International Journal of Social Sciences, III(1), 2014

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Doctrine

Sandra Fabijanić Gagro

Looking for the effective measures to prevent systematic violations of human rights and core crimes
of international law, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in
December 2001 released the report “Responsibility to protect”. It embraces three specific
responsibilities: a) to prevent - to address both the root causes and direct causes of internal conflict
and other crises putting populations at risk; b) to react – to respond to situations of compelling
human need with appropriate measures, which may include coercive measures like sanctions and
international prosecution, and in extreme cases military intervention; c) to rebuild – to provide,
particularly after a military intervention, full assistance with recovery, reconstruction and
reconciliation, addressing the causes of the harm the intervention was designed to halt or avert.
Taking into consideration the core foundations of international community, its origin of state
sovereignty, the principle of non-intervention, and the prohibition of (even) threat and/or using
force in mutual relationship, on one side, but also the general idea of obligation to protect human
rights, on the other – question arises: is there a base of justification for one (or more) state(s) to use
force against other state for the humanitarian purpose, at all?

Keywords: responsibility to protect, humanitarian intervention, genocide, war crimes, crimes

against humanity, ethnic cleansing
‘Never again’ we said after the Holocaust. And after the Cambodian genocide in the 1970s. And
then again after the Rwanda genocide in 1994. And then, just a year later, after the Srebrenica
massacre in Bosnia. And now we’re asking ourselves, in the face of more mass killing and dying in
Darfur, whether we really are capable, as an international community, of stopping nation-states
murdering their own people. How many more times will we look back wondering, with varying
degrees of incomprehension, horror, anger and shame, how we could have let it all happen?
(Garreth Evans, 2004)

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1. Introduction
The development of human rights after the 2nd World War and the adoption of many international
documents,4 as well as the frequent examples of their violations brought to the idea of practicing
humanitarian interventions.5 Such intervention could be defined as “the threat or use of force across
state borders by a state(s) aimed at preventing or ending widespread and grave violations of the
fundamental human rights of individuals other than its own citizens, without the permission of the
state whose territory force is applied.” (Holzgrefe, 2003, p. 18)
Taking into account humanitarian component of such action, its application and practice seems to
be considered as logic and human idea. But, its implementation is very complicated and
controversial in contemporary international relations.
Any type of external military intervention on the territory of another state (even) for the purpose of
human protection is always opposed to the state sovereignty. It has been regarded as the pivotal
structural paradigm of international law (Payandeh, 2010 p. 470) and is never to be taken lightly. It
is more than just a functional principle of international relations; for many states and nations, it is
also recognition of their equal worth and dignity, a protection of their identity and national freedom.
Protecting this fundamental right of each state Charter of the United Nations and many related
documents prohibited states from threatening or using force, except in self-defence or pursuant to
Security Council authorization. Central concepts of international law (sovereignty, territorial
integrity, non-intervention, self-defence, etc.) rely on the exclusive or dominant role of the state.
(Schreuer, 1993, p. 448)
At the same time, the concept of human rights has been developing since the end of the 2 nd World
War. The importance of its protection and further development in the contemporary world, as well
as the opinion that the treatment and the status of human rights within the state border does not
exclude interference from abroad, raises the question of mutual relationship between human rights
protection, on one side, and the protection of state sovereignty, on the other. In Stahn’s opinion,
sovereignty never meant that a state could act in its territory regardless of the effect of its acts on
another state. After the end of the 2nd World War the adoption of the UN Charter and the rise of key
human rights instruments eroded the classic equation of sovereignty; it contained important
references to human rights protection. (Stahn, 2007, 111-112)
Taking into consideration the core foundations of international community, its origin of state
sovereignty and the prohibition of (even) threat and/or use of force in mutual relationship, on one
side, but also the general idea of obligation to protect human rights, on the other – question arises:
how to reconcile these two seemingly uncompromising protections? Furthermore, what is (if any)
the base of justification for one (or more) state(s) to intervene on the territory of other state or even
to use force against it for the humanitarian purposes only?

4
For example: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide (1948), The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), The Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of
Apartheid (1973), The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(1984), regional documents as: The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms (1954), African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1981), American Convention on Human Rights
(1969), etc.
5
Although it is believed to be a rather recent phenomenon, the legal doctrine of humanitarian intervention traces roots
back to the work of Hugo Grotius.
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Those who support the idea of humanitarian intervention emphasize that there are situations that
could justify foreign intervention, despite the sovereignty claim. These cases are grave breaches of
human rights, such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, cases of ethnic cleansing etc.
Perpetrators of such crimes should no longer be able to hide behind the shield of state sovereignty.
In Badescu’s opinion (Badescu, 2011, p. 2), humanitarian intervention simply signals to its
proponents the imperative of action in the face of mass violence and is intertwined with a
perception of sovereignty as conditional to a state’s respect for the human rights of its citizens. On
the other side, to its opponents – it is an oxymoron that serves as a pretext for selective military
intervention without legal sanctioning, and an exercise that only achieves uncertain results.

