8. R2P

Question 1

What is humanitarian intervention?

Answer 1

The right to intervene in another country despite the soveriginity norm.

UN Charter 2(4) - to respects state soverignity
UN Charter 39 - UNSC can use force to respond a threat against international peace and security.
UN Charter 51 - Right to self-defence untill UNSC has taken countermeasures.

Not only military intervention. Embargo, sanctions, diplomatic sanctions.

UN Charter 2(4) - to respect state sovereignty.

Question 2

What does UN Charter 39 state?

Answer 2

The UNSC can use force to respond to a threat against international peace and security.

Question 3

What does UN Charter 51 allow?

Answer 3

Right to self-defense until the UNSC has taken countermeasures.

Question 4

What forms can humanitarian intervention take?

Answer 4

Not only military intervention; it can include embargoes, sanctions, and diplomatic sanctions.

Question 5

What is R2P?

Answer 5

Responsibility to Protect, a political framework agreed upon to prevent mass atrocity crimes.

2. World Summit 2005, paragraph 138, 139 and 40.

138 - pillar1-2
139 - pillar 3

To prevent a comission of mass atrocity crimes.

Aligns UNC C VII - Rome Statute 13b and 16.

ICISS 2001. World Summit 2005, paragraphs 138, 139, and 140.

Question 6

What are the three pillars of R2P?

Answer 6

1. Prevent (state itself)
2. React (with consent of the state)
3. Intervene (international community).

Question 7

What historical events influenced R2P?

Answer 7

Genocide and ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and the Balkans in the 1990s.

Question 8

What is ICISS?

Answer 8

International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty

International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, which published the R2P report in 2001.

Non state actors, previos head of state and scholors.
Also African scholars.

It aimed to find common ground about state sovereignty and human rights protection.

Question 9

What does UN Charter 2(4) emphasize?

Answer 9

State sovereignty.

Question 10

What does UN Charter VII allow?

Answer 10

Allows to intervene despite state soverignity.
- Threat against international peace and security.

Question 11

Can you name examples of interventions with UNSC authority?

Answer 11

Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia.

Question 12

Can you name an example of intervention without UNSC authority?

Answer 12

Kosovo in 1999.

Question 13

What is R2P customary law?

Answer 13

Opinio juris: UNSC reffering and acting on it resolutions
UN SG issuing annual report on R2P

Challenges:
Lack of consistent practice (SC politiziced)
Disagrements of the scope of R2P (India ambassador)

Challenges include lack of consistent practice and disagreements on the scope of R2P.

Question 14

What are mass atrocity crimes?

Answer 14

Crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing.

Question 15

What is a concern regarding R2P as a norm?

Answer 15

Concerns that R2P is applied inconsistently, often based on political considerations rather than objective criteria. Critics point to the Security Council’s inaction in some cases, like Syria, while intervening in others, like Libya, as evidence of selectivity.

Question 16

How was the UNSC paralyzed during the Cold War?

Answer 16

The rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union often led to deadlock due to vetoes.

Question 17

What are some instances of vetoes since R2P endorsement?

Answer 17

Instances include resolutions concerning human rights abuses in Myanmar, Zimbabwe, and Syria.

Question 18

What is a silent veto?

Answer 18

Resolutions not even proposed due to P5 political preferences.

Question 19

What is an Advisory Opinion?

Answer 19

A non-binding opinion from the ICJ based on a request from UNSC, GA, or other UN organs.

Question 20

What is voluntary veto restraint?

Answer 20

Initiatives asking permanent members of the Security Council to voluntarily restrain their veto use in the face of atrocities.

Question 21

What does the Genocide Convention require from states?

Answer 21

States are legally obligated to ‘prevent’ genocide, meaning they must use due diligence and their positions of influence.

Question 22

What is the Geneva Convention?

Answer 22

A set of treaties establishing standards of international law for humanitarian treatment in war.

Question 23

What does due diligence mean in international law?

Answer 23

The legal principle requiring states to take all reasonable steps to prevent harm to their population.

Question 24

What are options for responding to atrocities in Ukraine?

Answer 24

Information warfare, legal proceedings, economic sanctions, diplomatic sanctions, and military assistance.

Question 25

Vetoes Since R2P Endorsement

Answer 25

a
Instances veto has been used since the endorsement of R2P in 2005,often by Russia and China to block resolutions concerning human rights abuses in countries like:

Myanmar, Zimbabwe, and Syria.