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Latest from the Coalition Secretariat
ICRtoP Updates Compilation of National endorsements of Responsibility to Protect: Policy Papers, Strategy Documents and Focal Points: This overview maps how States have begun to reflect their continued support for RtoP by including references to the norm in government documents, actions, and policies. (December 2011) ICRtoP Participates in Conference, Ten Years After the ICISS: Reflections for the Past and Future of the R2P: ICRtoP Blogger and Social Media Coordinator, Evan Cinq-Mars, participated in this conference hosted by the Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. Mr. Cinq-Mars discussed the role of civil society in bringing RtoP into international discourse and in contributing to the norm’s implementation. He also remarked on the role of social media in promoting RtoP. (12 November 2011)
ICRtoP Moderates Panel on The Responsibility to Protect, Libya and the Security Council: Lessons Learned and Paths Forward: ICRtoP Deputy Director, Sapna Considine, moderated this event hosted by the World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy and Citizens for Global Solutions. Panel participants included Jonas Claes (US Institute for Peace), Jerry Fowler (Open Society Policy Center), and Tod Lindberg (Hoover Institution). Panelists addressed the controversies surrounding the NATO intervention in Libya, the impact of the actions on RtoP in the short and long-term, and the recent inaction of the Security Council to the situation in Syria. (25 October 2011)
ICRtoP Participates in Conference, End Genocide Action Summit: Creating a Generation without Genocide: ICRtoP Senior Outreach Officer, Marion Arnaud, participated in this summit hosted by United to End Genocide. Ms. Arnaud participated in two panels, “What’s in a Word: Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect Primer,” where she gave an overview of RtoP and “Watch Areas: Looking Into the Crystal Ball where participants discussed potential zones of conflict in 2012 .” (22-24 October 2011)
ICRtoP Publishes Updated FAQs on Impact of Action in Libya on the Responsibility to Protect: This updated publication focuses on how the international community responded to the crisis in Libya and why the response was consistent with the RtoP framework. It also reminds that Libya is not the first ‘RtoP case’, also looking at how the norm applies to other situations including Cote d’Ivoire and Syria. (October 2011)
ICRtoP Deputy Director Edits Special Issue of Global Responsibility to Protect Journal, Featuring Several Coalition Members: The Global Responsibility to Protect Journal published a special edition on the theme of civil society perspectives, which ICRtoP Deputy Director, Sapna Considine, guest edited. Contributions to the publication featured several Coalition Members, including UNA-Sweden, Citizens for Global Solutions, Global Action to Prevent War, and Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales (CRIES). (September 2011 – Vol. 3, No. 3)
Clarifying the Third Pillar of the Responsibility to Protect: Timely and Decisive Response Too often, Member States, media and NGOs conflate the third pillar of the Responsibility to Protect with the use of force. This two-page document spells out the many measures that fall under the third pillar, and the actors involved in implementing these measures. (September 2011) ICRtoP Report on the 2011 General Assembly Dialogue on the Role of Regional Organizations in Implementing the Responsibility to Protect
On 27 June, 2011, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released his report, The role of regional and sub-regional arrangements in implementing the responsibility to protect. This is the third report from the Secretary-General since 2009 on the subject of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP). ICRtoP prepared a summary of the report. (7 July 2011)On 12 July 2011, the General Assembly met for the third time to hold an informal interactive dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP). This year’s theme followed the Secretary General’s report on the role that regional and sub-regional organizations play in protecting populations from mass atrocities. As expressed by the UN Secretary-General, the roots of the Responsibility to Protect, “extend to the early declarations of ECOWAS, the pioneering work of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the OSCE, the legal and human rights traditions of the Americas and the spirit of non-indifference that animates the African Union”. (10 August 2011)
ICRtoP Delivers Remarks at the General Assembly Interactive Dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect ICRtoP’s publication, Voices from Civil Society, highlights aspects of the current programs which relate to RtoP of 25 civil society groups from Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe and the Americas, including many ICRtoP members and close partners. (26 July 2011)
On 12 July 2011, Steering Committee Member, Nana Afadzinu, spoke on behalf of ICRtoP before the General Assembly Informal Interactive Dialogue. (12 July 2011) In preparation for the 12 July General Assembly interactive dialogue, the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect, the Stanley Foundation, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect hosted a half day panel entitled: Civil Society Perspectives – Reflections on the Role of Regional and Sub-regional Organizations in Implementing the Responsibility to Protect. The event featured civil society perspectives on how RtoP has been strengthened and implemented by regional organizations as well as reflections on the application of RtoP in country situations such as Libya, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Kenya. Edward Luck, Special Advisor on RtoP opened the event and Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, provided the keynote address. (11 July 2011)
ICRtoP Summary of Secretary-General’s Report on Regional and Sub-regional Organizations Outcome document published from ICRtoP & NGO conference on Early Warning for Protection ICRtoP developed and implemented the Early Warning for Protection conference in partnership with Oxfam Austrialia, AusAID, the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, and the University of Queensland from 3-4 November 2010 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The conference focused on the question of how actors can use early warning mechanisms to prevent mass atrocity crimes , and also discussed how the use of new technologies and communications can complement preventive measures. (7 July 2011) Latest on RtoP from our Members International Refugee Rights Initiative - A Poisoned Chalice? Local civil society and the International Criminal Court’s engagement in Uganda: First in IRRI’s series promoting local perspectives on international justice in Africa, this paper reflects on the ICC’s engagement in Uganda through the lens of the author’s experience working with one of the largest national civil society organisations in Uganda at the time when the investigations was first announced and the first arrest warrants were issued. (January 2012)
