Limitations of the Responsibility to Protect
“I’m worried at the moment we’re reaching a turning point, particularly over Syria, where the rethoric of R2P is starting to become too far detached from the reality of R2P for them to be brough back together”.
Kirsten Ainley (Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics’ Centre for the Study of Human Rights) discusses three key problems that R2P has faced since its inception. She also explores the dangers of more closely aligning the International Criminal Court with the UN Security Council, and some of the opportunities that she sees for the Court in promoting ‘positive complementarity’.
“The actions the ICC takes in live conflict are very unlikely to ever be popular, or to lead to the end of conflict. We have no evidence to suggest that prosecutions deter future atrocity.”
On 2 July 2014, Dr Kirsten Ainley was interviewed by Josefine Ulbrich at the conference ‘Transatlantic Dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)’ hosted by The Hague Institute for Global Justice.
