Libya: Will African members of the UN Security Council step up?

By Mandeep Tiwana

The indiscriminate mowing down of hundreds of protestors, including attacks on the demonstrators from the air offers an important test for the UN Security Council. As of now, the world’s most powerful body has issued a unanimous statement condemning the violence but has failed to take any concrete action to stop the mass murders.

Meanwhile, Libya’s “supreme leader” Colonel Moammar Gadaffi has urged his supporters to come out on the streets to attack the “rats” and “cockroaches” opposing his iron grip on power.

It is amply clear from the turn of events in Libya that the situation is fast spiralling into an international and continental crisis requiring intervention from the UN Security Council and the African Union. And act they should. Chapter seven of the UN Charter empowers the Council to take appropriate non-military and military action to restore international peace and security. The African Union’s Constitutive Act lists the promotion of peace, security and stability on the continent as a key objective.

In Libya’s case many, including Civicus, feel that the only option is for the UN Security Council to apply the principle of “Responsibility to Protect”, which emerged out of the 2005 World Summit on Human Rights. At the summit, a historic commitment to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity was made by the international community. World leaders agreed that states have the primary responsibility to prevent the above crimes and the international community should encourage or assist states to exercise this responsibility. But when a state manifestly fails in its responsibilities then the international community must step in and if necessary use collective force through the UN Security Council to protect the adversely affected people.

As Colonel Gadaffi’s henchmen continue their orgy of killing, it is time for the UN Security Council to act decisively by issuing a resolution calling upon the Libyan government to stop the violence and ensure the safety and security of the Libyan people, failing which appropriate action can be taken under the UN Charter. At present, the UN Security Council statement carries no weight.

The three African countries that sit on the UN Security Council — South Africa, Nigeria and Gabon — as representatives of the continent have a special responsibility to protect the people of Libya from grave human-rights violations. For geo-political reasons, it is extremely important that African countries lead the charge against preventing crimes against humanity on the continent. South Africa, Nigeria and Gabon must spur the UN Security Council and the African Union, which has promised to send a delegation to the country to act decisively against Gadaffi’s thugs. Libya offers a potentially game-changing opportunity for the leaders of these three countries to shape the history of Africa and set a precedent for stopping crimes against humanity within the continent.

But if they’ll seize the moment and step up to the plate is anybody’s guess?

Mandeep Tiwana is policy manager at Civicus: World Alliance for Citizen Participation