International Politics of the United

Nations

Dr. Pam Shearing

pamela.shearing@kcl.ac.uk
Department of Political Economy
King’s College London
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Lecture 8: The UN and Human Rights – The
UN and the promotion of human rights,
humanitarian action and democracy

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The UN Charter

Article 2(7)
“Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United
Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the
domestic jurisdiction of any state.”

Preamble to the UN Charter

“We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding
generates from the scourge of war…”

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Humanitarian Crises
• Somalia - UNSC Resolution 794 authorised United Task Force to enter
Somalia to ease the humanitarian crisis.

• Rwanda - death of estimated 800,000 people; UNSC Resolution 929

authorised a French led Operation.

• Kosovo - UNSC Resolution 1199 demanded that all parties in Kosovo

and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia cease hostilities and maintain
a ceasefire. NATO increased its military preparedness for a limited air
option.

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ICISS Report
• Canadian government establishes
ICISS in September 2000.
• In December 2001 ICISS
publishes its report entitled ‘The
Responsibility to Protect’.
• Sees the concept of sovereignty
linked to the idea of
responsibility.

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Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
• State sovereignty implies
responsibility, and the primary
responsibility for the protection of its
people lies with the state itself.

• Where a population is suffering

serious harm, as a result of internal
war, insurgency, repression or state
failure, and the state in question is
unwilling or unable to halt or avert it,
the principle of non-intervention
yields to the international
responsibility to protect. 6
Responsibility to Protect – Core
Elements
Responsibility
to Prevent

R2P Responsibility to
React

Responsibility to
Rebuild 7
When to intervene?
6 fundamental principles before intervention can take place:

1. Just Cause.

2. Right Intention.

3. Proportionate Means.

4. Last Resort.

5. Reasonable Prospects.

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6. Right Authority.
High Level Panel, 2004

“In signing the Charter of the United Nations, States not only benefit
from the privileges of sovereignty but also accept its responsibilities.
Whatever perceptions may have prevailed when the Westphalian system
first gave rise to the notion of State sovereignty, today it clearly carries
with it the obligation of a State to protect the welfare of its own peoples
and meet its obligations to the wider international community.”

High Level Panel Findings, 2004

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World Summit Outcome Document, 2005

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World Summit Outcome Document,
2005

• Expands R2P - applicable when one or more of the

following is taking place:
1. Genocide.
2. War crimes.
3. Crimes against humanity.
4. Ethnic cleansing.

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UN Member State Commitment
UNSC Permanent Members must:

“bear particular responsibility

because of the privileges of…the veto
power they have been granted…I
would urge them to refrain from
employing or threatening to employ
the veto in situations of manifest
failure to meet obligations relating to
the responsibility to protect”.

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon

2009
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The P-5’s Response

The UNSC (and in particular the P5) who might have “reasonably
[been] expected to play a leading role in bolstering appropriate
measures of prevention, dissuasion and remedy across a
geographic spectrum” in a manner “commensurate with their
weight, wealth, reach and advanced capabilities” instead
frequently offered dialogue that reflected their internal divisions
and, as a consequence, represented a significant hurdle for R2P’s
advancement as a new international norm.

Louise Arbour, 2012

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The Arab Spring

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Case Study: Libya

• War crimes and crimes against

humanity in response to peaceful
civilian protests.

• Intent to continue to commit

such violations.

• International community urged

to respond to failure by the
Libyan government to uphold its
responsibility to protect.
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Case Study: Libya
UN Resolution 1973

- Protection of civilians.

- No fly zone.

- Enforcement of arms embargo.

- Ban on flights.

- Asset freeze.

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Case Study: Syria
Russia and China UNSC veto
Russia
"The draft resolution that was put to a vote did
not adequately reflect the real state of affairs in
Syria and has sent an unbalanced signal to the
Syrian parties,"
Russian UN Ambassador

China
“To push through a vote when parties are still
seriously divided over the issue will not help
maintain the unity and authority of the Security
Council, or help resolve the issue.”
Chinese UN Representative
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The world responds
China and Russia “carried a terrible
responsibility in the eyes of
the world and Syrian people.”
Mr, Alain Juppe

“Any government that brutalises

and massacres its people does
not deserve to govern.”
President Barack Obama

“Any further bloodshed that flows will be on their [China and Russia]
hands."
US UN ambassador , Susan Rice 18
 Diffusion of R2P by the UNSC P-5
• All are signatories to the UN Charter yet have adopted differing
interpretations of whether, when, and how to implement R2P.

• Result of a lack of consensus within the UNSC - political

stalemate with rejection of R2P.

• US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, stated that as a result

the UNSC: “failed utterly in its most important task on the
agenda this year”.

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Why was R2P applied in Libya but
not Syria?
• Strategic and regional alliances.

• Legacy of the Libyan conflict.

• Divided opposition - who to support?

• Alliances within the UNSC.

• Power of the UNSC veto.

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R2P’s application in Myanmar
• “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

• November 2019 - UNSC failed to make a referral to the ICC, although the ICC elected to
open its own investigation into crimes against humanity

• November 2019 – UNGA called for member states to prevent flow of arms into Myanmar

• UNSC has failed to impose a comprehensive embargo on Myanmar, or to implement R2P

• “there are clear echoes of Syria in 2011. There, too, we saw peaceful protests met
with unnecessary and clearly disproportionate force. The state’s brutal, persistent
repression of its own people led to some individuals taking up arms, followed by a
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downward and rapidly expanding spiral of violence all across the country”.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, April 2021

Where now for R2P?

“At this time of extreme challenges, we must not abandon the

responsibility to protect  or leave it in a state of suspended animation,
finely articulated in words but breached time and again in practice.“

“Lofty principles mean little if they cannot be applied when they matter
most.”

“Our over-arching challenge is to uphold the principle while preventing

its mis-use…That means acting promptly, preventively, diplomatically,
before situations escalate and spiral out of control.”

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UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, 25 June 2018
Conclusion – The future of a humanitarian
dialogue within the UN

• Lack of operational capacity.

• Lack of political will amongst states (particularly UNSC Members).

• How to achieve authorisation for action.

• Possible inclusion of a Responsibility to Prosecute so that those who

commit humanitarian atrocities are prevented from doing so again.

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