campus: Senator urges action in midst of humanitarian crises
Amanda McCuaig, Peak Staff
Recalling the lessons he learned as the leader of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda in 1994, Senator Romeo Dallaire spoke about humanity's "Responsibility to Protect" at SFU's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue last Wednesday.
"The whole of humanity essentially pulled a Pontius Pilate on Rwanda and hoped that the problem would go away in a short time, when in fact, it did not," explained Dallaire to the attentive audience. "That failure is the catalyst, I think, for a lot of the initiatives that came about."
"We found ourselves reacting to crises instead of preventing them. And so, we have a good solid history of, in fact, not being proactive, but responding to crises," he added.
Dallaire emphasized the difficulty in getting countries to be proactive during times of humanitarian crises, especially if they see no benefit in acting.
"Is there something in there for you, or not? Are the political risks too high, or not? And, in fact, is there any chance of success, or not?" he said, referring to the questions that governments ask themselves in such situations.
Dallaire went on to explain that "Responsibility to Protect," an idea of born out of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, gives the international community a concrete point of reference when facing the difficult task of deciding whether or not to take action.
In a report by the ICISS, "Responsibility to Protect" is explained as the responsibility to protect their own citizens and that "when they are unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be borne by the broader community of states."
"I think that we've got an instrument that we can now go out in the streets and argue with," said Dallaire.
"It is not just an idea here and a belief there, we actually have an approved doctrine. [With] that doctrine we can actually go into the streets and hold people accountable to do something, to do the appropriate measure, and hopefully not only respond to the crises, but one day, hopefully, to actually prevent crises from happening," he added.
Dallaire concluded his presentation with a PowerPoint slide that said "Remember Rwanda: Act in Darfur," referring to the current ethnic-conflicted region in Sudan.
Other guests at the event included Senator Mobina Jaffer, Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan; and Douglas Ross, a political science professor from SFU.
During the question period, Senator Jaffer explained that Canada is doing two things to include Sundanese people in the peace process.
Canadian aid groups have held two successful projects between tribal and religious leaders, during which these individuals have had conversation about "finding ways to cope with each other." She also plans on speaking rebel groups and the government of Sudan.
Romeo Dallaire was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from Simon Fraser University during last Thursday's convocation. He is the author of the #1 bestseller Shake Hands With The Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.
"Responsibility to Protect" fast facts:
R2P, as it is quaintly known, was embraced during the 2005 World Summit, and is otherwise known as the "right of humanitarian intervention."
Its basic principles include:
A) State sovereignty implies responsibility, and the primary responsibility for the protection of its people lies with the state itself.
B) Where a population is suffering serious harm, as a result of internal war, insurgency, repression, or state failure, and the state in question is unwilling or unable to halt or avert it, the principle of non-intervention yields to the international responsibility to protect. For more information on R2P visit www.iciss.ca, and for more information on the 2005 World Summit agreement, visit www.un.org/summit2005/documents.html.