Sovereignty as Responsibility for the Prevention of Genocide

Deng, Francis M.

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9840-5_4

Francis M. Deng³

Part of the book series: Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice ((IUSGENT,volume 7))

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Abstract

This article by the current Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide sheds light on some of the challenges posed by the conceptualization and operationalization of “Sovereignty as Responsibility” which has evolved into the internationally recognized concept of the “Responsibility to Protect.” It argues that existing contradictions in the international legal system can be reconciled through the framing of sovereignty as a positive concept of state responsibility. The article discusses the obligations created by the Genocide Convention and the complexities that arise from the identity factor in genocidal conflicts. It addresses the challenges posed by the mandate on genocide prevention and outlines an approach to the mandate based on the sovereignty as responsibility concept. It concludes that constructive management of diversity constitutes a crucial preventive principle as well as a tool for resolving crises and attaining peace and stability.

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Notes

1.
Parameters for military intervention in line with the responsibility to protect are outlined in Wiebe Arts, Chapter 8, Section 8.2 (below).
2.
The way in which the abrogation of citizenship rights paves the way for genocide is illustrated in Douglas Greenberg, Chapter 5 (below).
3.
United Nations , Economic and Social Council, Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons , Mr. Francis M. Deng, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2002/56, E/CN.4/2003/86/Add.5, November 27, 2003, 7, http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G02/156/70/PDF/G0215670.pdf?OpenElement (Accessed June 10, 2009. Today, the figure is higher than ever, with an estimated 25 million internally displaced persons in 50 countries worldwide.
4.
Roberta Cohen and Francis M. Deng: Masses in Flight:The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement (Washington D.C., The Brookings Institution , 1996), 3–4.
5.
Ibid.
6.
Francis M. Deng and I. William Zartman, eds., Conflict Resolution in Africa (Washington , DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1991).
7.
Francis M. Deng, Sadikiel Kimaro, Terrence Lyons, Donald Rothchild and I. William Zartman, eds., Sovereignty as Responsibility : Conflict Management in Africa (Washington , DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1996).
8.
Francis M. Deng and Terrence Lyons, eds., African Reckoning: A Quest for Good (Washington , DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1998).
9.
Francis M. Deng and I. William Zartman, A Strategic Vision for Africa : The Kampala Movement (Washington , DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2002).
10.
For my various contributions to the normative theme of the responsibility of sovereignty , see the following books, chapters and articles: Terrence Lyons and Francis M. Deng, eds., African Reckoning: A Quest for Good Governance (Washington , DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1998); Francis M. Deng, “Sovereignty and Humanitarian Responsibility: A Challenge for NGOs in Africa and the Sudan ,” in Vigilance and Vengeance, ed. Robert I. Rotberg (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press and The World Peace Foundation, 1996); Francis M. Deng, Sadikiel Kimaro, Terrence Lyons, Donald Rothchild and I. William Zartman, eds., Sovereignty as Responsibility : Conflict Management in Africa (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1996); Francis M. Deng, “Reconciling Sovereignty with Responsibility: A Basis for Humanitarian Action,” in Africa World Politics, eds. John Harbeson and Donald Rothchild (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995); Francis M. Deng, “Frontiers of Sovereignty: A Framework of Protection, Assistance and Development for the Internally Displaced,” in Leiden Journal of International Law 8, no. 2 (1995). The concept is also advanced in Roberta Cohen and Francis M. Deng, Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1996).
11.
The implementation of “responsibility to protect” principles for peacekeeping missions is presented in Wiebe Arts, Chapter 8, Section 8.2 (below).
12.
United Nations , A More Secure World : Our Shared Responsibility, Report of the Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Changes (New York , NY: United Nations Publications, 2004) paras., 199–203; Kofi Annan , In Larger Freedoms: Toward Development, Security and Human Rights for All, Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. UN Doc. A/59/2005, March 21, 2005, para 135; and International Commission on I ntervention and State Sovereignty, The Responsibility to Protect , Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2001).
13.
United Nations General Assembly . 2005 World Summit Outcome, UN Doc. A/60/L1, September 15, 2005, paras. 138 and 139, http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N05/487/60/PDF/N0548760.pdf?OpenElement (Accessed June 10, 2009).
14.
United Nations , Human Rights Compilation of International Instruments, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ST/HR/1/Rev. 6 (Vol. I/Part 2) (New York and Geneva, 1994), p. 673.
15.
The problematic consequences of applying the Genocide Convention terms in relation to targeted groups are explored in Gérard Prunier, Chapter 3, Section 3.1 (above).
16.
