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Europe
In this section, you will find the following topics:
I. The European Union
II. Other regional bodies III. RtoP at the National Level IV. Remaining efforts needed V. Civil Society Consultations Introduction
A number of historical circumstances pertaining to human rights violations throughout Europe’s history, namely the genocide in Armenia, the Holocaust and the genocide in Bosnia as well as the crimes against humanity in Kosovo explain Europe’s present-day commitment to halting and preventing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. At the UN, most European governments are strong supporters of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP), and many had a significant role in achieving a historic commitments by all Member States to a responsibility to protect from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide at the 2005 World Summit. Since 2005, governments have expressed their support in various fora, such as the Security Council debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict and the Opening Sessions of the General Assembly. In these statements they have also called for RtoP to be operationalized at the UN and implemented in crises such as Darfur and Burma. See European government statements on RtoP at the UN (2005-2008) I. The European Union Of all regional organizations, the EU has by far the greatest political strengths and capacities to help make RtoP a reality, from soft power in the way of development assistance and direct diplomatic role in conflict prevention and resolution, to coercive power through sanctions and military intervention. The EU has been cautious about using coercive and military solutions and prioritizes the use of non-coercive options. While the EU does have the capacity to enforce measures such as sanctions and penalties, it has however been difficult to find consensus and willingness to do so. This is exemplified by the number of statements of concern that were expressed about the crisis in Darfur, without substantive measures being acted upon. 1. RtoP at the EU since the 2005 World Summit EU members have expressed their endorsement and support of the RtoP through the following instruments: a. The European Consensus on Development (December 2005)
The EU, as the biggest provider of development aid, signed the European Consensus on Development on 20 December 2005, through which was expressed the willingness to ‘make a decisive contribution to the eradication of poverty and to help build a more peaceful and equitable world’. In this policy statement, EU Member States, the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission agreed to a common EU vision of development, reaffirming their support to the RtoP:
The EU also strongly supports the responsibility to protect. We cannot stand by, as genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing or other gross violations of international humanitarian law and human rights are committed. The EU will support a strengthened role for the regional and sub-regional organizations in the process of enhancing international peace and security, including their capacity to coordinate donor support in the area of conflict prevention. (Article 37 of the Consensus)
b. European Security Strategy (2008)
The European Security Strategy, ‘A secure Europe in a better world’ (12 December 2003) identifies the key threats facing the Union and defines its strategic objectives. An update to this document was issued on 11 December 2008 with additional threats and objectives to Europe’s security agenda. This document on the Implementation of the European Security Strategy, “Providing Security in a Changing World”, refers directly to the necessity for all states to “take responsibility for the consequences of their actions and hold a shared responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity” (page 2). The document also identifies advancing the 2005 RtoP agreement as an important priority for the EU.
c. EU Parliamentary Resolutions reference RtoP in the Darfur crisis (2006-2008)
Since the 2005 world summit, the EU Parliament has passed a number of resolutions referring to the Responsibility to Protect, denouncing atrocities and asking for protection of civilians on the ground:
2. EU-AU strategic partnership
Since 2003, the EU has deployed missions and cooperated with regional bodies to support national governments and other regional organizations to respond to conflict more effectively. With this aim in mind, Africa-EU partnerships were launched in Lisbon in December 2007, agreed to by EU and African Heads of State through the EU-Africa Joint Strategy. The Strategy stipulates coordination and assistance to the AU on various issues including human rights and peace and security. The Strategy aims at enhancing the capacity of the AU and of other regional mechanisms in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, as well as post-conflict reconstruction.
3. The EU and the use of force The EU has deployed military force, such as in Macedonia in 2003, Bosnia in 2004, Eastern Congo in 2003/2006, and Chad and Central African Republic in 2008. Challenges to these missions include difficulties in obtaining human resources and logistics on the ground, as seen during the recent involvement of EUFOR in Chad. There remains much to accomplish in garnering political will to intervene, as well as developing capacity to protect civilians from atrocity crimes. II. Other regional bodies Many European nations are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has shown capacity to intervene to halt mass atrocities in Operation Allied Force in Kosovo from March to June 1999. Other missions taking place with UN Security Council authorization include the Implementation Force (IFOR) and Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia from 1995 to 2004, the Kosovo Force (KFOR) from June 1999, and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan since 2001. Since 2006, NATO has a fully operational force called the NATO Response Force (NRF) consisting of 25,000 troops available for rapid deployment as a collective defense, crisis management, or stabilization force. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is the world’s largest regional security organization and the most inclusive. It plays an essential non-military role in promoting peace and stability and advancing democracy and human rights in Europe. The OSCE offers a forum for political negotiations and decision-making in the fields of early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. It has a Conflict Prevention Center which maintains an early-warning situation room and implements confidence-building measures. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) focuses on issues around elections, democratization, nondiscrimination, and the protection of minorities. III. RtoP at the National Level Some national governments have also codified the Responsibility to Protect in national documents and have been outspoken on the norm. For instance in France, RtoP has entered into the public discourse of the presidency and have been included in the July 2008 white paper on defense and national security as well as the white paper of the ministry or foreign and European affairs. Similarly, the Norwegian White Paper No.15, presented on 13 March 2009 by the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs entitled "Interests, responsibilities and opportunities" displays Norway’s commitment to the RtoP. IV. Remaining efforts needed The EU is the world’s largest provider of international assistance and an important foreign and security policy actor. As such, it has a great role to play in responding more effectively to protect civilians from mass atrocities and in assisting other states and institutions to develop the capacity to do so. Civil society has an important role to play in advancing the RtoP at the EU, for instance by pushing for discussions and debates of RtoP within the Commission and Parliament, for more effective responses to RtoP situations when they arise, and for states to express support for the norm in their statements and in domestic legislation. For a detailed civil society analysis on the challenges and recommendations for the EU to advance RtoP, see Oxfam’s 2008 EU policy paper. V. Civil Society Consultations WFM-IGP partnered with the Oxfam France-Agir Ici and Human Rights Watch to organize a European Roundtable on 26 June, 2008 in Paris, France. - See our page on the themes and speakers addressed at the roundtable
-To view the summary of presentations from the European roundtable, as well as recommendations from civil society on how to advance RtoP in the region, please refer to our Roundtable report: Dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect: European Perspectives. For more events organized by civil society in Europe, see related documents tab (Civil Society) above. |