Preventing Mass Atrocities: From a Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) to a Right to Assist (RtoA) Campaigns of Civil Resistance

By Peter Ackerman and Hardy Merriman

Events of the last decade demand new approaches to atrocity prevention that are adaptable, innovative and independent of a state-centered doctrine. With the aim of reducing risk factors such as civil war, Ackerman and Merriman argue for a new normative framework called The Right to Assist (RtoA), which would strengthen international coordin

• Language: English
• Publisher: International Center on Nonviolent Conflict
• Release date: May 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781943271573

Peter Ackerman

Dr. Peter Ackerman est le fondateur du International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) et le Président du Board d'ICNC. Il est le coauteur le nombreux ouvrages notamment A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict (2001) et Strategic Nonviolent Conflict: The Dynamics of People Power in the Twentieth Century (1994). Il a produit la Série en deux parties "A Force More Powerful" pour la chaîne publique américaine PBS-série qui fut nommée au Emmy, et qui relate l'histoire de plusieurs mouvements de résistance civile du 20ème siècle. Il est aussi le Producteur Exécutif de plusieurs autres films sur la résistance civile, notamment le documentaire de PBS "Bringing Down a Dictator," sur la chute du dictateur serbe Slobodan Milosevic. Ce film a reçu le Prix Peabody 2003 et le Prix ABC News VideoSource 2002 de l'Association Internationale des Documentaires. Dr. Ackerman est le co-président du Comité Internaƒtional de Conseil du United States Institute for Peace et il est membre du Comité Exécutif du Board du Atlantic Council.

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Summary

The Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) was developed as a doctrine to prevent mass atrocities (genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity). Offering an important exception to the principle of nonintervention, it relies on the UN Security Council to authorize its most aggressive provisions such as armed intervention. Despite its initial promise, a decade of practice has revealed that RtoP can easily be curtailed by the objections of UN member states.

The world needs new approaches to atrocity prevention that are adaptable, innovative and independent of a state-centered doctrine. With the aim of reducing risk factors such as civil war, we argue for a new normative framework called The Right to Assist (RtoA), which would strengthen international coordination and support for nonviolent civil resistance campaigns demanding rights, freedom and justice against non-democratic rule. RtoA would:

1. engage a wide range of stakeholders such as NGOs, states, multilateral institutions and others;

2. bolster various factors of resilience against state fragility; and

3. incentivize opposition groups to sustain commitment to nonviolent strategies of change.

The adoption of this doctrine can reduce the probability of violent conflict that significantly heightens atrocity risk, while increasing the prospects for constructive human development.

Our argument is grounded in social science research about the impact of civil resistance on societies. We explain what makes civil resistance campaigns effective and offer a five-part typology of different forms of support for these campaigns. We then address questions about operationalizing the Right to Assist framework, including offering:

• criteria to determine what civil resistance campaigns could be supported;

• considerations in determining what forms of assistance to offer;

• discussion of the intersection of external support and international law;

• discussion of invocation, oversight, and implementation.

Our goal is to offer a specific framework for how, practically, RtoA could be implemented, and we invite additional research and debate to develop and refine ideas on this topic.

About the Authors

Dr. Peter Ackerman is the Founding Chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) and co-author of the books A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict (2001) and Strategic Nonviolent Conflict: The Dynamics of People Power in the Twentieth Century (1994). He was Series Editor and Principal Content Advisor for the two-part Emmy-nominated PBS-TV series, A Force More Powerful which charts the history of civilian-based resistance in the 20th century. He was also Executive Producer of several other films on civil resistance, including the PBS-TV documentary, Bringing Down a Dictator, on the fall of Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic, which received a 2003 Peabody Award and the 2002 ABC News VideoSource Award of the International Documentary Association. Dr. Ackerman serves as co-chair of the International Advisory Committee of the United States Institute for Peace and is on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Atlantic Council.

Hardy Merriman is President of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC). He has worked in the field of civil resistance since 2002, presenting at workshops for activists and organizers around the world; speaking widely about civil resistance movements with academics, journalists, and members of international organizations; and developing educational resources. His writings have been translated into numerous languages. From 2016-2018 he was also an adjunct lecturer at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University). Mr. Merriman has contributed to the books Is Authoritarianism Staging a Comeback? (2015), Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East (2010), and Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential (2005) and coauthored two literature reviews on civil resistance. He has also written about the role of nonviolent action in countering terrorism and co-authored A Guide to Effective Nonviolent Struggle, a training curriculum for activists.

Table of Contents

Introduction

RtoA as an Alternative Approach

How Support for Civil Resistance Campaigns Can Help Prevent Mass Atrocities

What Forms of Assistance are Helpful?

1. Public Education about Civil Resistance

2. Capacity Building for Civil Resistance Campaigns

3. Mitigating the Impact of Repression and Disruption

4. Raising the Cost of Repression

5. Fostering a Stable Political Transition

Applying this Framework: Re-examining Resistance and Possibilities in Syria

Addressing Concerns about a Right to Assist

1. What campaigns should receive assistance?

2. Is support for civil resistance synonymous with supporting regime change?

3. What if external support has a harmful impact on a campaign?

4. What if external support contributes to societal instability?

5. What forms of external support to civil resistance campaigns are permissible under international law?

6. How should RtoA be invoked, and who should exercise oversight?

Conclusion

Endnotes

Acknowledgments

Figures

Figure 1: Mass Killings in Violent and Nonviolent Campaigns

Figure 2: Historic Success Rates of Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns: 1900-2006

Figure 3: Probability that a Country will be a Democracy Five Years After a Campaign Ends: 1900-2006

Introduction

The end of the Cold War in 1991 led to optimism about the prospects for increased peace and security around the globe. Shortly thereafter the world witnessed atrocities