RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT : RWANDA AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

The international community has been undercut in its unified status under membership to the United Nations regarding its ability to effectively respond to situations that fall within its sphere of obligation. In short, the UN is stymied in their ability to respond to violations that they should be able to address. One reason is the lack of ability to achieve unity in defining the types of situations that they should respond to. The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) protocol was developed to fill this void in action, providing a set of circumstances in which the United Nations can and should intervene. This paper addresses the development of the R2P protocol. First an overview of international law is provided, with insight into what areas international law is generally recognized to address, including methods, means, and shortcomings. The discussio n moves on to examining the United Nations, specifically looking at the ability of the UN to address human rights violations. The country of Rwanda is offered as a case study, discussing challenges of international law as it relates to Rwanda, and how the Responsibility to Protect protocol addresses those challenges. In this context, the development of the R2P protocol is examined, with a background, and current implications. A conclusion is offered to highlight the main points of this research paper and synthesize the topics.