2. The development of the responsibility to protect (R2P) doctrine

At the end of the 20th century, the attitude of necessity of making clear postulates of humanitarian
intervention arose. In his Millennium Report of 2000, then Secretary-General Kofi Annan, recalling
the failures of the Security Council to act in a decisive manner in Rwanda and the former
Yugoslavia, put forward a challenge to members States: “If humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an
unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica, to gross
and systematic violation of human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity?”
(Millennium report, 2000)
Some particular cases were set as trigger examples for the responsibility to protect emergence.
Rwanda in 1994 represents the full horror of inaction and refusal of the Security Council to take
necessary steps to avoid genocide. Somalia in 1992/93 is considered to be another fail of the UN, as
well as Srebrenica in 1995, when the tragic fail of the UN to prevent genocide raised serious debate
about intervention for human protection purposes.
Opposite to these inefficiencies of international community the case of humanitarian intervention in
Kosovo in 1999 raised major questions about the legitimacy of military intervention in a sovereign
state, concentrating attention on all the other sides of the argument. Is it sure that all peaceful means
of resolving the conflict fully were explored? Did the intervention receive appropriate authority?
How could bypassing and marginalization of the UN system, by “a coalition of the willing” acting
without Security Council approval, possibly be justified? Or – against all this – was it the case that
had the NATO not intervened, Kosovo would have been at best the site of destabilizing civil war,
and at worst the occasion for “another Srebrenica”? (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 1.1.-
1.3.)
It was considered essentially to clarify the behaviours of state which could justify an intervention
from abroad, on one side, and the modalities of intervention itself, on the other. In accordance to
previous experiences, justification for the intervention could be found in the situations of violations
of human rights (Sigman, 2013, p. 6) after the diplomatic efforts had failed (Luck, 2013). Buchanan
(2003, 131) goes further in justifying even unilateral6 humanitarian intervention. Basically, his
argument states that observance of the law should not and does not hinder fidelity to basic moral
values. Following this line of reasoning, Buchanan lists three principles for which unilateral
humanitarian intervention is justified; moral necessity, protection of human rights, and moral
improvement to the legal system (Buchanan, 2003, p. 131).
6
There are two types of humanitarian intervention; authorized, that which is sanction by the UN, and unauthorized (or
unilateral) which is not sanctioned by the UN (Goodman 2006, p. 107; Sigman, 2013, p. 2)
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On the other side, in Goodman’s opinion, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that international
law forbids the unilateral use of force to rescue victims of a humanitarian catastrophe. (Goodman,
2006, p. 111) Nzelibe is asking a question: was the cause for the military intervention ever just
because of the abuse of human rights, or did those seeking secession manipulate external
intervention to advance their political purposes? The problem is that most contemporary atrocities
take place in the context of civil wars or rebellions in which rebel leaders are usually pursuing
independent political objectives that might be more valuable to them than the lives of their
followers. Furthermore, third parties might use intervention as a pretext to start wars for reasons
unrelated to preventing atrocities. (Nzelibe, 2009, p. 1172; 1178)
Even with the fear that all of such principles for justification can be abused (Sigman, 2013, p. 9),
ideas like these have encouraged the development of the new idea – the responsibility to protect
civilians in the light of specific extension of the humanitarian intervention.
Looking for effective measures to prevent systematic violations of human rights and to make a
stronger responsibility for states and international community, the International
Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (hereinafter: ICISS) in December 2001 released
the report “Responsibility to protect”, which embraces the “new idea” of state sovereignty. At the
core of the concept lies a two-dimensional understanding of responsibility: a) the primary role of
the state itself; its responsibility to protect its citizens from atrocities, and b) the responsibility of the
international community to prevent and react to massive human rights violations, when the state is
unwilling or unable to perform this mission.
During the consultations that helped shape the Responsibility to Protect Report, the ICISS have
found broad willingness to accept the idea that the responsibility to protect its people from killing
