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The Responsibility to Protect

The Responsibility to Protect

Author: Jared Genser; Irwin Cotler
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199797769
Published In: January 2012
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: International ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Includes a preface by Desmond Tutu and Václav Havel
A thorough and comprehensive treatment of the still-emerging "RtoP" doctrine whereby the international community may intervene when a given nation fails to protect its own citizens from mass atrocities, through graduated measures up to and including the potential use of force as a last resort
Balances its proposals by presenting differing viewpoints on this contentious subject
Provides case studies to demonstrate how the "RtoP" principle works in practice
Accessible to students and professors of international law but practical enough for use by international organizations, NGOs, and think tanks

In The Responsibility to Protect: The Promise of Stopping Mass Atrocities in Our Time, Jared Genser and Irwin Cotler provide a comprehensive overview on how this contemporary principle of international law has developed and analyze how best to apply it to current and future humanitarian crises. The "responsibility to protect" is a doctrine unanimously adopted by the UN World Summit in 2005, which says that all states have an obligation to protect their own citizens from mass atrocities, which includes genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. Its adoption and application has generated a passionate debate in law schools, professional organizations, media and within the U.N. system.

To present a full picture of where the doctrine now stands and where it could go in the future, editors Jared Genser and Irwin Cotler have assembled a global team of authors with diverse backgrounds and differing viewpoints, including Edward Luck, the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect. Genser and Cotler balance the pro-RtoP chapters with more skeptical arguments from agency staff and scholars with long experience in addressing mass atrocities. Framed by a Preface from Desmond Tutu and Vaclav Havel and a Conclusion from Gareth Evans, these in-depth and authoritative analyses move beyond theory to demonstrate how RtoP has worked on the ground and should work if applied to other crises. The global focus of this book, as well as its detailed application of the principle in case studies make it uniquely useful to staff at international organizations and NGOs considering use of the principle in a given circumstance, to scholars providing advice to governments, and to students seeking guidance on this still-expanding subject.

Readership: Legal academics, political scientists, historians, law students, policymakers, agency staff, NGO officers, and journalists.

Preface
Jared Genser and Irwin Cotler
Abbreviations
Introduction
Václav Havel and Desmond M. Tutu
Part I. The Development of the Responsibility to Protect
1 Evolution of the Concept of State Sovereignty, Lloyd Axworthy
2 Adoption of the Responsibility to Protect, William W. Burke-White
3 Defining the Mass-Atrocity Crimes Covered, Tarun Chhabra and Jeremy B. Zucker
4 Challenges and Controversies, Nicole Deller
5 Implementing the Responsibility to Protect, Edward C. Luck
Part II. Regional Perspectives
6 Africa, Ademola Abass
7 Asia and the Pacific, Noel M. Morada
8 Europe and North America, Mark V. Vlasic
9 Latin America and the Caribbean, Gilberto Marcos Antonio Rodrigues
10 Middle East, Mohamed S. Helal
Part III. Case Studies
11 Darfur (Sudan), Andrew S. Natsios and Zachary Scott
12 Burma (Myanmar), Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro and Meghan Barron
13 Kenya, Meredith Preston-McGhie and Serena Sharma
14 Sri Lanka, Damien Kingsbury
15 Democratic Republic of Congo, Delphine Schrank
16 Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Kjell Magne Bondevik and Kristen Abrams
Conclusion: Lessons and Challeges
Gareth Evans

Jared Genser, Managing Director, Perseus Strategies, Honourable Irwin Cotler, M.P., Professor, Canadian Parliament, Prefaced by Desmond Tutu, and Prefaced by Václav Havel

Preface by Desmond Tutu and Václav Havel Irwin Cotler is Professor of Law and Director of the Human Rights Programme at McGill University. He previously served as Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General and currently serves as an M.P. in Canada's Parliament. He has taught as a Visiting Professor at Harvard and Yale.

Jared Genser is Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, a law firm whose practice focuses on international human rights. Independently, he is founder of Freedom Now, a non-profit organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide. Previously, he was a partner in the government affairs practice of DLA Piper LL P and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He has taught semester-long seminars about the UN Security Council at the University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania law schools. He holds a B.S. from Cornell University, an M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.

Contributors:

Václav Havel: Former President of the Czech Republic.; Desmond M. Tutu: Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town.; Lloyd Axworthy: President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Winnipeg.; William W. Burke-White: Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.; Tarun Chhabra: Soros Fellow, Harvard Law School.; Jeremy B. Zucker: Partner, Hogan Lovells.; Nicole Deller: Director of Programs for the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.; Edward C. Luck: UN Secretary General's Special Advisor on R2P.; Ademola Abass: Research Fellow at UNU-CRIS.; Noel M. Morada: Director of the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.; Mark V. Vlasic: Partner, Ward & Ward.; Gilberto Marcos Antonio Rodrigues: Visiting Scholar, the Center for Civil and Human Rights, Notre Dame Law School.; Mohamed S. Helal: Third Secretary with the Egyptian Foreign Service.; Andrew S. Natsios: Distinguished Professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.; Zachary Scott: Field Support Coordinator for the Migration and Refugee Services Department at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.; Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro: Professor of political science (retired) at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.; Meghan Barron: Associate, DLA Piper.; Meredith Preston-McGhie: Senior Programme Manager (Africa) for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.; Serena Sharma: Research Associate at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.; Damien Kingsbury: Chair in the School of International and Political Studies at Deakin University.; Delphine Schrank: Adjunct Fellow with the East-West Center in Washington.; Kjell Magne Bondevik: Former Prime Minister of Norway.; Kristen Abrams: Pro-Bono Counsel, DLA Piper.; Gareth Evans: Former Attorney General and Foreign Minister of Australia .

"With an introduction by Desmond Tutu and the late Václav Havel, the assembled contributors have produced the best discussion on how best to apply R2P to current and future humanitarian crises." - Thor Halvorssen, Huffington Post

"Including perspectives from a diverse group of experts, iThe responsibility to Protectr makes an important contribution to the growing scholarship about this new and evolving doctrine. At the same time, however, the case studies in the book illustrate the painful reality of the large gap between the world's stated commitment to halting mass atrocities and its ongoing practice. Ultimately, it recommends a series of practical steps that should be taken by the international community to bring its promise to fruition." - The Honourable Roméo A. Dallaire, Senator (Canada) and Lietenant General (Ret.)

"The goalposts have moved in recent years as much more robust obligations are expected of states and intergovernmental organizations when vulnerable groups face humanitarian crises, be these man-made or natural. Nowhere is this more clearly manifested than in the evolving doctrine of iThe Responsibility to Protectr. This rich and authoritative collection of essays provides a superb tour d'horizon of the subject, explaining the theoretical and political issues and setting out the relevance of the concept to the great challenges of our times." - William Schabas, Middlesex University, London