UN human rights chief stresses collective responsibility to protect civilians by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 11:25pm 22nd Jul, 2009   Individual countries, regional organizations and partners of the United Nations must all do more to ensure the international community has “a credible capacity for rapid responses” to any future situations similar to previous episodes of genocide or ethnic cleansing, the top UN human rights official said today.    Navi Pillay, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the principle of “responsibility to protect” (R2P) – which holds States responsible for shielding their own populations from genocide and other major human rights abuses and requires the international community to step in if this obligation is not met – must now be translated into concrete steps.    “We should all undertake an honest assessment of our ability to save lives in extraordinary situations,” she said in a statement issued a day ahead of the General Assembly’s interactive dialogue on the issue.    Ms. Pillay warned that her own experience growing up in South Africa under apartheid demonstrated that “it is not easy for the international community to respond in a situation where genocide, war crimes or other serious human rights violations are occurring.”    She said that while her office would continue to support States to fulfil their responsibilities to protect civilians, including through institution building, technical cooperation and the overall promotion of human rights, a collective effort was needed.    “A concerted effort by States, UN partners and regional organizations will be required to develop and maintain a credible capacity for rapid responses to exceptional situations similar to those of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.    “Concerted efforts by the international community at critical moments in time could prevent the escalation of violence into genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing.”    Edward Luck, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on R2P, noted that all the heads of State and government at the 2005 World Summit, without reservation, committed to the doctrine, and subsequent unanimous adoptions of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions reaffirmed the principle.    “With the Secretary-General’s presentation of his report to the Assembly two days ago, the process of implementation has begun,” said Mr. Luck.    He said that R2P seeks to “discourage unilateralism, military adventurism and an over-dependence on military responses to humanitarian need.” He also wanted to dispel the “myth” of the “twisted notion that sovereignty and responsibility are somehow incompatible.”    Delivering a set of proposals contained in his latest report on the issue, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered a set of proposals for implementing the principle in his latest report on the issue, telling the Assembly on Tuesday that the common task of the UN “now is to deliver on this historic pledge to the peoples of the world.”    The proposals, under consideration by the 192-member UN General Assembly, rest on three pillars: State responsibility; international assistance and capacity-building; and timely and decisive response.    “By developing fully UN strategies, standards, and processes for implementing the responsibility to protect, we can discourage States or groups of States from misusing these principles for inappropriate purposes,” said Mr. Ban.    The Secretary-General asked States to let the Assembly provide the venue for a continuing search for common ground on a multilateral strategy to protect the world’s people from what he described as “massive affronts to human dignity.”    He also urged that the victims of such atrocities and crimes, who number in the millions, not be forgotten. “Those losses have permanently stained the history of the 20th century. Together, in this century, we can chart a different course,” he stated. Visit the related web page
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item