and other grave harm was the most basic and fundamental of all the responsibilities that sovereignty
imposes – and that if a state cannot or will not protect its people from such harm, then coercive
intervention for human protection purposes, including ultimately military intervention, by others in
the international community may be warranted in extreme cases. (Responsibility to Protect Report,
2001, 8.2.)
The consequences of the failure by States to protect their populations were evident in many
unfortunate occasions in the brutal legacy of the 20th century.
Thus, contrary to popular misconception, the ICISS did not find widespread support for an
unlimited, absolute view of sovereignty. (Badescu, 2011, p. 38) Instead, both developed and
developing countries agreed that sovereignty implies a dual responsibility: externally – to respect
the sovereignty of other states, and internally, to respect the dignity and basic human rights of all
the people within the state. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 1.35.) In Payandeh’s opinion,
the concept of responsibility to protect doctrine tries to cut the Gordian knot of the tension between
sovereignty and human rights by embedding the notion of human rights in the idea of state
sovereignty. Under this premise, intervention within a state that fails to protect its citizens from
massive human rights violations does not constitute an intrusion into that state’s sovereignty, but
rather appears as the realization of a responsibility which is shared by the state and by the
international community. (Payandeh, 2010, p. 471)
In Stahn’s opinion, many of the elements of concept of responsibility to protect are not novel, but
rooted in a broader ideological or legal tradition; and it appears to be this link that allowed the
concept to gain some acceptance in recent practice. (Stahn, 2007, p. 115) The experience and the
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aftermath of some recent humanitarian fails, as well as the controversy of intervention or perhaps its
absence in the situations that called for it have provided an indication that the core of international
relations at the beginning of the 21st century needed to be comprehensively reassessed.
Furthermore, ICISS have found that the expression “humanitarian intervention” did not help to
carry the debate forward and believed that the language of past debates arguing for or against a
“right to intervene” by one state on the territory of another is outdated and unhelpful. So, they
prefer to change the term into a “responsibility to protect”. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001,
2.4.) In Stahn’s opinion ICISS did nothing more than used a rhetorical trick; just flipped the coin,
shifting the emphasis from a politically and legally undesirable right to intervene for humanitarian
purposes to the less confrontational idea of a responsibility to protect. (Stahn, 2007, p. 102)
The ICISS emphasised an additional benefit from the proposed change in terminology – it is also a
change in perspective. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 2.29) In Stahn’s opinion,
responsibility to protect addresses the dilemma of intervention from the perspective of the needs of
those who seek or need support, rather than from the interests and perspectives of those who carry
out such action. (Stahn, 2007, p. 103)
The ICISS sought to bridge the gap between intervention and sovereignty by introducing a
complementary concept of responsibility, under which it is shared by the state and international
community. The responsibility to protect relies on the axiom that sovereignty exists essentially for
the purpose of protecting people and it is conceived of as the principal guardian of the rights of its
people. However, it loses this status of primacy in cases where it is unable or unwilling to ensure
this protection; that it becomes the responsibility of the international community to act in its place.
(Stahn, 2007, p. 102, 114)
Yet, it is far from clear how the international community – represented through the United Nations,
regional organizations, and individual states or groups of states – should act and is allowed to act.
As it has been emphasized in the ICISS Report – any new approach to intervention on human
protection grounds needs to meet several basic objectives: a) to establish clearer rules, procedures
and criteria for determining whether, when and how to intervene; b) to establish the legitimacy of
military intervention when necessary and after all other approaches have failed; c) to ensure that
military intervention, when it occurs, is carried out only for the purposes proposed, is effective, and
is undertaken with proper concern to minimize the human costs and institutional damage that will
result; and d) to help eliminate, where possible, the causes of conflict while enhancing the prospects
for durable and sustainable peace. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 2.3.)

