Atrocity and Genocide Prevention talk beginning
Atrocity and Genocide Prevention - now speaking: Jennifer Walsh, co-Director Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), and Prof of International Relations, University of Oxford
Moderator of genocide panel is Rachel Gerber of the Stanley Foundation. Speakers are Kyle Matthews, lead researcher, Will to Intervene Project, Montreal Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict and professor of international relations, University of Oxford. Kwesi Aning, head of Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana.
Jennifer Walsh: Defining the "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P):
R2P - responsibility of states to "protect" their populations from genocide, war crime, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity
Jennifer Welsh: Members of International community felt a mea culpa over Rwanda.
Welsh: The majority of genocides are committed within the context of armed conflict
Jennifer Walsh: Responsibility to Protect also includes an obligation to "Prevent" i.e. prevent mass atrocity from happening
Jennifer Walsh: Atrocity prevention and conflict prevention are two different concepts, but are often conflated
Jennifer Walsh: Not all mass atrocity crimes occur as part of armed conflict. 33% of mass atrocity crimes committed since 1945 have NOT occurred within the context of armed conflict
Jennifer Walsh: Conflict prevention seeks the elimination and resolution of all conflict. R2P on the other hand permits the use of coercive means when peaceful means fail (e.g. Libyan scenario)
Welsh: The UN's approach to conflict resolution is built around a 'culture of impartiality' - a conscious effort to treat all sides as morally equal
Welsh: Scenarios in which mass atrocity has been committed call into question that 'culture of impartiality', and nudge the UN into taking sides
Welsh: The Path of Escalation (for the Prevention of Mass Atrocity): Level 1: Preconditions | Level 2: Crisis and Mobilisation | Level 3: Imminent Emergency
Now speaking: Kyle Matthews, Lead Researcher, Will to Intervene Project, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, Concordia University
Matthews: Canada has one of the most open refugee policies in the world
Matthews: Unprecedented: Obama's appointment of a Genocide Prevention Expert (Samantha Power) to the White House
Matthews: Parliaments across the world are demonstrating greater interest in the prevention of genocide
Matthews: Note to Journalists: The word "Genocide" should be avoided in reporting, because of its controversial nature. "Mass Atrocity" preferable.
Welsh: The principle of the R2P was almost killed by the Iraq War. The conflict damaged all sense of goodwill that the intervention might be for humanitarian purposes
Welsh: There's a responsibility to react that doesn't automatically mean a responsibility to intervene with military force #R2P
Former head of Pakistan's intelligence agency, Ehsan ul- Haq, says he doesn't believe Osama bin Laden was in Abbottabad compound for five years #trfmeet