(RtoP), a Test That the Global Community Cannot Fail in the Face of Ongoing Crimes in Iran
Now that sovereignty in Iran is shirking its responsibility, the responsibility of (RtoP) and the protection of people’s lives rests with the international community.
The “Responsibility to Protect” (RtoP) principle, which was unanimously approved by the global community at the United Nations in 2005, was a response to the moral and political failures of the world in preventing atrocities such as the Rwandan genocide and the Srebrenica massacre. This principle is based on a fundamental rule: “State sovereignty is not a privilege, but a responsibility; a responsibility to protect the lives and dignity of citizens.”
Today, with the proliferation of documented reports of the killing of protesters, systematic suppression, widespread arrests, torture, political executions, and widespread human rights violations in Iran, the RtoP principle has returned to the center of attention once again.
Based on the Responsibility to Protect principle, states are obligated to protect their populations against four grave international crimes: “genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing.” If a state is unable to fulfill this duty or deliberately fails to do so, the responsibility is transferred to the international community. This intervention is not necessarily military and includes a range of diplomatic, legal, political, and humanitarian measures. The use of force can only be considered as a last resort and within the framework of international law.
RtoP challenges the traditional concept of absolute sovereignty. According to this principle, states cannot justify or conceal widespread crimes against their own citizens by invoking non-interference in internal affairs; in fact, flagrant violations of human rights hollow out the legitimacy of sovereignty from within.
Libya’s experience in 2011 serves as a warning for Iran’s current situation. International intervention in Libya in 2011, which began on the basis of RtoP and UN Security Council Resolution 1973, resulted in the overthrow of “Muammar Gaddafi.” Although the stated objective was to protect civilians, the expansion of military operations to regime change caused the RtoP principle to be met with mistrust and serious criticism.
This very experience has caused many states today to be cautious or passive toward any decisive action within the framework of RtoP, a caution that has, in some cases, led to inaction in the face of crimes.
Under Iran’s current conditions, extensive evidence from international human rights institutions, UN special rapporteurs, and independent bodies shows that the systematic use of lethal violence against protesters, arbitrary and widespread arrests, torture and forced confessions, hasty and political executions, are not scattered incidents but rather sustained patterns of crimes against humanity. In such circumstances, the Iranian government has not only been unable to fulfill its primary responsibility but has become the principal agent of flagrant violations of citizens’ rights.
The question now is: what is the duty of states and the global community toward Iran?
Based on the RtoP principle, the international community has not a choice but a responsibility regarding Iran’s situation. This responsibility includes the following:
- Recognizing the crisis: Silence or reducing Iran’s situation to a “domestic issue” violates the spirit of RtoP. Targeted diplomatic and legal measures, activation of international investigation mechanisms, support for truth commissions, and referral of serious human rights violators’ cases to international judicial bodies must be placed on the agenda.
- Political pressure and smart sanctions: Sanctions against specific human rights violators, not the Iranian people.
- Support for civil society and victims: Support for free media, human rights activists, and refugees.
- Preventing normalization of crime: Continuation of normal political and economic relations without accountability means indirect participation in human rights violations.
The Responsibility to Protect principle was not designed for easy times, but for when states become a threat to their own people. Iran’s current situation is a serious test of the global community’s sincerity in adhering to RtoP. If RtoP is reduced to silence in the face of Iran, it will no longer be a universal norm, but rather an empty slogan.