International Refugee Rights Initiative – Just Justice? Civil Society, International Justice and the Search for Accountability in Africa: IRRI launched a discussion paper series that will reflect local perspectives on international justice as it is being experienced in Africa. (9 January 2012) Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Socialies (CRIES) - Regionalization in New Scenarios: Democratic Deficit and Civil Society Participation in South American Regionalism: CRIES published a new paper which examines the coordination of regional actors in South America as well as their interaction with populatinos and civil society. (9 January 2012) World Federation of United Nations Associations – Second Dag Hammarskjold Symposium, Beijing, China: WFUNA, in collaboration with UNA China, the Research Center for United Nations and International Organizations, and the Embassy of Sweden, hosted, as part two of its three part series which was first conducted in Nairobi, Kenya, this symposium which commemorated the life of Former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold. In addition to discussing Hammarskjold’s philosophy on conflict prevention, participants spoke on RtoP and the role of the UN in prevention. Please see the event summary here. (1 December 2011) International Refugee Rights Initiative – NGO letter to the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on the Situation in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile: International Refugee Rights Initiative and nine other NGOs issued a letter to the African Commission and Human People's Rights to bring attention to the conflict in the Sudanese border states and its impact on civilians and refugees in the area. The letter called on the Commission to demand that all parties to the conflict to declare a ceasefire and allow for humanitarian access to civilians, as well as for the Commission to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the region. (30 November 2011)
Global Action to Prevent War – Linking Women’s Participation and Prevention of Atrocity Crimes: GAPW presented information on its new group linking the prevention of atrocity crimes and the full participation of women in conflict prevention and response measures at the Rutgers University Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. The group will bring together UN and NGO officials to find ways to influence RtoP ‘third pillar’ responses. (14 November 2011)
Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect – Ethnic Minority Protection in Vietnam: an R2P Challenge: In this policy brief, the Asia Pacific Centre examines the challenges facing the government of Vietnam for the protection of ethnic minorities in the nation. The brief discusses the areas of concern, such as discrimination of and human rights abuses of minority populations, and notes that such actions place groups at heightened risk for mass atrocities. The Asia Pacific Centre notes that Vietnam has voiced its commitment for RtoP and provides recommendations to strengthen the government’s capacity to prevent atrocity crimes. (November 2011)
Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect – Burma/Myanmar Spring: Surreal or so real?: This policy brief discusses the political reforms made in Burma/Myanmar as well as the factors that influenced their adoption, and examines the government’s relationship with the RtoP norm. The brief notes that the government’s policies towards ethnic minorities are still of great concern and calls on ASEAN and the international community to assist in the implementation of peacebuilding efforts to reduce tensions between ethnic groups and the state. (November 2011)
Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights – Opening of CLAIHR’s Year Long Symposium on RtoP to Commemorate 10th Anniversary of the ICISS Report: CLAIHR launched its symposium on with an event featuring Michael Ignatieff who spoke on the importance of the norm and answered questions on RtoP and Canada’s role in its implementation. (26 October 2011)
Genocide Alert – Launch of New German-Language Portal on RtoP: Genocide Alert’s new RtoP portal aims to provideinformation on RtoP (beginnings, history, application, details on the three pillars, the Secretary-General reports and more) to German speakers, and establish a non-partisan platform for discussion on RtoP in Germany and the rest of the world. (21 October 2011)
The Stanley Foundation - Structuring the US Government to Prevent Atrocities: Considerations for an Atrocities Prevention Board: As part of its 52nd annual Strategy for Peace Conference, the Stanley Foundation gathered 30 US government officials and mass atrocity specialists to discuss the prospects and challenges for the design of the Atrocities Prevention Board, mandated under a US Presidential Study Directive (PSD-10) of August 2011. Participants considered the needs of the Atrocities Prevention Board and how it can most effectively prevent mass atrocities. (13-15 October 2011)
Regional Coordinator of Economic and Social Research (CRIES) – Invitation for Student Papers on the Topic of “Implementing the Responsibility to Protect in Latin America and the Caribbean”: CRIES, in coordination with ICRtoP, invited undergraduate and graduate students from universities in Latin America and the Caribbean to participate in the presentation of papers on the principle of the RtoP. Entries were reviewed by a jury of renowned scholars, and prizes included $500 and publication in the Journal Pensamiento Propio for first place, and publication in the journal for both the second and third place entries. (29 September 2011)
Global Action to Prevent War – Summer News Brief: In this news brief, the Global Action to Prevent War highlights the activities it conducted and participated in over the summer, such as holding an informal meeting on 29 July 2011 with various partner NGOs that included a discussion on implementing RtoP, as well as organizing a visit with scholars to discuss human security issues, including RtoP, at the Beijing Foreign Studies University. (7 September 2011)
Human Rights Watch – NGO letter to IBSA Delegation to Syria: Human Rights Watch and three NGOS released a letter to the Foreign Ministers of India, Brazil, and South Africa welcoming their decision to dispatch an IBSA human rights delegation to investigate the situation in Syria. The letter calls attention to the human rights abuses committed in Syria and calls for IBSA countries to urge Syrian authorities to uphold their responsibility to protect. (4 August 2011)
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