3. The concept of the responsibility to protect doctrine – prevention, reaction and rebuilding
The responsibility to protect concept embraces three specific responsibilities to: a) prevent, b) react
and c) rebuild. In this way, the ICISS developed a multiphase conception of responsibility and
expanded the conceptual parameters of the notion of intervention, declaring that an effective
response to mass atrocities requires not only reaction, but further, lasting engagement to prevent
conflict and rebuild the society after the event. (Stahn, 2007, p. 102)

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3.1. Responsibility to prevent
As Secretary-General concluded in his 2013 Report the range of risk factors demonstrates that
atrocity crimes are processes and no single events. An environment that is permissive to such
crimes does not develop overnight; the process can take years or even decades. The Holocaust did
not originate in the gas chambers and the genocide in Rwanda did not start with massacres in
churches. Those genocides started with hate speech, discrimination and marginalization. While the
processes differed, in each case, a number of steps were taken that, intentionally or unintentionally,
facilitated the perpetration of those crimes. There are numerous entry points for action that can stop
the process and prevent atrocity crimes. (Secretary-General Report, 2013, par. 30)
As mentioned before, responsibility to prevent is first and foremost the responsibility of state, but
not exclusively. The common fact is the failure of prevention could have a great impact on regional
and/or international peace and security. Therefore, a strong support from the international
community is needed, and in many cases may be indispensable. Such support may take many forms.
It may come in the form of development assistance and other efforts to help address the root cause
of potential conflict; or efforts to provide support for local initiatives to advance good governance,
human rights, or the rule of law; or good offices missions, mediation efforts and other efforts to
promote dialogue or reconciliation. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 3.3) In 2007, Secretary-
General has welcomed the agreement of the Security Council to his intention to appoint Edward
Luck as his new Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect. (UN Doc, S/2007/721) His
primary roles will be conceptual development and consensus-building, in recognition of the
fledgling nature of the international agreement on the responsibility to protect populations from
genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As Secretary-General concluded in his 2013 Report, there are different efforts that could be taken
inside the society as a method of atrocity prevention. For example, human rights institutions always
play an important role in atrocity prevention by promoting and monitoring the implementation of
international human rights standards and domestic law. Inside this framework, constitutional
protections, when upheld, can contribute to creating a society based on non-discrimination by
recognizing society diversity and granting explicit protection to different populations, including
minorities. In this part, education is one of the most important tasks of prevention and promotion of
tolerance and an understanding of the value of diversity. Education systems should reflect the
ethnic, national and cultural diversity of societies, set an example of inclusiveness in their policies,
and prescribe textbooks that promote inclusiveness and acceptance. Furthermore, national and
international civil society organizations have a range of tools at their disposal to prevent or respond
to crimes and violations relating to responsibility to protect. The public commitment of states to this
doctrine provides civil society organizations with a strong basis to hold national governments and
the international community to account when they are manifestly failing to protect populations. The
media is further important element of civil society. The independence and plurality of the media
should be encouraged, including the right of national, racial, religious and ethnic minorities to have
their own media. Finally, commemoration acts and memorials to past atrocities could also be seen
as preventive measure. There are many countries that have taken preventive actions and
institutionalized the memory of past atrocity crimes by establishing memorials or organizing
remembrance ceremonies. The empowerment of victims’ associations ensures that those who were
most affected by atrocity crimes remain part of the national conscience as their respective countries
move forward. (Secretary-General Report, 2013, par. 35; 45; 50; 54; 61; 64)
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3.2. Responsibility to react

When preventive measures fail to resolve or contain the situation and when a state is unable or
unwilling to redress the situation, then coercive measures by other members of the broader
community of states may be required. In the light of the risks involved, coercive measures have
never been the favoured tools for implementing the responsibility to protect. Such coercive
measures of reaction may include political, economic or judicial measures, and in extreme cases
they may also include military action.
Taking into account the principle of non-intervention, the question arise: what situations could be
described as extreme cases to justify the use of force? Decisions to use force or apply other coercive
measures are never to be taken lightly. Such decisions require careful assessment of the situation, a
review of the likely consequences of action and inaction and an assessment of the most effective
and appropriate strategy for achieving collective goal. Assessment must be timely and should
facilitate, and never inhibit, effective responses. There is no template for decision-making in such
situations, nor is one desirable as each situation is different. Instead – Secretary-General concluded
– the international community should learn from its experience to date and strive to improve on
implementation, using all available tools. (Secretary-General Report, 2012, par. 57)
To make the decision easier as much as possible the ICISS Report proposed six criteria for military
intervention: right authority, just cause, right intention, last resort, proportional means and
reasonable prospect.

3.2.1. Right authority

One of the most important, but also the most controversial question is one about the authorization
for the use of force. The Security Council has the “primary”, but not the sole and/or exclusive
authority to deal with military intervention. Its authorization in all cases must be sought prior to any
military intervention being carried out. Security Council should deal promptly with any request for
authority to intervene in practicing responsibility to protect. In this matter it should seek for
adequate verification7 of facts that might support a military intervention. (Responsibility to Protect
Report, 2001, 6.14)

But, what if the Security Council fails to act, as it had happened before? Even in instances when the
Security Council does consider authorizing intervention, it is usually facing problems of the
slowness of its decision-making process, and the use of veto by its five permanent members, which
avers intervention from taking place within the right time frame to save lives. The Responsibility to
Protect Report suggests the permanent members of the Security Council refrain from exercising
their veto when their vital interests are not at stake, and when a resolution in favour of military
intervention has majority support. (Badescu, 2011, p. 50, 71)

