The responsibility to protect in the context of the NATO intervention in Libya in 2011: a human rights analysis

Abstract

The international human rights architecture experienced a shift from states to individual rights within a state. This is mainly informed by the fact that states committed human rights atrocities against their own civilians. This necessitated a shift from an emphasis on sovereignty and noninterference to intervention on grave human rights violations. Article 2 of the UN Charter calls for respect of sovereignty and discourages the use of armed force against the territorial integrity of any state.1 To reinforce this position, the United Nations (UN) member states adopted the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine through the UN World Summit outcome document in 2005. This document effectively gave the international community the right to intervene into the affairs of a member state if the state is failing to halt human rights abuses within its territory.