Global Issues: Libya and Humanitarian Intervention

Gaddafi’s end and the ‘new’ Libyan governments claim that the country is now liberated might signal an end to intervention in Libyan affairs, although the prognosis suggests the road ahead is a rocky one. The is certainly controversy over whether Libya might be held up as a template for humanitarian intervention under the R2P Doctrine. For reference to those Global Issues students who will look at this under the Human Rights topic: The “responsibility to protect” (R2P) doctrine, which states that each government is individually responsible for protecting its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. If a government cannot—or will not—meet its R2P obligations, then the international community can use military force to protect that state’s populace and, potentially, to ensure the removal of offending regimes—as has happened in the Ivory Coast and Libya this year.

Sir Richard Dalton, the former UK ambassador to Libya, in the Independent on Sunday has an article on: Libya, and the limits of liberal intervention He argues that “victory for the rebels in Sirte justifies the responsible use of force sanctioned by the UN, but it will not work everywhere, every time”.

The article asserts:Nato intervened in Libya under a UN Security Council mandate to protect civilians. The intervention has been successful so far, but controversial, in that there have been concerns about Nato exceeding the mandate. The future of the Libyan revolution will influence not just the future of the Libyan people, but the ability of future international action to forestall looming atrocities

Dalton refers to a recent talk at Chatham House by Gareth Evans, a former foreign minister of Australia, who is of the firm belief that this doctrine is now embedded in international discourse and increasingly in international practice:Evans stressed the five criteria that should be used to determine whether the use of force would be legitimate: that the threat faced is a serious one; that force would be used to avert this threat (the primary purpose test) and not to further the ulterior motives of the interveners; that it would be used as a last resort; that it would be proportional; and that the consequences would be balanced in favour those being assisted.