See Beth Van Shaack, “The Crime of Political Genocide: Repairing the Genocide Convention ’s Blind Spot,” in The Yale Law Journal, 106, No. 7 (May, 1997), 2259–2291; Guglichmo Veridrama, “The Genocide Definition in the Jurisprudence of the ad hoc Tribunals ,” in The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 49, No. 3 (July, 2000), 578–595; and Ervin Staub, “Genocide and Mass Killing: Origins, Prevention, Healing and Reconciliation,” in Political Psychology, 21, No. 2, (June, 2000) 367–382.
17.
Verdirama , “The Genocide Definition,” 2000, 581.
18.
Frank Chalk , “Re-defining Genocide,” in Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions, ed. George J. Andreopoulos (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), quoted in Verdirama , “The Genocide Definition,” 2000, 581.
19.
Ibid, 582.
20.
The difficulty in meeting the intent requirement of the Genocide Convention is highlighted in Gérard Prunier, Chapter 3, Section 3.1 (above).
21.
Alexander K.A. Greenawalt, “Rethinking Genocidal Intent: The Case for Knowledge-Based Interpretation,” in Columbia Law Review, 99, No. 8 (1999), 2259, 2263.
22.
Ibid, 2264.
23.
Ibid.
24.
The ICTR case law on intent , particularly Akayesu , is examined in Irwin Cotler, Chapter 9, Section 9.2 (below).
25.
Verdirama , “The Genocide Definition,” 2000, 585.
26.
George J. Andreopoulos, “Introduction,” in Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions, ed. George J. Andreopoulos (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), 9.
27.
Frank Chalk , “Re-defining Genocide,” in Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions, ed. George J. Andreopoulos (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997). 53.
28.
Isidor Walliman and Michael Dobkowski, “Introduction,” in Genocide and the Modern Age: Etiology and Case Studies of Mass Death, eds. Isidor Walliman and Michael Dobkowski (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2000), quoted in Andreopoulos, Genocide, 1997, 44.
29.
The role of systems as opposed to particular individuals in fostering genocidal acts is highlighted in Ben Kiernan, Chapter 2, Section 2.2 (above).
30.
For a general pattern of denial in these and other cases of genocide, see Samantha Power, A Problem from Hell: America and the New Age of Genocide (New York : Basic Books, 2002).
31.
The misperception of the Darfur situation is addressed in Gérard Prunier, Chapter 3, Sections 3.2 and 3.3 (above).
32.
Verdirama , “The Genocide Definition,” 594.
33.
The psychological dimension of the reconciliation process in Rwanda is examined in Jobb Arnold, Chapter 19 (below).
34.
Rachel Murray , “The Report of the OAU’s International Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and Surrounding Events,” in Journal of African Law, 45, (2001), 123–133, quoted in Jeremy Sarkin, “The Tension Between Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda: Politics, Human Rights, Due Process and the Role of the Gacaca Courts in Dealing with Genocide,” in Journal of African Law, 45, (2001) 143, 156.
35.
Quoted in Sarkin, Ibid.
36.
Ibid.
37.
Ibid.
38.
Ibid.
39.
See Helen Fein , “Genocide, Terror, Life Integrity, and War Crimes, the Case for Discrimination,” in Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions, ed. George J. Andreopoulos (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997).
40.
The fact that characterizing a situation as genocide does not necessarily lead to action is illustrated in Gérard Prunier, Chapter 3, Section 3.1 (above).
41.
Erin Patrick, “Intent to Destroy: The Genocidal Impact of Forced Migration in Darfur Sudan ,” in Journal of Refugee Studies, 18, No. 4, 2005, 410, 420.
42.
Leo Kuper , “Theoretical Issues Relating to Genocide: Uses and Abuses,” in Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions, ed. George J. Andreopoulos (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), 36.
43.
Andreopoulos, Genocide, 1997, 3.
44.
William B. Wood, “Geographic Aspects of Genocide: A Comparison of Bosnia and Rwanda ,” in Transactions of British Geographics, New Series, 26, No. 1 (2001), 57, 58.
45.
Ibid. For a detailed analysis of the nature of genocide and the importance of prevention , including pillars and institutional arrangements for realizing it, see David Hamburg, Preventing Genocide: Practical Steps Toward Early Detection and Effective Action (Boulder and London: Paradigm Publishers, 2008).
46.
Verdirama , “The Genocide Definition,” 2000, 588.
47.
Ibid.
48.
Ibid.
49.
Ibid., 589.
50.
Ibid.
51.
Ibid., 591.
52.
Ibid.
53.
Ibid., 592.
54.
The jus cogens nature of the norms in the Genocide Convention is examined in Wenqi Zhu and Binxin Zhang, Chapter 12, Section 12.2 (below).
55.
For a recent comprehensive study of prevention , see David Hamburg, Preventing Genocide: Practical Steps Toward Early Detection and Effective Action (Boulder and London: Paradigm Publishers, 2008).
56.
Laurence Woocher, “Developing a Strategy, Methods and Tools for Genocide Early Warning,” Paper Prepared for the Office of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide , Center for International Conflict Resolution, Columbia University, September 26, 2006, 1.
57.
Report of the Advisory Committee, October 2006, 4.

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Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, New York, NY, 10017, USA
Francis M. Deng

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Correspondence to Francis M. Deng .

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Fac. Law, Centre for Human Rights &, McGill University, Peel Street 3644, Montreal, H3A 1W9, Québec, Canada
René Provost
Fac. Law, Centre for Human Rights &, McGill University, Peel Street 3644, Montreal, H3A 1W9, Québec, Canada
Payam Akhavan

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Deng, F.M. (2011). Sovereignty as Responsibility for the Prevention of Genocide. In: Provost, R., Akhavan, P. (eds) Confronting Genocide. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9840-5_4

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9840-5_4
Published: 15 October 2010
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