Responsibility to Protect: Way to Reduce Oppression or Way to Escalate Oppression

Abstract

Responsibility to Protect (R2P) emerged to reiterate the responsibilities of different stakeholders to eliminate oppressive conditions and uphold international peace and security in the world. Hence, under the notion of R2P, individual states have the responsibility to protect their people, and this responsibility can be extended to the international community as well. Although there is no explicit reference under the Charter of the UN, the international community has taken steps to absorb the notion of R2P into the international legal frameworks. Against this backdrop, the main aim of this research paper is to perceive the historical evolution of the notion of R2P and to see how it has been used by the international community in dealing with different crisis conditions. Thus, this paper will initially deal with the conceptual underpinning of R2P and its historical evolution. Then, this paper will analyze two UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions (resolution 1973 and resolution 1996) that have been adopted to invoke R2P. Finally, this paper intends to critically analyze the international practices towards the notion of R2P by reflecting on UNSC resolutions and state practices. This research uses the desk research method, and thus, the analysis will be based on sources, such as UNSC resolutions, the Charter of the United Nations, international legal instruments, and international scholastic literature. Based on this desk research, it is evident that, although the idea of R2P is vital to eliminate mass atrocities and oppressive conditions, still this has been invoked subjectively and contributed to escalating the conditions. Therefore, this paper believes that it would be commendable if international key players pay due attention to the existing international legal frameworks, including the Charter of the UN, before invoking R2P.