The Responsibility to Protect - Norm im Entstehen?
In: Sicherheit und Frieden: S + F = Security and Peace, Band 27, Heft 1, S. 54-59
ISSN: 0175-274X
In the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, the Member States of the UN agreed to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing & crimes against humanity & that the international community, through the UN, has the responsibility to use peaceful means yet is prepared to take coercive action, through the Security Council, if states fail to fulfill their responsibilities. However, some questions remain unanswered. Fear of misusage, the concept of sovereignty & the veto right are major obstacles for the implementation of the "Responsibility to Protect." Although the concept has gained support in the academic community, civil society, some governments & the UN it remains at present an "emerging norm" at most, rather than being the guiding principle of international relations or part of international law. Adapted from the source document.