Transcript Responsibility to Protect”: The role of Civil Society

“Responsibility to
Protect”: The role of
Civil Society
By Francis K. Wairagu
Presented at the International Workshop on
“Responsibility to Protect”: Perspectives of the
South and the North
Organized by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and
the Working Group on Development and Peace
Bonn 17th October 2006
Introduction
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Responsibility to Protect rises out of the failure by international
community failure to adequately respond to the 1990s crises.
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It is a recasting of a new approach to such crises
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Attention is moved from the ‘Right to intervene’ to the
“Responsibility to Protect”
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The intention is bring about norms, or guiding principles of
behaviour for the international community of states in seeking
people welfare.
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The justification for this conceptual shift rests in the new focus on
human rights and more recently on the human security emphasis
that limits the sovereignty of states
The Guiding Tenets
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The responsibility to prevent: to address both
the root causes and direct causes of internal conflict
and other man-made crises putting populations at
risk.
The responsibility 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.
The responsibility to build: 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.
Role of Civil Society
a) To the General Concept
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Expounding on the concept or the principles eg What
does Responsibility and Protection mean?
Taking the debate out to the people
Engaging governments to measure willingness and any
challenges
Suggesting ways and means of improving the concept
Partner with governments and monitor implementation
Hold governments accountable where action is delayed
or not taken at all.
Maintain their roles in the prevention and protection.
b) Under Prevention
1.
Research and situational analysis
2.
Engaging state leaderships and seeking international
response to deserving cases
3.
Peace building and conflict transformation
4.
Partner with governments but maintain independence
5.
Development for peace initiatives
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Participate in the processes of building good governance
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Encourage institutional transformation to stabilize
governance
c) Under the Responsibility to React
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It is the most challenging stage because there is
confrontation
Maintain the protection of civilians even in the
confrontation, humanitarian assistance
Monitor the interveners to ensure that they keep to the
rules of engagement.
Build capacity for local take over after the intervention
d) Under the responsibility to build
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Lobbying governments for resources to rebuild
Monitor exploitation of local resources by the
interveners
Encourage and build capacity for local participation
Offering post-conflict therapy
Encourage interveners to leave at appropriate times
Further peace building and reintegration
Re-construction of governance and appropriate state
institutions
etc
What opportunities does it provide
1.
It looks at the issues from the perspective of those
seeking or needing support, rather than those who may
be considering intervention.
2.
It implies that the primary responsibility rests with the
state concerned, and that it is only if the state is unable or
unwilling to fulfil the responsibility to protect, or is itself
the perpetrator, that it becomes the responsibility of the
international community to act in its place.
3.
To ‘protect’ implies more than to ‘intervene’: it embraces
not just a responsibility to react, but to prevent and
rebuild as well.
4.
Above all, new language helps clarify and redirect the
policy debate: the actors have to change their lines, and
think afresh about what the real issues are.
How does it feed into other mechanism
1. In the case of Africa, there are clear roles for AU to intervene
in countries where there are serious human rights abuse
among others
2. Both the AU and NEPAB have clear avenues for civil society
engagement and holding member states accountable.
3. There are already regional bodies ready to intervene if one of
their own is abusing human rights, allows genocide like
activities, ECOWAS, IGAD, etc
4. Civil society has been doing peace building and most regions
are currently busy revamping regional Stand by Protection
5. The Great Lakes UN conference is a good example
6. The Nairobi SALW Protocol is another example
How it is being used in my region
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It is rather new and un-understood
Challenges
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The current UN system especially the Security Council and
its process
The international relation theory of self interests
Excuses not to and lack of capacity for response by various
states
Too late responses
What happens to situations where there no prospects for
regaining what is spent on reaction
The question of enforcement to states or the UN o take
responsibility, deaths, funds, etc
Civil society is dependent on states for funding and as such
will somehow pursues certain interests, lack of coordination
etc