View
219
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/9/2019 Lethal ripple effects of mass atrocities by Kyle Matthews and Romo Dallaire Vanguard magazine Nov/Dec 2009
1/3
16 Vanguard/November/December 2009
More than fifteen years ater the appalling slaughter o
the Rwandan Genocide, in which no less than 800,000 innocentcivilians lost their lives, governments the world over have still
not developed national strategies or the prevention o mass
atrocity crimes. Decision makers continue to cling to an out-
dated and traditional view o the national interest that relegates
the prevention o mass atrocities as a secondary oreign policypriority.
The international community, which is code word or the
collection o national governments seated in the General As-
sembly at the United Nations in New York, ailed at stopping
the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. National governments were
not orthcoming in providing the UN with the tools, resources
and political support required to arrest that genocide once it had
begun. As a result, unnecessary human suering in the GreatLakes region o Arica continues unabated to this day, which
has destabilized an area geographically larger than continental
Western Europe and set in motion a dangerous domino eectthat transorms developing countries into ailed states.
The same process can now be observed emanating out o Su-
dans Darur region, where mass atrocities since 2003 have acted
as a trip wire to regional chaos, pulling Chad and the Central
Arican Republic into an unnecessary downward spiral.
The lessons learned rom the Rwandan Genocide created a
momentum in the 1990s or legitimate humanitarian interven-
tion to prevent mass atrocities. Encoded in the Responsibility
to Protect principles, a concept o sovereignty that obligatesall states to protect their citizens was advanced. The emerging
norm stipulates that i a state is unable or unwilling to protect
its own people rom gross human rights violations, then the
international community has a responsibility to engage and ll
the protection void. The use o military orce is permitted as alast resort and only in instances when all sot power strategies
have been exhausted.
While the UN General Assembly members, including Canada,
endorsed the Responsibility to Protect principles at the 2005
World Summit, rhetoric supporting action remains more preva-
lent than action itsel.
As a result o the 9/11 terrorist attacks, preventing mass atroci-
ties has been subjugated to the margins o international securitypolicy. An unortunate consequence o the international ocus
on Aghanistan is the corresponding ailure to consider the
international eects o predatory violence directed at civiliansin Arica. Sustained and well-planned strategies are needed to
end the worst conficts on that continent, particularly in the
Democratic Republic o the Congo.
That pre-9/11 momentum or humanitarian intervention now
needs to be rebuilt, painstakingly and careully, with national
governments taking the lead. Canada can and must do more to
prevent uture Rwandas.
rwd gd
uvv lg
mml dl.
P:
Mk G, Un
Security
Ll ppl
Mobilizing the will to intervene
of Mass atrocities
by Kyle Matthews and Romo Dallaire
8/9/2019 Lethal ripple effects of mass atrocities by Kyle Matthews and Romo Dallaire Vanguard magazine Nov/Dec 2009
2/3
national and transnational threats
aecting states and their citizens.
There is widespread recognition
that geographically isolated coun-
tries, i allowed to all into disarray
through the sel-immolation processthat mass atrocities tend to gener-
ate, will come back to haunt us as
ailed states. Failed states become
ungovernable spaces that, rather
than contributing to regional peace
and stability, morph into transnational challenges o the rst
order. Witness the operational havens they become or ter-
rorist groups, as exemplied by pre-2001 Aghanistan. The
recent emergence o large-scale piracy surrounding the shores
o Somalia, where Canada has deployed its naval orces under
a NATO-led operation, is another recent example. States thatwill not or cannot stop mass atrocities will eventually become
the kind o states that will not or cannot prevent territory rom
being used as a base or terrorism, human tracking, drug and
arms smuggling, and other serious threats.
