R2P: the Latest JAB Criteria

Covering the change in U.S. position regarding use of force in Libya, Foreign Policy magazine reports on the Responsibility to Protect, a principle cited by diplomats in the U.N. to justify the use of broad military force:

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also said on Thursday that the justification for the use of force was based on humanitarian grounds, and referred to the principle known as Responsibility to Protect (R2P), "a new international security and human rights norm to address the international community's failure to prevent and stop genocides, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity."

"Resolution 1973 affirms, clearly and unequivocally, the international community's determination to fulfill its responsibility to protect civilians from violence perpetrated upon them by their own government," he said. 

Read the article here.

For more on R2P, visit the INTERNATIONAL COALITION FOR THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT website here.