Responsibility to Protect Under International Law: a Case for Entrenchment in Treaty Law

Abstract

The concept of Responsibility to Protect can be attributed to the international community’s failure in the 1990’sto respond to the genocide in Rwanda and later to prevent the atrocities in Kosovo. As a result, the international community was forced not only to look at how to prevent mass atrocities within states, but also how the international community should respond to internal state conflicts. However, since its conception, the concept has not been applied consistently, as it has been considered by some to be a violation of state sovereignty. This paper will look at the concept of state sovereignty and its historical development over the centuries. It will then critically examine the concept of Responsibility to Protect, and the successful and failed application in Kenya and Syria respectively. The paper will then call for the establishment of the concept in Treaty Law.