Third, as a result o the growing multi-cultural makeup o the
Canadian population combined with present day communica-
tion technologies that allow or news and images o real time
human suering to be relayed across the world in a matter o
seconds, mass atrocities occurring in ar away countries can
undermine the oundations o political stability and socialcohesion in Canada. The recent confict in Sri Lanka is a case in
point. In March 2009, more than 120,000 members o the Sri
Lankan Tamil diaspora in Toronto protested against the policies
o the Sri Lankan government towards the Tamil minority. Their
protest demonstrations paralyzed downtown Toronto, as they
demanded that Canada pressure the Sri Lankan government tohalt its military operations against the Tamil Tigers so that civil-
ians could be allowed to escape rom the confict zone. In May
2009, this group sustained protests on Parliament Hill or weeks,
and shut down a major highway in downtown Toronto.
New tools, new eraNot all is lost. Even middle powers like Canada can play a
constructive role in shaping and creating the uture world that
we aspire to live in. As the Will to Intervene Project report pro-
poses, policies need to be implemented to enhance government
coordination and build sot and hard power capacity. These
recommendations provide a ramework or action that is both
pragmatic and strategic. Small structural changes can have a realcumulative eect in harnessing all elements o Canadas national
power more eectively to prevent uture genocides.
In the domain o improving internal government coordina-tion, the creation o an interdepartmental Coordinating Oce
or the Prevention o Mass Atrocities would encourage Canadian
civil servants to channel intelligence to key decision makers and
permit the identication o who is responsible or decisions in
a timely manner. This would replace the ad hoc and temporary
inter-departmental task orce model. The creation o a perma-
nent structure should also be accompanied by the establishment
17November/December 2009 /Vanguard
Strategic imperativeMass atrocity crimes genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes
and crimes against humanity are too prevalent in our modern
age to warrant outright dismissal as unortunate occurrences
that are irregular and impossible to anticipate. In the 21st cen-tury, the combined impact o poverty and inequality, rapid
demographic growth, nationalism, and climate change will drive
the kind o deadly violence that will not only threaten interna-
tional peace and security, but will also aect Canadas domestic
security and economic prosperity as well.
In todays unstable and interdependent global environment,
the traditional national interest approach to oreign policy is
no longer eective.
Why must Canada and its citizens re-engage in creating do-
mestic political will to prevent mass atrocities? Besides the obvi-ous moral imperative and the legal obligation o national gov-
ernments to respond to situations when intelligence indicates
something sinister is unolding, there are also many ar-reaching
consequences that ultimately will aect Canadian society in a
negative manner. We are now only beginning to understand how
truly interconnected our world is through globalization.Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Pre-
vent Mass Atrocities, the report issued by the Will to Intervene
Project at the Montreal Institute or Genocide and Human
Rights Studies, lays out in meticulous detail why preventing
mass atrocities should concern our policy elites. The reporturges elected ocials and high-level government ocials to
adopt a concept o the national interest that incorporates the
notion that preventing genocide and mass atrocities serves the
interests o Canada and not doing so puts the welare o Cana-
dian citizens at risk.
First, mass atrocities pose a serious risk to our public health.
Deadly violence unleashed against civilians generates internal
and external displacement, destroys critical health inrastruc-ture, spreads AIDS through rape as a weapon o war, and halts
inoculation and vaccination programs, thereby creating the
ideal conditions or inectious diseases to immerge. In addi-tion, those who are orced to fee genocidal violence oten have
no choice but to seek shelter and protection in overcrowded
and unsanitary reugee camps. These sites become breeding
grounds or disease outbreaks that sow the seeds or uture
global pandemics.
Second, mass atrocities generate serious security threats over
time. Security challenges now include a wider variety o inter-
Security
fd dbu
rwd ld.
P: J i , Un
8/9/2019 Lethal ripple effects of mass atrocities by Kyle Matthews and Romo Dallaire Vanguard magazine Nov/Dec 2009
3/3
18 Vanguard/November/December 2009
Security
o standard operating procedures or disseminating intelligence
concerning the risks o mass atrocities throughout the whole o
government. At present, there are no established governmental
processes or mechanisms in Ottawa designed or preventing
and responding to genocide. Addressing this would help in
overcoming competing departmental interests and cultures, aswell as enable Canada to better employ the diverse competencies
o the civil service.
