In October 2013, UNA-UK submitted evidence to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee's inquiry on "Intervention: When, why and how?". The Committee published UNA-UK's evidence, in addition to submissions from other organsiations, such as Saferworld and the Henry Jackson Society, as well as academics like Edward Newman, University of Leeds, Mary Kaldor, London School of Economics and James Pattison, University of Manchester.
In the submission, UNA-UK contextualised intervention as one aspect of the responsibility to protect (R2P) principle. While R2P encompasses a wide range of non-coercive measures, it does allow for military intervention in order to protect populations from the imminent or on-going commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
The submission unpacked the separate international legal obligations constraining intervention, looking into the UN Charter, the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions. It then examined the moral and political obligations embedded in the R2P principle, which was first endorsed by all heads of state at the 2005 World Summit.
The report, written jointly by James Kearney, UNA-UK's Peace and Security Programmes Manager and Alex Buskie, Responsibility to Protect Programme Officer, concludes that:
"Ultimately, the United Kingdom must be at the forefront of insisting that sovereignty cannot be used either as a shield against abuses performed against populations within a state, intentional or unintentional, nor as an excuse not to halt such abuses. The United Kingdom must lead on urging states to uphold their commitments to the populations within their borders and, where appropriate and when necessary, work to build international support for intervening when it clear that populations are threatened and all other channels have been exhausted."
For more information about the Responsibility to Protect Programme, contact Alex Buskie, R2P Programme Officer, at buskie@una.org.uk.
Photo Credit: UK Ministry of Defence