7
The ICISS Report proposed The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to make a report about the gravity
of the situation and inability of state to manage it satisfactorily, but because of its basic principles of independence from
political decisions and impartiality – ICRC is not a perfect candidate for “the job”. Nevertheless, there are many United
Nations bodies that could provide credible information. For example, UN Secretary-General could obtain accurate
information and a fair assessment of particular situation, and also may bring to the attention of the Security Council any
matter which in his opinion may threaten the international peace and security. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001,
4.29-4.30)
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In Stahn’s opinion, the ICISS Report managed to gather broad support because it avoided taking a
final stance on the question of the legality/legitimacy of unauthorized interventions. The ICISS
made it clear that Security Council should be the first port of call on any matter relating to military
intervention. But, in the situations where Security Council fails to act, ICISS Report did not
categorically exclude the possibility that the responsibility to protect might ultimately be provide by
others – the UN General Assembly, regional organizations, or coalition of states. (Stahn, 2007, p.
104)
First alternative is to seek support for military action from the UN General Assembly meeting in an
Emergency Special Session established by the “Uniting for Peace” procedures. It was developed in
1950 for the situation(s) when the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent
members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and
security. Although the General Assembly lacks the power to order that action should be taken, its
decision in favour of such action, especially if supported by an overwhelming majority of member
states, would provide a high degree of legitimacy for an intervention which subsequently took
place, and encourage the Security Council to rethink its position. (Responsibility to Protect Report,
2001, 6.29-6.30)
A further possibility is to pursue collective intervention by regional or sub-regional organizations;
an action recognized by the UN Charter. In strict terms, the letter of the Charter requires such action
to be subjected to prior authorization from the Security Council. Interventions by ad hoc coalitions
or individual states without the approval of the Security Council or the General Assembly, or a
regional or sub-regional grouping of which the target state is a member, do not find wide favour.
(Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 6.31, 6.35-6.36)
In his 2011 Report, the Secretary-General emphasized the role and the significance of the regional
and sub-regional bodies, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the
African Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in developing
the principles of protection and the practical tools for achieving them. The UN followed their lead.
In the time the Report was released, it was concluded that since 2009 the UN have applied
responsibility to protect principles in our strategies for addressing threats to populations in about a
dozen specific situations. In every case, regional and/or sub-regional arrangements have made
important contributions, often as full partners with the UN. Such arrangements can encourage
governments to recognize their obligations under relevant international conventions and to identify
and resolve sources of friction within their societies. There are many such examples of neighbours
helping neighbours. (Secretary-General Report, 2011, par. 4; 17)
In Badescu’s opinion, while outlining the significant implications of inaction, the ICISS report
emphasized the importance of having Council authorization, and of states always requesting it
before acting. But, the record of state practice shows that the international community no longer
sees the approval of the Security Council as an absolute must. (Badescu, 2011, p. 69-70) In Stahn’s
opinion, the ICISS left open whether and under what circumstances an intervention not authorized
by the Security Council would be valid in legal norms. (Stahn, 2007, p. 104) Interventions since the
1990s also suggest that states seem to respect “legitimacy ladder” when considering interventions,
and climb the necessary stairs accordingly; the Security Council is the most desirable form of
authorization, therefore located at the top of the legitimacy hierarchy, followed by regional
organizations as the second-best authoritative mechanism The R2P report’s recommendations
confirm the existence of an imaginary legitimacy ladder for intervention.

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3.2.2. Just cause

What are the situations that could justify military intervention for human protection purposes? In
accordance to the ICISS Report these situations are described as prevention or suppression of large
scale loss of life, actual or apprehended, with genocidal intent or not, which is the product either of
deliberate state action, or state neglect or inability to act, or a failed state situation; or large scale
“ethnic cleansing,” actual or apprehended, whether carried out by killing, forced expulsion, acts of
terror or rape. ICISS made no attempt to quantify “large scale”: opinions may differ in some
marginal cases (for example, where a number of small scale incidents may build cumulatively into
large scale atrocity), but most will not in practice generate major disagreement. Military action can
be legitimate as an anticipatory measure in response to clear evidence of likely large scale killing.
Without this possibility of anticipatory action, the international community would be placed in the
morally untenable position of being required to wait until genocide begins, before being able to take
action to stop it.
ICISS Report also defines basic elements of justifications as: a) actions defined by the framework
of the 1948 Genocide Convention that involve large scale threatened or actual loss of life; b) the
threat or occurrence of large scale loss of life, whether the product of genocidal intent or not, and
whether or not involving state action; c) different manifestations of „ethnic cleansing“, including
the systematic killing of members of a particular group in order to diminish or eliminate their
presence in a particular area; the systematic physical removal of members of a particular group
from a particular geographical area; acts of terror designed to force people to flee; and the
systematic rape for political purposes of women of a particular group (either as another form of
terrorism, or as a means of changing the ethnic composition of that group); d) crimes against
humanity and violations of the laws of war, as defined in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and 1977
Additional Protocols and elsewhere, which involve large scale killing or ethnic cleansing; e)
situations of state collapse and the resultant exposure of the population to mass starvation and/or
civil war; and f) overwhelming natural or environmental catastrophes, where the state concerned is
either unwilling or unable to cope, or call for assistance, and significant loss of life is occurring or
threatened. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 4.19-4.20)

