“The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”
23 June 2022
Mr. President,
We thank you for convening this thematic debate on “Responsibility to protect” and the Secretary-General for presenting the report.
Mr. President,
2. The concept of R2P was reflected in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Document. The scope of this “responsibility” was restricted to: genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”. The primary responsibility for protection rests with the state concerned. Only if the national authorities manifestly fail to “protect their population” could the international community acting through the Security Council can take “collective action”.
3. Unfortunately, after 17 years, there is still no consensus on the scope, application ad modalities of the R2P concept. It is not difficult to discuss the reasons why this concept has continued to be controversial.
4. One, from the outset, the proponents of the concept have sought its application beyond the narrow parameters agreed in 2005 for violations other than those specically enunciated in paragraphbs 138 and 139.
5. Second, the R2P cannot be applied until the state with the primary responsibility has “manifestly failed” to offer protection to its own population against these crimes.
6. Third, any “collective action” will need to be authorized by the Security Council. As we know, some have continued to argue for application of R2P even in the absence of express Security Council authorization. Such dangerous interpretations assume a “right” to intervene in the internal affairs of a sovereign states. This is contrary to Article 2(7) of the UN Charter.
7. Perhaps the most egregious aspect of such an endeavor of intervention is its selectivity and double standards.
8. While high-sounding pronunciations are made about the situations in some targeted countries, mostly developing and Islamic States, there is complete silence with regard to other situations which clearly fall within the purview of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 Summit Declaration.
9. One specific circumstance where those provisions would apply is in situations of foreign occupation or alien domination. Such situations are often rife with pressing human rights emergencies and can easily spiral to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
10. Yet, we have not heard from the concept’s sponsors about the need for “collective action” to protect the people of occupied Palestine or of Indian-occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
11. For more than seven decades, India has, through force and fraud, denied the right of self-determination to Kashmiri people in violation of multiples resolutions of the Security Council prescribing a free and fair plebiscite. India has continued to commit widespread and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
12. Last year, Pakistan released a comprehensive and well-researched Dossier covering accounts - corroborated by audio and video evidence – of 3432 cases of war crimes perpetrated by senior officers of the Indian occupying forces since 1989. The scale and magnitude of these crimes have increased manifold since India’s illegal and unilateral actions since 5 August 2019 to impose what India's leaders have themselves ominously called a "final solution" for Jammu and Kashmir.
13. Unfortunately, the proponents of R2P have observed a deafening silence on these Indian crimes in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
14. The concept of R2P should also be invoked to prevent the danger of an impending genocide against the 200 million Muslims of India. No one can be unaware of the systematic campaign underway in India by the ruling adherents of Hindutva to suppress Muslims and to eliminate the rich legacy of Islam in India. Muslims are murdered by lynch mobs; subjected to periodic pogroms; robbed of their livelihoods and citizenship under the patronage and with the encouragement of the ruling BJP-RSS government.
15. Most recently, hundreds of thousands of Muslims who took to the streets to protest the Indian government’s complicity to the denigration of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H), have been subject to worst form of violation of their basic human rights. The homes of Muslims protestors have been unlawfully bulldozed as a form of collective punishment.
16. Noticing this dangerous trend, Professor Gregory Stanton, the founder of Genocide Watch, has warned that a genocide of Muslims could very well happen in India.
Mr. President,
17. These Indian crimes fall squarely within the ambit of the World Summit’s decisions on R2P. We call upon the international community, in particular the proponents of R2P for the sake of their own credibility to come forward and offer protection to the people of IIOJK and Muslim and other religious minorities in India.
18. In conclusion, universal and consistent adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter is imperative to ensure the legitimacy of doctrines like R2P, and to ensure universal accountability and justice for all grave and systematic violations of human rights and international law.
I thank you