Robust civilian and military capacities, which that are eld
deployable and sustainable, are essential to preventing uture
genocides. However, the ongoing Canadian engagement in
Aghanistan has depleted much o the countrys diplomatic,
development and military resources. The strategic establish-
ment o a Canadian Prevention Corps would create a permanent
civilian standby team based in Ottawa or preventive action. A
critical mass o multidisciplinary experts could be drawn rom
ederal agencies and departments to work with high-level spe-cial envoys or preventive diplomacy and act-nding missions.
This critical investment would augment Canadas diplomatic
capacity to monitor countries or early warning signs such as
hate propaganda, suspicious arms shipments, political extrem-
ism, exclusivist nationalism and state discrimination on ethnic,
religious, political or gender grounds. In addition, this initiative
should be accompanied by an increase in Canadas diplomatic
and development presence in ragile countries.
On the hard power side, there is a need to continue enhancing
the Canadian Forces capabilities by increasing its orce strength
and developing operational concepts, doctrine, orce structure,
and training to support civilian protection and engage in the
complex scenarios o counter-insurgency as the centre o a spec-
trum o intellectually based use o orce versus pure experientialand immediate use in extended sel-deense situations.
The continued development o an ocer corps, nurtured and
matured within an inter-disciplinary set o skills that permit
pro-active engagement in confict resolution without immedi-
ate reverting to the use o orce, will provide a more fexible and
innovative protection orce. Education in the arts and sciences
o anthropology, sociology and philosophy will provide depth
o knowledge to complete the warrior skills o our eld com-
manders and leaders. By addressing the size o the military, its
rapid deployment capacity, and operational eectiveness in
complex and dangerous environments, Canada will be betterpositioned to assume a greater leadership role in civilian protec-
tion operations.
These vital steps will transorm the short-term political calcu-
lations that today characterize Canadas response to mass atroci-
ties and begin a long-term policy shit in avor o preventive
action. I we chose not to move towards the path o prevention,
we will make little progress toward solving the recurring global
problems o mass atrocities and their lethal ripple eects.
The upcoming challengeConsensus is orming that Canada can play a leadership role
by revising outdated policies, developing new approaches and
increasing national capacities to prevent mass atrocities. Canada
needs to redene its national interests more broadly, not only to
help states rom going over the abyss o sel-destruction, but also
to help and protect Canadians. Our stake in international anddomestic security has converged with our stake in humanitarian
principles as never beore.
As one o the worlds leading democratic and pluralistic so-
cieties, Canada has a responsibility and a national interest in
putting the issue o genocide and mass atrocity prevention at theoreront o its international security and oreign policy agendas.
Our borders cannot be sealed hermetically rom the transna-
tional chaos mass atrocities produce. Indierence threatens
Canadas public health, domestic security, economic prosperity
and social cohesion in the long term.
Kyle Matthews is the lead
researcher for the Will to
Intervene Project at the
Montreal Institute for Geno-
cide and Human Rights
Studies, Concordia Univer-
sity. Previously, he worked
for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
LGen Romo Dallaire commanded the United Nations Assistance
Mission for Rwanda in 1994. He was appointed to the Senate in
2005 and serves as member of the Senate Standing Committee on
Human Rights.
t Wld 2015:
impl cdJanuary 21-22, 2010
The Crowne Plaza Hotel,
101 Lyon Street,Ottawa, Ontario
A two-day conference organized by the National Capital Branch of the
Canadian International Council. Speakers from Canada and abroad will
look at the principal issues, key players and crisis generators from aglobal perspective to consider the challenges that lie ahead for Canada
and Canadian policies in 2015.
> Strategic and Global Issues Shaping the World of 2015
> Global Players in 2015
> Governance
> Security
> Canada in the World of 2015
Details on the Conference and how you can register can be found
on our website: www.dlul.g/w.For further information, contact us by e-mail at
ow@dlul.g.
Recommended