Global NGO Coalition Urges Governments to Support "Responsibility to Protect"

Jul 9, 2009

Civil Society Organizations Send Open Letter to Governments in Advance of the General Assembly Debate on the Responsibility to Protect

8 July 2009

As civil society organizations, we are writing to you in advance of the 23 July 2009 General Assembly plenary session on the Responsibility to Protect. We encourage you to use this opportunity to reaffirm your government’s support for the Responsibility to Protect, welcome the Secretary General’s report, and to speak in support of the norm at the upcoming General Assembly debate.

While we are encouraged by the support from Heads of State and government since the unanimous endorsement of the Responsibility to Protect at the 2005 World Summit, there still remains a disparity between rhetoric and practice and more must be done to truly implement the commitment to prevent and halt the worst crimes known to humanity – genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Like his predecessor, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recognized the importance of taking RtoP forward and in his recently released report titled “Implementing the Responsibility to Protect”
(A/63/677), he details the “Three Pillar” approach for implementing Responsibility to Protect: the protection responsibilities of the State, international assistance and capacity-building, and timely and decisive response by the international community in case of failure of the State to fulfill its obligations of protection.

As an international and diverse group of civil society organizations, representing the voices of populations from regions all over the world, we have come to witness and believe that the basic principles and elements of the Responsibility to Protect norm resonate with people all across the globe. The RtoP norm’s purpose to save populations from the most heinous of humanitarian and human rights violations, through the emphasis on the primary responsibility of states and the secondary responsibility of the international community, has been embraced with enthusiasm from a range of actors and constituencies– by victims of the gross human rights violations, civil society, academics and political leaders.

The UN General Assembly must continue to make critically important contributions to international peace and security. The 60th General Assembly adopted a new tool for peace in endorsing the Responsibility to Protect; we hope the 63rd General Assembly will take steps to put this tool into operation to achieve the first preambular goals of the UN Charter. Civil society groups expect your support and voice at this pivotal moment to direct the international community towards truly achieving the reality of “never again”.

Sincerely,
Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Thailand)
African Federation Association (Uganda)
Asociación para Políticas Públicas (Argentina)
Citizens for Global Solutions (USA)
Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales (Argentina)
DanChurchAid (Denmark)
East Africa Law Society (Tanzania)
Forum to Reinforce Civil Society (Burundi)
Friends Committee on National Legislation (USA)
Genocide Alert (Germany)
Genocide Intervention Network (USA)
Global Action to Prevent War (USA)
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (USA)
Human Rights Institute of South Africa (South Africa)
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Working Group (Indonesia)
HURINET (Uganda)
Initiatives for International Dialogue (Philippines)
International Criminal Court Alliance (USA)
International Crisis Group
International Refugee Rights Initiative (Uganda and USA)
Kashmiri-Canadian Council (Canada)
OMUNGA (Angola)
Oxfam-Australia
Oxfam International
Refugees International (USA)
UNA-Canada
West Africa Civil Society Forum (Ghana)
WFM-Institute for Global Policy
World Federation of United Nations Associations
World Federalist Movement – Canada PDF Version