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Military intervention for humanitarian purposes: does the Responsibility to Protect doctrine advance the legality of the use of force for humanitarian ends?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2010

Eve Massingham
Eve Massingham
Affiliation:
Eve Massingham is an International Humanitarian Law Officer with the Australian Red Cross. She has completed studies in law, international law and international development.
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Abstract

The Responsibility to Protect is being touted as a new approach to protecting populations from mass atrocities. Certainly it would be encouraging to believe that an end to genocides, large scale ethnic cleansing and large scale loss of life were within humanity's reach. However, whilst the holistic approach of the doctrine is to be commended, the legality of the proposal requires further analysis. This paper specifically addresses the evolution of the legality of humanitarian intervention and looks at whether the Responsibility to Protect doctrine advances the legality of the use of force for humanitarian ends.

Type
Selected articles on international humanitarian law
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 91 , Issue 876: International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent , December 2009 , pp. 803 - 831
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2010

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References

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3 Ibid., pp. XI, XII.

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96 ICISS, above note 1, p. 53.

97 United Nations Charter, art. 42.

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102 Ibid., p. 53.

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104 N.J. Wheeler, above note 59, p. 45.

105 UN General Assembly Resolution 377(V) A, 3 November 1950.

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108 For example, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervention in Sierra Leone. ECOWAS and the Organisation of African Unity both included provisions in their respective charters which suggest that they are prepared to bypass the Security Council and engage in regional military action without seeking Security Council authorization.

109 ICISS, above note 1, p. 35.

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117 United Nations Charter, Article 2(3).

118 S. Chesterman, above note 7, p. 40.

119 ICISS, above note 1, p. 37.

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121 ICISS, above note 1.

122 M. Ignatieff, above note 9.

123 ICISS, above note 1, p. VIII.

124 See for example, Thakur's 2002 article which addressed the question of the ‘added value’ of the R2P. This discussion framed the benefits of R2P as being ‘balance, outreach, independence, comprehensiveness, innovativeness and political realism’: R. Thakur, above note 4, pp. 325–27.

125 ICISS, above note 1, p. VII.

126 United Nations Charter, above note 49.

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128 See for example SC Res 808 (1993), SC Res 827 (1993), and SC Res 955 (1994) establishing the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

129 ICJ, Nicaragua, above note 53, para. 176. See also J.M. Welsh, above note 67, p. 55.

130 ICJ, Nicaragua, above note 53, para. 176.

131 S. Chesterman, above note 7, pp. 52–53.

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135 G. Evans, above note 12, p. 34.

136 Ibid.

137 S.N. MacFarlane et al., above note 10, p. 982.

138 United Nations General Assembly, 2005 World Summit Outcome, above note 30, para. 139.

139 R. Thakur, above note 4, p. 337.

140 See for example Fiona Terry, The Paradox of Humanitarian Action: Condemned to Repeat, Cornell University Press, New York, 2002; Mary Ellen O'Connell, ‘The Responsibility to Protect (R2P): A way forward – or rather part of the problem?’, Foreign Voices, Vol. 1, 2008, available at http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/documents/FV_R2Pwayforwardorproblem.pdf (last visited 16 December 2009).

141 N.J. Wheeler, above note 59, p. 300.

142 M. Ayoob, above note 55, p. 85.

143 T.G. Weiss, above note 6, p. 141.

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147 I. Brownlie, above note 42, p. 338.

148 S. Chesterman, above note 7, p. 161.

149 G. Evans, above note 12.

150 P. Collier, above note 57, p. 128.

151 M. Ayoob, above note 55, p. 86.

152 ICISS, above note 1, p. 37.

153 M. Ayoob, above note 55, p. 92.

154 Thelma Ekiyor, ‘The Responsibility to Protect (R2P): A way forward – or rather part of the problem?’, Foreign Voices, vol. 1, 2008, available at http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/documents/FV_R2Pwayforwardorproblem.pdf (last visited 18 December 2008).

155 D. Luban, above note 132.

156 A.A. An-Na'im, above note 95; I. Tatsuo, above note 95.

157 T.G. Weiss, above note 6, p. 139.

158 See for example M. Ayoob, above note 55, p. 81.

159 T.G. Weiss, above note 6, p. 142.

160 M.E. O'Connell, above note 140.

161 ICISS, above note 56, pp. 67–68.

162 N.J. Wheeler, above note 59, p. 295.

163 P. Collier, above note 57, p. 128.

164 David Kennedy, Of Law and War, Princetown University Press, Princetown, 2006, p. 108.

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166 ICISS, above note 1, p. XII.

167 T.G. Weiss, above note 6, p. 145.

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169 S. Chesterman, above note 7, p. 45.