Introduction
Human Rights and Human Security
The debate on human rights and security taking shape in Asia is of precious importance. Indeed, in modern times, military and communist dictatorships - and even some political systems with a democratic façade -have shown strong disregard for human rights. Today, the aspiration to achieve human rights is becoming contagiously high among the peoples of Asia. However, despite past atrocities committed in the Asian region, such as the genocide in Cambodia in the 1970’s and crimes against humanity in East Timor in the 1990’s, there are yet no provisions in regional mechanisms to react and respond to extreme cases of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
The crisis in Burma has recently caught the attention of the world, after the government’s violent crackdown on monks and other peaceful protesters in September 2007. The Burmese government has a long history of gross violations of human rights and violent suppression of ethnic minority communities in Burma. Many countries have denounced the junta and are calling for an end to government-perpetrated human rights abuses. The US and the EU have tightened economic sanctions on the regime and Japan cancelled a $5 million grant in aid to the country. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a statement expressing their “revulsion” at the crackdown of the Burmese military on peaceful protesters and the UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council has met on more than one occasion to discuss the issue. The recent events have led to several leading advocates to label Burma an R2P situation.
Burma is not the only troubled country in the region; the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbor, has expressed concern over the treatment of ethnic minorities in Sri Lanka. The co-chair of International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), Gareth Evans, has said that Sri Lanka has the potential to become an R2P situation should the government overlook its responsibility to protect civilians. There is of course still much debate over whether R2P can be applied in Sri Lanka. Indeed, as R2P involves not only reaction to existing crises but prevention of future atrocities, it is also relevant to consider where lower-level conflicts may place populations at risk of mass suffering, and whether there are regional or international measures that should be adopted to prevent the conflicts from escalating.
See more analysis on this debate
Cautious approach to R2P: military intervention vs. broader understanding
In promoting the Responsibility to Protect, there is a strong sense of caution from the region about the norm. Some fear that R2P will be misused as reasoning for neo-colonialist ‘Western’ interventions. Many in the global south has thus solidified this position, often through the Group of 77 or the Non-Aligned Movement, against what they feel is intended to strengthen the influence and power of Northern governments to the detriment of the South. Although justifications for intervention in Iraq based on humanitarian grounds in 2003 were quickly discredited by most governments, there is still a sense that R2P could be used in the future for these types of politically-motivated interventions.
These concerns are reflected in Asian government statements on R2P. For example, Malaysia’s primary concern is that an R2P argument may be used by some of the major powers as a motive to intervene in Third World countries for the purpose of self-interest, and not on purely humanitarian grounds. Singapore’s statements also reflect this; on one hand the country’s UN representative acknowledges that it is high time that mass atrocities cease “to be protected by walls of an antiquated notion of absolute sovereignty”. On the other hand, he stresses the need for the General Assembly to establish criteria on how to prevent and deal with these crimes, so that there would be no abuse by states when force was needed. The same caution can be seen in Japan’s statements, and others, as shown in government statements on R2P over the past few years.
See statements of governments on R2P: 2005-2007
Many governments have also mistaken R2P a military interventionist charter. However, the World Summit Outcome Document endorsement of R2P contains strong safeguards against abuses. Not only must ‘responsibility to protect’ intervention be authorized by the Security Council, but solely in the condition that all peaceful means have been exhausted and the government concerned is unwilling or unable to protect its civilians from genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
Furthermore, one way to avoid devaluing the R2P principles is to emphasize the importance of non-military responses to fulfill the responsibility to protect. R2P is a continuum of actions ranging from assisting host governments to addressing internal situations, to application of pressure through sanctions and moral suasion, to military intervention as a last resort. While some Asian countries are understandably cautious about yielding sovereignty for military intervention, would they be willing to call for a non-military R2P response to mass crimes?
Need for Regional Mechanisms
Despite past and present cases of human rights abuses, there are still no provisions in regional mechanisms pertaining to the possibility of non-military intervention in extreme cases of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, or anything reflecting the principles encompassed in the R2P. For example, ASEAN, consisting of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam finally adopted a landmark Charter in November 2007 after three years of negotiations. While a great achievement of the charter is the creation of an ASEAN Human Rights Body, it remains without provisions for enforcing compliance with human rights standards and does not remove the strict policy of non-interference in internal affairs.
The reaffirmation of a policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs is becoming a liability, as displayed by the criticism towards ASEAN in its failure to confront the situation in Burma. Indeed, recently President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines read a statement to her fellow heads of state warning that unless Burma committed itself to democratic reforms and released Aung San Suu Kyi, her country's Congress was unlikely to ratify the Charter.
This shows the growing importance of human rights for Asian nations, and the need for regional mechanisms to reflect this evolution. Ensuring the capacity and will to implement R2P should be part of a comprehensive strategy to promote human security, including through the advancement of democracy, protection of human rights, good governance and economic stability. In fact, R2P is rooted in the concept of human security because it emphasizes the duty of the state and the international community to prioritize the security of the individual.
Civil Society Events in Asia
R2PCS welcomes the launch of the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect on 20 February 2008 in Bangkok during the conference ““Preventing Mass Atrocities: Asian Perspectives on R2P”. Eminent regional and international leaders from Government, IGOs, NGOs and Academia will come together for debates and policy discussions on R2P, on mechanisms for genocide and war crimes prevention in Asia, and on Asian perspectives on the protection of civilians in armed conflict around the world. The Centre is expected to work on the advancement and realization of R2P through academic research, publications and acting as a focal point for politicians, government agencies, academics and NGOs.
In association with the AP Centre, R2PCS is holding a Civil Society consultation on February 21 entitled. This consultation is the first of six roundtables that R2PCS project will be organizing over the next few months. These roundtables aim to both raise awareness of R2P and explore how to increase and strengthen civil society activity on the norm. Roundtables in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe will aim at creating a strong global NGO partnership to solidify the movement for the Responsibility to Protect. R2PCS will be posting a report of the roundtables in Bangkok.
For more information on these two events, please see
More info on venue and speakers: click here
