iR2P

the individual Responsibility to Protect

Archives for the ‘Features’ Category

Congo: information and action

By Fred • Nov 4th, 2008 • Category: Action, Features

New arrivals in a camp for displaced people in the market town of Masisi, North Kivu, last December. Having offered a semblance of refuge from the fighting and lawlessness surrounding it, Masisi was emptied by fighting in September 2008. (Photo by Fred.)
The last time eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had this much media attention, [...]



R2P and Ossetia: When is the use of force legitimate?

By Fred • Aug 31st, 2008 • Category: Features

Three years ago, at the 2005 World Summit, 150 world leaders resolved “to create a more peaceful, prosperous and democratic world and to undertake concrete measures… to provide multilateral solutions to problems in the four following areas: development, peace and collective security, human rights and the rule of law, and strengthening of the United Nations.”
Under [...]



For anyone wondering whether this is a worthwhile cause

By Fred • Aug 14th, 2008 • Category: Features

“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 [...]



One of the more powerful but less understood ideas of our times

By Fred • Jul 18th, 2008 • Category: Features

In a speech earlier this week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon declared his “deep and enduring” personal commitment to the Responsibility to Protect. Appealing for a common understanding of what R2P is and is not, he said “it is not a new code for humanitarian intervention. Rather, it is built on a more positive and affirmative [...]



R2P and disaster relief

By Fred • Jun 17th, 2008 • Category: Features, Opinions

A few weeks ago, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner (a lifelong advocate of ‘humanitarian intervention’) invoked R2P when the Government of Burma/Myanmar appeared to be obstructing relief efforts in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. However, when the French Ambassador to the UN requested a briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation, even this [...]



R2P in Africa

By Fred • Feb 12th, 2008 • Category: Events, Features

Ahuna Eziakonwa, UN OCHA, speaking at the seminar.
Through the African Union’s Constitutive Act of 2000, African leaders recognised the responsibility of the AU to intervene in the internal affairs of its member states to protect citizens during humanitarian crises. It is worth remembering that many prominent Africans have contributed to developing the responsibility to protect [...]



What happens next

By Fred • Jan 30th, 2008 • Category: Articles, Features

Wise sailors have always been more interested in reliable weather forecasts than reports of yesterday’s storm damage.
As it happens, history is not a bad guide to future possibilities, especially when you consider some of the alternatives. But news isn’t history (yet). We look back only because we have better information about the past than the [...]