51. The Responsibility to Protect at 15: A Promise Unfulfilled
- Author:
- Alex Bellamy
- Publication Date:
- 09-2020
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The Responsibility to Protect was adopted unanimously and without equivocation by the UN General Assembly in 2005. States accepted that each of them had a responsibility to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity – hitherto referred to as ‘atrocity crimes.’ They acknowledged their responsibility to assist one another to fulfil this primary responsibility. They declared they had a collective responsibility to protect populations in other countries using diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, and they promised to work through the UN Security Council to protect populations when national authorities were failing and peaceful means inadequate.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, United Nations, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus