“Responsibility to Protect”: The role of Civil Society

1. “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

2. Introduction • Responsibility to Protect rises out of the failure by international community failure to adequately respond to the 1990s crises. • It is a recasting of a new approach to such crises • Attention is moved from the ‘Right to intervene’ to the “Responsibility to Protect” • The intention is bring about norms, or guiding principles of behaviour for the international community of states in seeking people welfare. • 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

3. The Guiding Tenets • 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.

4. Role of Civil Societya) To the General Concept • 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.

5. b) Under Prevention • Research and situational analysis • Engaging state leaderships and seeking international response to deserving cases • Peace building and conflict transformation • Partner with governments but maintain independence • Development for peace initiatives • Participate in the processes of building good governance • Encourage institutional transformation to stabilize governance

6. c) Under the Responsibility to React • 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

7. d) Under the responsibility to build • 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

8. What opportunities does it provide • It looks at the issues from the perspective of those seeking or needing support, rather than those who may be considering intervention. • 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. • To ‘protect’ implies more than to ‘intervene’: it embraces not just a responsibility to react, but to prevent and rebuild as well. • 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.

9. 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

10. How it is being used in my region • It is rather new and un-understood

11. Challenges • 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