Julia Fernndez Cruz

The Security Council intervention in Libya and the Responsibility to Protect

Since 2010, different uprisings in several Arab countries occurred, beginning with the revolution in Tunisia. Such protests spread to Libya where there were clashes between the government of Muammar Gaddafi and his opponents. The escalation of violence and attacks against civilians, attracted the attention of the international community that, through the Security Council, issued two resolutions (Resolution 1970 and 1973), deciding the final intervention to ensure the protection of civil society and access to humanitarian aid. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to determine whether there was an international responsibility to protect Libyan civilians and if the United Nations (UN) met this obligation, pursuant to the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

The responsibility to protect is a concept embodied in "Resolution 60/1: 2005 World Summit Outcome" issued by the General Assembly of the United Nations.1 This document establishes as the "responsibility to protect", the duty of every State to "protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity." 2 Its plausible to maintain that, this is a primary responsibility of the State and subsidiary of the international community. That is, its an obligation of the State that recognizes its primary duty to ensure the welfare, safety and security of its people through positive actions and measures of prevention and protection. Furthermore, alternatively, it also means a responsibility of the international community, who will prevent these crimes from occurring, and will encourage and help States to fulfill this obligation.

In this sense, the "Report of the Secretary-General: We the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century" states that in the places were crimes of genocide, crimes war, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are committed, and the attempts to stop them by peaceful means have been exhausted, the Security Council might
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General Assambly, Resolution 60/1: 2005 World Summit Outcome Available: http://www2.ohchr.org/spanish/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/gaA.RES.60.1_Sp.pdf 2 Ibid.

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have a moral duty to act on behalf of the international community. 3 Even this document states that, while the use of armed intervention is of exceptional use, in cases of mass murder this option is not ruled out. 4 Thus, the international community effectively acting upon its subsidiary responsibility acts in cases where the State fails its responsibility to protect.

However, it must be mentioned that international intervention is not discretionary, as there are a number of conditions that have to be met for the intervention to occur. Otherwise, it would raise a conflict of interest between the right to the sovereignty of the State where the conflict occurs, and the right to physical integrity and life of the citizens of that State. Thus, certain requirements must be met, namely: exhaustion of the use of peaceful means to resolve conflicts, as well as have governmental consent of the State concerned.

In the case of the intervention in Libya, a new policy for the protection of the civilian population was established, since the Security Council authorized, for the first time, the use of military force to ensure civilians protection, without any consent of the receiving State. 5

In Resolution 1973 (2011), the Security Council authorized to take "all necessary measures (...) to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi." 6

General Secretary Report: We the peoples: role of the United Nations in the 21st century, doc. A/54/2000, from March 27, 2000, paragraph 219 Available: http://www.un.org/spanish/documents/ga/54/a542000.pdf 4 Ibid 5 ALEX J. BELLAMY y PAUL D. WILLIAMS, The new politics of protection? Cte d'Ivoire, Libya and the responsibility to protect, International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs), p. 825 6 Security Council, Resolution S/RES/1973 (2011), from March 17, 2011, regarding Libyas situation Available: http://www.un.org/es/comun/docs/?symbol=s/res/1973%20(2011)
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While the Security Council had authorized interventions in the past, as in the cases of Somalia (Resolution 794) 7, Rwanda (Resolution 929) 8 and Liberia (Resolution 1509) 9, the novelty is that in the case of the intervention in Libya, the UN did not have the consent of Gaddafis government. As established in the 2005 World Summit Outcome from the General Assembly, the international community through the United Nations has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VII of the Charter to help protect populations. 10 Accordingly, the degree of legitimacy of the intervention, therefore, depends on considerations such as issues, means, proportionality and the exhaustion of other means of resolving the conflict.

So, we need to analyze the depletion of these means by the Security Council. The Council sought to try that Gadhafi's government authorized the entry of humanitarian aid. They even established an arms embargo to end the conflict, among other actions.
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Likewise, in the case being analyzed, we can sustain that the actions of Gaddafis government only contributed to further aggravate the situation, since there were attacks on civilians. Furthermore, a National Transitional Council was created urging international intervention; as well as regional organizations such as the League of Arab States, which demonstrates the crisis the country was facing and the risk that situation signified to civilians.

In 1992, the Security Council authorized the entry into Somalia of a unit to assist in the humanitarian crisis, in the absence of a central government. 8 In 1994, the Security Council, through Resolution 929, authorized the intervention in Rwanda due to the genocide that was taking place, upon consent of that country's interim government and the armed forces. 9 In September 2003, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1509 to support the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the peace process, protect personnel and UN facilities and civilians; support assistance activities humanitarian and human rights, and contribute to the reform of the security forces, including national police training and formation of a new military force restructured. 10 General Assembly Resolution 60/1, Op. Cit., p. 33 11 PAUL D. WILLIAMS, The Road to Humanitarian War in Libya, Global Responsibility to Protect, Vol. 3 Nm. 2, 2011, p. 250 3

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For these reasons, its plausible to maintain that the Security Council had exhausted all instances prior to the application of Chapter VII of the Charter. In the absence of cooperation from the Libyan government and the state of crisis in which the country found itself, the Security Council decided to prioritize the protection of civilians, over the authorization of Muammar Gaddafis government.

Therefore, in the case of the Security Council intervention in Libya, there was no violation of the right to state sovereignty. The exercise of sovereignty entails responsibilities and obligations of the State, including respecting the rights of its people. In the instant case, the government of Muammar Gaddafi failed to comply with the obligation to protect its population due to systematic attacks occurred against both rebel forces and the civilian population. Therefore, the Security Council acted alternatively due to Libyas failure, reacting to the killing and intervening militarily. As Alex Bellamy and Paul Williams established in their article The new politics of protection? Cte d'Ivoire, Libya and the Responsibility to Protect: "(...) should a state manifestly fail to protect its populations from these crimes [of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity], international society would take timely and decisive action through the various provisions set out in the UN Charter.12

In conclusion, while there is a right of sovereignty of states, there is also a responsibility of international society to protect civilians during armed conflicts. Thus it corresponds to organizations such as the United Nations to ensure that States protect their population and, alternatively, take actions to protect. In the case of Libya, we can conclude that there was a responsibility to protect citizens against Libyas government inaction and, the UN has met this obligation, setting a new precedent to intervene militarily even though not mediate consensus government.

Final Bibliography:
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ALEX J. BELLAMY y PAUL D. WILLIAMS, Op. Cit., p. 827 4

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Articles

BELLAMY ALEX J. y WILLIAMS PAUL D. (2011) The new politics of protection? Cte d'Ivoire, Libya and the responsibility to protect, International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs) Vol. 87 (4): 825-850.

WILLIAMS PAUL D. (2011) The Road to Humanitarian War in Libya, Global Responsability to Protect, Vol. 3 (2): 248-259.

Documentation

United Nations Organization

General Assembly, Resolution 60/1, from October 25, 2005, regarding the 2005 World Summit Outcome Avialable: http://www2.ohchr.org/spanish/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/gaA.RES.60.1_Sp.pdf General Secretary Report: We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the 21st century, doc. A/54/2000, from March, 27, 2000 Available: http://www.un.org/spanish/documents/ga/54/a542000.pdf

Security Council, Resolution S/RES/1973 (2011), from March 17, 2011, regarding Libyas situation Available: http://www.un.org/es/comun/docs/?symbol=s/res/2022%20(2011)