3.2.3. Right intention

The primary purpose of the intervention must be to halt or avert human suffering. Any use of
military force that aims from the outset, for example, for the alteration of borders or the
advancement of a particular combatant group’s claim to self-determination, cannot be justified.
Overthrow of regimes is not, as such, a legitimate objective, although disabling that regime’s
capacity to harm its own people may be essential to discharging the mandate of protection – and
what is necessary to achieve that disabling will vary from case to case. Occupation of territory may
not be able to be avoided, but it should not be an objective as such, and there should be a clear
commitment from the outset to returning the territory to its sovereign owner at the conclusion of
hostilities or, if that is not possible, administering it on an interim basis under UN auspices. One
way of helping ensure that the “right intention” criterion is satisfied is to have military intervention
always take place on a collective or multilateral rather than single country basis. Another is to look
to whether, and to what extent, the intervention is actually supported by the people for whose
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benefit the intervention is intended, as well whether the opinion of other countries in the region has
been taken into account and is supportive. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 4.33-4.34)
In his 2011 Report the Secretary-General elaborated on the significance of neighbouring states in
decision-making. Politically, it has become increasingly evident that the views of neighbouring
States and regional bodies may be taken into account by members of the Security Council when
determining which course of action to take in particular situations. States and civil society groups
that are closer to the events on the ground may have access to more detailed information, may have
a more nuanced understanding of the history and culture, may be more directly affected by the
consequences of action taken or not taken, and may be critical to the implementation of decisions
taken in New York. (Secretary-General Report, 2011, par. 6) Without sustained public
understanding and support, the responsibility to protect will remain unfinished business. (Secretary-
General Report, 2011, par. 16)

3.2.4. Last resort

The primary focus should be on assisting the cessation of violence through mediation and other
tools and the protection of people through such measures as the dispatch of humanitarian, human
rights and police missions. Force, if it needs to be used, should be deployed as a last resort. (UN
High-level panel, 2004, 201) Every diplomatic and non-military avenue for the prevention or
peaceful resolution of the humanitarian crisis must have been explored. The responsibility to react –
with military coercion – can only be justified when the responsibility to prevent has been fully
discharged. This does not necessarily mean that every such option must literally have been tried and
failed: often there will simply not be the time for that process to work itself out. But it does mean
that there must be reasonable grounds for believing that, in all the circumstances, if the measure had
been attempted it would not have succeeded. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 4.37)

3.2.5. Proportional means

The scale, duration and intensity of the planned military intervention should be the minimum
necessary to secure the humanitarian objective in question. The means have to be commensurate
with the ends, and in line with the magnitude of the original provocation. The effect on the political
system of the country targeted should be limited, again, to what is strictly necessary to accomplish
the purpose of the intervention. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 4.39)

3.2.6. Reasonable prospect

Military action can only be justified if it stands a reasonable chance of success, that is, halting or
averting the atrocities or suffering that triggered the intervention in the first place. Military
intervention is not justified if actual protection cannot be achieved, or if the consequences of
embarking upon the intervention are likely to be worse than if there is no action at all. In particular,
a military action for limited human protection purposes cannot be justified if in the process it
triggers a larger conflict. It will be the case that some human beings simply cannot be rescued
except at unacceptable cost – perhaps of a larger regional conflagration, involving major military

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powers. In such cases, however painful the reality, coercive military action will be no longer
justified. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001, 4.41)

3.3. Responsibility to rebuild

The responsibility to rebuild means that if military intervention action is taken – there should be a
genuine commitment of helping to (re)build a durable peace, and promoting good governance and
sustainable development. One of the essential functions of an intervention force is to provide basic
security and protection for all members of a population, regardless of ethnic origin, religion or
relation to the previous source of power in the territory. In post-conflict situations, revenge killings
and even “reverse ethnic cleansing” frequently occur as groups who were victimized attack groups
associated with their former oppressors.
In this part, education is one of the most important tasks in the “rebuilding issue”. It can promote
tolerance and an understanding of the value of diversity. There is also a practice of commemoration
acts and memorials to past atrocity crimes as a significant elements of reconstruction and rebuilding
the society (Secretary-General Report, 2013, par. 63; 64)
Furthermore, the binding obligation under international customary law to criminalize genocide, war
crimes and crimes against humanity, to investigate and to prosecute perpetrators is significant factor
in the rebuilding process. Ensuring accountability for human rights violations and past atrocity
crimes contributes not only to their prevention but also builds the credibility of institutions. The
legal framework for such accountability is provided through the ratification, domestication and
implementation of relevant international legal instruments. (Secretary-General Report, 2013, par.
40)
Ensuring sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation will involve the commitment of sufficient
funds and resources and close cooperation with local people, and may mean staying in the country
for some period of time after the initial purposes of the intervention have been accomplished. Too
often in the past the responsibility to rebuild has been insufficiently recognized, the exit of the
interveners has been poorly managed, the commitment to help with reconstruction has been
inadequate, and countries have found themselves at the end of the day still wrestling with the
underlying problems that produced the original intervention action. (Responsibility to Protect
Report, 2001, 5.2) A final peace building responsibility of any military intervention should be as far
as possible to encourage economic growth, the recreation of markets and sustainable development.
The issues are extremely important, as economic growth not only has law and order implications
but is vital to the overall recovery of the country concerned. (Responsibility to Protect Report, 2001,
5.19)

4. The R2P further development and observations after the ICISS Report was released
After the ICISS Report was released, the debate about the concept of responsibility to protect took a
new turn in the High-Level Panel Report from 2004, where it was directly related to institutional
reform of the UN. The High-level panel saw the idea of responsibility to protect as a means to
strengthen the collective security system under the UN Charter. (Stahn, 2007, 105-107)

