Responsibility to Protect Act (RTP)
A resolution to strengthen international commitment to human security
Category: International Aid
Strength: Strong
Proposed by: Malairium
Description:
Article I, Preamble:
The World Assembly recognizes the right of each member state to autonomous self-governance. It further recognizes the sovereign state as the foremost provider of security, as well as the central mechanism for human development. However, the World Assembly also believes that the sovereign state is not an infallible tool in the pursuit of human development. As a consequence, the World Assembly believes the concept of total and unregulated state sovereignty to be irredeemably flawed. It hereby enacts this resolution, to promote the pursuit of international human security as a replacement for total and unregulated state sovereignty, with the goal of ending human suffering otherwise justified under the argument of sovereignty, while still preserving WA member state's right to autonomous self-governance.
Article II, Definitions:
1) Human security shall, for the purposes of this resolution, be defined as the pursuit of international security through the global attainment of, or progression towards, "Freedom from Want", and "Freedom from Fear", irrespective, though not exclusive, of the traditional notion of national security through state-organized military security.
1a) For the purposes of this resolution, Freedom from Want, hereafter referred to as FFW, is defined as the attainment of, or significant progress towards:
I. Economic security: the condition of having stable income or other resources to support a standard of living now and in the foreseeable future.
II. Food security: the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
III. Health Security: the ability for action, both proactive and reactive, to minimize the danger and impact of acute public health events that endanger people’s health.
IV. Environmental security: the state of human–environment dynamics that includes restoration of the environment damaged by military actions, and amelioration of resource scarcities, environmental degradation, and biological threats that could lead to social disorder and conflict.
V. Personal Security: the protection from physical violence from violent individuals and sub-state actors, from domestic abuse, or from violent crime.
VI. Cultural Security: the assurance that all individuals and groups are treated with regard to their unique cultural needs and differences, and that their cultural identity will be protected.
VII. Political Security: the prevention of government repression or systematic violation of political rights and representation.
1b) For the purposes of this resolution, Freedom from Fear, hereafter referred to as FFF, is defined as the protection from serious, immediate, and organized violence.
2) For the purposes of this resolution, total and unregulated state sovereignty shall be defined as the ability of a state to pursue domestic policy in a manner irrespective of international opinion, law, agreements, actions, or understandings.
2a) For the purposes of this resolution, domestic policy shall be defined as actions, or rulings made by the legitimate government of a WA member state that specifically affect their own internal affairs, and does not have a primary effect on other WA member states.
3) For the purposes of this resolution, "Responsibility to Protect", hereafter referred to as RTP, shall be defined as a human security based justification for international actions, responses, or rulings, that interfere with the domestic policy of a WA member state, thus disregarding the argument of sovereignty. An invoked RTP authorizes action by a state to assist a threatened population, as determined in Article III.
3a) RTP can only be legally invoked in circumstances denoted in Article III section 2. If these conditions are not met, RTP cannot be invoked, and any attempt to do so will be declared illegal.
3b) A threatened population is defined as a group, community, or other large collective of humans that exist in absence of FFW or FFF.
Article III, Requirements of Nations:
1) The WA Commission on Human Rights (WACHR) will be given the authority to determine if the conditions for RTP, as determined in Article III, section 2, have been met, and will have the sole authority to legalize actions, responses, or rulings, under RTP, as determined in Article III, section 3. Any state can present a case before the WACHR in an attempt to gain the right to invoke RTP. Additionally, the WACHR is responsible for investigating circumstances where RTP should be applied, and, if it finds the circumstances meet the requirements for RTP to be invoked, as detailed in section 2, it shall invoke RTP and invite international action. The WACHR will also have the authority to dismiss a state's RTP claim at any time, in cases where the state's actions are in violation of Article III, section 3, whereafter they will no longer be able to take action under the justification of RTP until the WACHR decides otherwise.
1a) The WACHR does not have the authority to compel any state to make action, it only has the authority to legalize state action.
2) RTP will only be invoked when one or more of the following apply:
2a) A sovereign state is incapable of progress, refuses to make progress, or acts against progress in regards to FFW (Class C RTP).
2b) A sovereign state is incapable of securing protection from serious, immediate, and organized violence (Class B RTP).
2c) A sovereign state threatens serious, immediate, and organized violence against its own population (Class A RTP).
3) The three different classes of RTP (Class C, Class B, Class A) authorize specific levels of intervention, as outlined below:
3a) Where an RTP (Class C) has been granted to a state, that state may:
I. Provide aid or assistance to the threatened population
II. Use non-lethal or lethal force for self-defense
III. Use non-lethal means to prevent state action against the provision of aid or assistance
IV. Take reasonable action to prevent similar threats in the future
3b) Where an RTP (Class B) has been granted to a state, that state may:
I. Use non-lethal and/or lethal force (with accordance to international law) to assist the legitimate government or threatened population in securing FFF.
II. Provide arms, military equipment, and/or military and police training to secure FFF.
III. Take reasonable action to prevent similar threats in the future
3c) Where an RTP (Class A) has been granted to a state, that state may:
I. Use non-lethal and/or lethal force to prevent the local government threatening serious, immediate, and organized violence against a threatened population.
II. Seek to remove the local government from power.
III. Take reasonable action to prevent similar threats in the future
3d) At no point, unless explicitly stated otherwise, does RTP give a state the right to:
I. Breach international law, particularly in regards to the treatment of non-combatants
II. Use RTP to benefit their own state at the cost of the threatened population
