Implementation of “Responsibility to Protect” Norm as a Justification for Military Interventions (original) (raw)

2017, Knowledge International Journal

The issue of undertaking military intervention to protect the population in sovereign states in cases when it is estimated that there is a significant violation of human rights, represents, from legal, ethical, operational and political aspects, one of the most controversial and complex dilemmas in contemporary international relations. During more than a decade, significant violations of international humanitarian law by governments of certain states or non-state actors caused in many cases the need to protect population on the territories of sovereign states from genocide, war crimes, ethnical cleansing and crime against humanity. It is undisputed that responsibility for the protection of human rights on the territories of sovereign states belongs to the governments of these states, and this is additionally emphasized by introducing the R2P norm. However, for the UN, regarding the R2P norm as it is today, a central aspect of their work is a question whether military interventions represent a solution for the whole series of problems, ranging from state development to conflict prevention? It is necessary to make continuous international efforts towards the implementation of efficient monitoring over practicing the so called good governance, as well as to give support, unconditionally and solidary, to governments of the states that are in the process of transition, through realization of measures for reducing social, political and economic problems as well as through providing them with institutional, administrative and technical assistance. In the same time, a key role for coordination of cooperation between states and international financial institutions, regional organisations and associations for the purpose of preventing identified deficiencies in governing, as well as in post-conflict reconstruction, undoubtedly belongs to the United Nations. At the moment, it seems that, for this, there is no sufficiently expressed political will and political understanding.