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In his 2005 report, contrary to the High-Level Panel which discusses the responsibility to protect in
the context of the use of force, the UN Secretary-General returns to the broader understanding of
the ICISS Report by placing his assessment of the responsibility to protect in context with the
principles of human dignity and the rule of law. (Payandeh, 2010, p. 475) He emphasized the basic
points from the ICISS Report: the responsibility to protect lies with each individual State - its
primary duty is to protect its population. But, if national authorities are unable or unwilling to
protect their citizens, then the responsibility shifts to the international community to use diplomatic,
humanitarian and other methods to help protect the well-being of civilian. When such methods
appear insufficient, the Security Council may out of necessity decide to take action under the UN
Charter, including enforcement action, if so required. (Secretary General Report, 2004, par. 135)
With regard to the use of force, the Secretary-General also focuses on the Security Council and does
not discuss the possibility of humanitarian interventions without authorization of the Security
Council. He pointed out that the task is not to find alternatives to the Security Council as a source of
authority but to make it work better. (Secretary-General Report, 2005, par. 125-126)
In Stahn’s opinion this Report did not expressly rule out the possibility of unilateral action in any
circumstances. Nevertheless, the general focus of the report on the Security Council and the silence
of the Secretary-General on alternative means of carrying out interventions for the purposes of
human protection indicated a general reluctance to accept military action without the Security
Council authorization. (Stahn, 2007, p. 107)
In the World Summit Outcome document from 2005 different conception of the notion of the
responsibility to protect finally became apparent. In Stahn’s opinion, the final text of the Outcome
Document is a compromise solution that seeks to bridge the different position. States avoided
reducing the idea of responsibility to protect to a purely moral concept. However, paragraphs 138
and 139 represent a curious mixture of political and legal considerations, which reflects the
continuing division and confusion about the meaning of the concept. (Stahn, 2007, p. 108) As
Secretary-General concluded – the responsibility to protect is a universal principle. But, its
implementation should respect institutional and cultural differences from region to region. Each
region will deal with this principle at its own pace and in its own way. (Secretary-General Report,
2011, par. 8)
The clearest commitment to the concept of the responsibility to protect is contained in par. 138,
reflecting the traditional bond of duty between the host state and its citizens (Stahn, 2007, p. 108):
Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes,
ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.8 This responsibility entails the prevention of such
crimes, including their incitement, through appropriate and necessary means. States accept that
responsibility and are willing to act in accordance with it. The international community should, as
appropriate, encourage and help states to exercise this responsibility and support the United Nations
in establishing an early warning capability. (The Outcome Document, 2005, par. 138)
In his 2010 report on “Early warning, assessment and the responsibility to protect” Secretary-
General called for early engagement and a balanced and dynamic understanding of the evolving
conditions on the ground in each situation. In that regard, there should be natural synergies between
the United Nations and its regional and sub-regional partners when it comes to gathering and

8
While the ICISS Report applied to “large scale ethnic cleansing”or “large scale loss of life” the Outcome Document
applies to genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and war crimes.
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sharing information, comparing notes, and exchanging assessments of situations of common
concern.
At every stage of the implementation process, from identification and assessment to policy
formulation and action, international actors need to act responsibly. Faulty or ill-informed analysis
at an early stage could set international decision makers on the wrong path, leading to overreaction
or under-reaction. A pattern of false alarms or, worse, selective reporting could also damage the
credibility of the United Nations. It is therefore important that early warning and assessment be
conducted fairly, prudently and professionally, without political interference or double standards.
(Secretary-General, 2012, par. 51)
Furthermore, national civil society organizations may play an important role by providing grass-
roots early warning. New technologies allow individuals to provide live information that can help
individuals to remove themselves from harm’s way. This was the case, for example, in Libya and
Kenya. (Secretary-General Report, 2012, par. 46)
The passage on the responsibility of the international community is framed in more cautious terms
and demonstrates significant restraint with regard to the responsibility of the international
community. (Stahn, 2007, p. 108; Payandeh, 2010, 476) Par. 139 determines that States are
prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in
accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with
relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national
authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic
cleansing and crimes against humanity. States stress the need for the General Assembly to continue
consideration of the responsibility to protect populations from enumerated crimes, bearing in mind
the principles of the Charter and international law. They also intend to commit themselves, as
necessary and appropriate, to helping States build capacity to protect their populations from these
crimes and to assisting those which are under stress before crises and conflicts break out. (The
Outcome Document, 2005, par. 139) In this regard, term “populations” refers not only to citizens or
civilians, but to all populations within State borders. (Secretary-General Report, 2013, par. 5)
In Stahn’s opinion, the Outcome Document assumes a more reserved stance vis-à-vis responsibility
to take collective action through the Security Council under Chapter VII. The second sentence of
par. 139 places this idea under a double qualifier. First, the heads of state and government merely
reaffirm their preparedness to take such action. This language points toward a voluntary, rather than
a mandatory engagement. Moreover, states commit themselves to act only on a case-by-case basis
through the Security Council, which again stands in contrast to the assumption of a systematic duty.
More fundamentally, the text of the Outcome Document does not firmly state that United Nations
collective security action constitutes the only option for responding to mass atrocities through the
use of force. Some states claimed that the concept of collective action under the umbrella of the
responsibility to protect should not preclude action absent Security Council authorization. The
United States, for example, argued that the Outcome Document should not foreclose the possibility
of unauthorized intervention, noting that there may be cases that involve humanitarian catastrophes
but for which there is also a legitimate basis for states to act in self-defence. The Outcome
Document does not exclude this line of reasoning. It leaves the door open to unilateral responses
through its case-by-case vision of collective security and a qualified commitment to act in
cooperation with regional organizations. (Stahn, 2007, p. 109)

