مسؤولية الحماية في القانون الدولي

Abstract EN

This article offers a preliminary reflection on the concept of “Responsibility to protect” which has been adopted by the 2005 world "Summit of Heads of States and Governments by consensus.

According to this concept each state should protect its own populations against main atrocity crimes of war, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

In case the state is not able or not willing to do so, the responsibility must be borne by the broader community of states.

The subject matter of this contribution is to point and discuss the background and the evolution of the concept, its legal significance and difficulties of application, and its effects on the principles of sovereignty of the state and of the prohibition of the use of force and of non intervention in domestic affairs.

This research aims to explain that the responsibility to protect, which is a universal rule, is often applied selectively.

This rule is not a legal one and as such its implementation is dependent on political will.

It does not entail revolutionary changes within the existing legal framework and consequently, any coercive military and non-military measures need to be authorized by the Security Council of the United Nations.