The Protection Deficit

GI-Net’s strategy follows from an analysis of why the United States and international community have failed to halt genocides in the past. Samantha Power’s book on the subject, “A Problem from Hell”: America in the age of genocide, outlines three missing components. The first two are political will and permanency, which underlie the need for a permanent political constituency and that can create a political cost for leaders who fail to stop genocide. The third missing component is the need to focus on protection.

Historically, most genocides are treated a humanitarian problem, much like natural disasters. What is needed is an approach that addresses civilians’ need for security and protection.

Humanitarian aid and relief operations provide food, shelter, medical care, and other important services to civilians who have fled attacks or have had their lives destroyed by violence. In situations of genocide and related crimes against humanity, this is not enough. In addition to providing the services above, we must also find ways to protect people — physically — against the perpetrators trying to harm them. In other words, it is important to continue trying to “stop the dying” that occurs after attacks, but we also need to make every effort to “stop the killing” through protection activities.

GI-Net's Role

Since its inception, the Genocide Intervention Network has been committed to protecting civilians at risk of genocidal violence. We do this indirectly through advocacy efforts that attempt to resolve the conflict at the level of governments and the international community, and directly through supporting activities on the ground that aim to protect civilians in harm’s way.

Our support for protection activities is one reason why people support and contribute to GI-Net — they want to act directly to protect civilians on the ground. Moreover, our protection and advocacy work combine to form a powerful message: when you as a private individual, take out your wallet to protect civilians on the ground, you challenge our leaders and the government to do more.

Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

A host of international laws, treaties, and norms promote protection of civilians in conflict situations. Perhaps the most significant recent development in civilian protection is the “Responsibility to Protect [0]” (R2P) doctrine, which has now been enshrined in the 2005 UN World Summit Outcome Document.

The central theme of R2P is “the idea that sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe — from mass murder and rape, from starvation — but that when they are unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be borne by the broader community...” When states are unable or unwilling to protect their own citizens, this responsibility falls to the international community. GI-Net further argues that when the international community fails to provide sufficient protection, private organizations and individuals are charged with the responsibility to do all they can to protect civilians from crimes such as genocide.

Learn more about R2P and GI-Net's approach. [0]