pillars, of r2p. International development research centre for iciss, 2001. The responsibility to protect r2p and state sovereignty. It seeks to narrow the gap between member states preexisting obligations under. Instead of a right to intervene, the iciss prefers to talk of a responsibility to protect, as reflected in the title of the report. International commission on intervention and state sovereignty formulated the alternative principle of the responsibility to protect, focusing not on the right of outsiders to intervene but on the responsibility of all states to protect people at risk. It may be a stretch but ill take it to say, as the british historian martin gilbert did two years after the 2005 world summit, that acceptance of the responsibility to protect is the most significant adjustment to sovereignty in 360 years.
Pdf the responsibility to protect and the sovereignty. Humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect. It seeks to narrow the gap between member states preexisting obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law and the reality faced by populations at risk of genocide, war crimes. These are the sources and citations used to research responsibility to protect. States have a responsibility to protect their own populations from atrocity crimes, to assist others in upholding their responsibilities, and to come together collectively to respond when there are massive protection failures. The responsibility to protect embodies a political commitment to end the worst forms of violence and persecution. Report of the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty 2001 the international development research centre ottawa intext. Genocide prevention and the responsibility to protect. International commission on intervention and state.