Responsibility to Prevent (R2P) set in 2005, is still not achieved by the UN member states

The UN brought attention to the ongoing worldwide failure to stop crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide on Monday.

Mo Bleeker, the UN Special Advisor on Responsibility to Protect, cited the commitments made at the World Summit in 2005, wherein the UN General Assembly recognised that it is each state’s duty to safeguard its citizens against crimes of terror.

Bleeker stated the following at the UN General Assembly session “It was seen as a promise on the part of the member states of the United Nations that they would make every effort to prevent such crimes and to protect their own populations from these atrocities. But yet it is apparent that the promise of halting atrocity crimes remained largely unfulfilled,” – “The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.”

“All too often we react to early warnings about the risk of atrocity crimes with indifference or denial. We do not take timely decisions to prevent and halt atrocities, or we are shocked into inaction.” Bleeker added, pointing out the international community’s failure to act on these warnings.

She also denounced the continued transgressions of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses committed by state and non-state entities.

She emphasised the difficulties the UN Security Council faces in enforcing international peace and security, saying that “the council has, at times, been prevented from exercising its duty to maintain international peace and security because such moments occur more frequently in recent memory.”

Bleeker stated: “The Responsibility to Protect (R2P)’ expresses our deepest commitment, on a collective level, to protect humanity from atrocities everywhere in the world.” Despite the difficulties, Bleeker emphasised the principle’s ongoing significance.

All UN member states approved the Responsibility to Prevent (R2P) in 2005 as a means of assisting in the prevention of crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

(Source: AA)