iR2P

“For those of us who believe that, whatever the compelling attractions of traditional sovereignty,  we cannot simply turn a blind eye to mass atrocity crimes, and that the 2005 cannot be the high water mark from which the tides now recede, there is still a big job ahead.  The immediate objective must be to get to the point where, when the next conscience-shocking case of large-scale killing, or ethnic cleansing, or other war crimes or crimes against humanity come along, as they are all too unhappily likely to, the immediate reflex response of the whole international community will be not to ask whether action is necessary, but rather what action is required, by whom, when, and where…

“There is no point in simply mourning the absence of political will: this should be the occasion not for lamentation, but mobilization by those both within and outside the decision-making system in question…

“Let us work together, in all our different capacities, to ensure that, however many of the world’s problems we are unable to solve in the years ahead, we at least make sure that when it comes to mass atrocity crimes we never again –have to look back with anger, comprehension and shame after some new and terrible catastrophe, wondering how we could possibly have let it all happen again - as we’ve done so often in the past, after the Holocaust, after Cambodia, after Rwanda, after Srebrenica.”

The latest speech by Gareth Evans on the subject of the Responsibility to Protect - delivered to a group of senior military officers in Asia - is the probably best available detailed introduction to the concept, including its origins, significance and current challenges. (It is also highly relevant to the notion of individual engagement as proposed by iR2P.) Read the full transcript here.