Pope Benedict Reminds the UN of the Responsiblity to Protect

GI-Net was founded on the principle of the Responsibility to Protect - an international doctrine  which states that in instances when a population is suffering serious harm and the State is unwilling or unable to halt it (such as genocide), the international community not only has the right, but the responsibility to intervene to protect innocent civilians.

It was therefore gratifying to hear Pope Benedict speak to the UN General Assembly last Friday about the importance of the Responsibility to Protect. It is our hope that the UN and its member countries will not only listen to Pope Benedict's words, but take them to heart and enact them whenever and wherever human rights are being violated around the world. Read excerpts from the Pope's speech below.

Recognition of the unity of the human family, and attention to the innate dignity of every man and woman, today find renewed emphasis in the principle of the responsibility to protect. This has only recently been defined, but it was already present implicitly at the origins of the United Nations, and is now increasingly characteristic of its activity. Every State has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made. If States are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene with the juridical means provided in the United Nations Charter and in other international instruments. The action of the international community and of its institutions, provided that it respects the principles the underlie international order, should never be interpreted as an unwarranted imposition or a limitation of sovereignty. On the contrary, it is indifference or failure to intervene that do the real damage. What is needed is a deeper search for ways of pre-empting and managing conflicts by exploring every possible diplomatic avenue, and giving attention and encouragement to even the faintest sign of dialogue or desire for reconciliation.

Click here to read Pope Benedict's entire address to the UN General Assembly.