The applicability of the doctrine of responsibility to protect and legality of NATO Intervention in Libya

Abstract

The international community gathered in 2005 and adopted the doctrine of responsibility to protect? in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the World Summit Outcome Document.1 A few years after this Resolution, the UN Security Council with the support of the international community, applied the concept of responsibility to protect in the 2011 Libyan intervention. The Resolution 1973 was adopted as a result of Gaddafi?s manifest intention to exterminate the Libyan population. The Resolution authorised the member nations and regional organizations to use all measures necessary to protect all civilians in Libya.2 Thereafter, the coalition of states went to Libya, under the pretext of responsibility to protect and protection of civilians, and as a result the Libyan leader was killed. The killing of Gaddafi generated wide controversy as a result of the manner in which the intervening forces implemented Resolution 1973. It is against this background that this research work investigates the applicability of responsibility to protect and the legality of the NATO intervention in Libya. In so doing, the research study examines the historical development and content of responsibility to protect, which was introduced in 2001 and adopted by the world leaders in 2005. The study aims to investigate whether or not the intervention in Libya was in line with responsibility to protect, and, in so doing, the study analyses Resolution 1973 to ascertain whether or not the interveners went beyond their mandate. The responsibility to protect is central to the discussion of the research work because Resolution 1973 in its preamble reminded the Libyan government of their responsibility to protect civilian population.