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In his first report in 2009 on implementing the responsibility to protect concept, Secretary-General
laid out a three-pillar strategy for implementation in line with paragraphs 138 and 139 of the World
Summit Outcome. The first pillar refers to the primary responsibility of each State to protect its
populations by preventing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity
(“atrocity crimes”) in accordance with their national and international obligations. The second pillar
sets out the parallel commitment of the international community to encourage and assist States to
fulfil their responsibility. The third pillar underscores the range of tools available under Chapters
VI, VII and VIII of the Charter of the United Nations for timely and decisive response when States
manifestly fail to meet their responsibilities.
Secretary-General emphasized that the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the Outcome
Document are firmly anchored in well-established principles of international law. At the heart of
these paragraphs lies the state acknowledgement of its primary responsibility to protect its
populations. Under conventional and customary international law, states have obligations to prevent
and punish genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity… The Summit’s enunciation of the
responsibility to protect was not intended to detract in any way from the much broader range of
obligations existing under international humanitarian law, international human rights law, refugee
law and international criminal law. It should also be emphasized that actions under paragraphs 138
and 139 of the Outcome Document are to be undertaken only in conformity with the provisions and
principles of the United Nations Charter. (Secretary-General Report, 2009, par. 3; 4)
These provisions are to be seen as a tribute to the determination and foresight of the world leaders
and to their shared understanding of the urgency of the issue that they were able to agree on such
detailed provisions regarding the responsibility to protect. Their determination to move the
responsibility to protect from promise to practice reflects both painful historical lessons and the
evolution of legal standards and political imperatives.
5. Conclusion
No one is prepared to defend the claim that states can do what they want to their own people, and
then hide behind the principle of sovereignty. There is no justification for core crimes, genocide,
ethnic cleansing etc. In 2001 the ICISS has called on the international community, its members and
nations and non-governmental organizations, to embrace the idea of the responsibility to protect as
a basic element in the code of global citizenship, and its vital necessity.
But, critical observations of the responsibility to protect concept emphasize that the history of the
responsibility to protect doctrine sounds almost like a fairy tale. (Stahn, 2007, p. 98) One of its most
striking aspects appears to be the gap between the promise and the reality. (Chandler, 2009, p. 27)
Although state representatives and international organizations permanently endorse the concept,
single states and groups of states continue to emphasize the significance of state sovereignty, with
regard to the domestic affairs of a state, to point out the limited competences of the Security
Council, and to emphasize that the responsibility to protect has not yet gained legal force. The
endorsement of the responsibility to protect has not significantly impacted international law. The
prohibition of the use of force and the principle of non-intervention are left intact. From a legal
perspective, the normative content of the responsibility is, therefore, evolutionary rather than
revolutionary. (Payandeh, 2010, p. 480; 515) Its further development should be observed in the
wider frame of the international law making process.

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The development of the concept shows that significantly different understandings of the
responsibility to protect exist. The details of the concept, as developed by the ICISS Report in 2001,
differ remarkably from the 2004 High-Level Panel Report, which was endorsed in principle by
Secretary-General in 2005. The 2005 World Summit Outcome Document reflects an even narrower
consensus.
While the concept is widely accepted, single implications which are associated with it are not.
Unfortunately, we are constantly witnessing atrocity crimes as the direct consequence of the failure
of states to take preventive measures. Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Sri Lanka, Sudan and lately Syrian
Arab Republic could be seen as unnecessary – by proper implementation of the concept of the
responsibility to protect they could have been prevented.
In Stahn’s opinion the concept of responsibility to protect may gradually replace the doctrine of
humanitarian intervention in the course of the 21st century. However, at present, many of the
propositions of this concept remain uncertain from a normative point of view or lack support.
Responsibility to protect is thus in many ways still a political catchword rather than a legal norm.
Further fine-tuning and commitment by states will be required for it to develop into organizing
principle for international society. (Stahn, 2007, p. 120)

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