Research Related to Responsibility to Protect and Role of Major Powers

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine is a concept that was formally introduced in 2001. It came out of a commission formed by the Canadian government at the urging of the United Nations (UN) to examine ways of reconciling sovereignty and human rights. The basic principles of R2P assert that state sovereignty implies responsibility; thus, a state is the primary entity responsible for the protection of the people within it. Therefore, when a state fails to meet this responsibility and a population is suffering grievous harm, the principles of non-intervention and traditional respect for state sovereignty yield to the international community's responsibility to protect.

In paragraphs 138 and 139, the General Assembly affirms the ICISS’s assertion that individual states are responsible for protecting their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. It also states that the international community, through the United Nations, has a responsibility to protect populations from the same crimes (U.N. General Assembly, 2005).

Historical Perspective.

The humanitarian developments that came out of World War II are most instructive for our purposes here. Most succinctly, humanitarian intervention is defined as "the threat or use of force across state borders by a state (or group of states) aimed at preventing or ending widespread and grave violations of fundamental human rights of persons other than the nationals of the intervening state, and without the permission of the state within which force is applied" (Farer, Archibugi, Brown, Crawford, Weiss, and Wheeler, 2005, 212). Some examples of humanitarian interventions between 1949 and the early 1990s are India in East Pakistan in 1971, Vietnam in Cambodia in 1978, and Tanzania in Uganda in 1979. According to Thakur (2009), these Cold War-era interventions were rife with humanitarian rhetoric and "pseudo interventions." In other words, many of these interventions were politically doubtful and carried out in an ad hoc manner. The Post-War period was one in which the primary international body for making determinations leading to humanitarian interventions, the United Nations Security Council, was effectively frozen by ideological differences.

Application of R2P.

Through this doctrine, the international community intervened fully in Libya and partially in Syria on the basis of humanitarian crimes; however, they are neglecting Kashmir due to a lack of interest. Nevertheless, Kashmiris are simply demanding the implementation of United Nations (UN) resolutions and asking the international community to intervene in this issue of mass atrocity in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Kashmir Conflict

Kashmir is a region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent. It is bounded by the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang to the northeast and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the east (both parts of China), by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south, by Pakistan to the west, and by Afghanistan to the northwest. The region, with a total area of approximately 85,800 square miles (222,200 square km), has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. The southern and southeastern portions constitute the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian- and Pakistani-administered portions are divided by a "line of control" agreed to in 1972, although neither country recognizes it as an international boundary. In addition, China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and since 1962, has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region).

Due to this division, against the will of the people, conflict arises which has remained unsolved. Predominantly, violence is occurring in IOK. Here are some numbers of casualties that have occurred in the last three decades.

Human Rights Violations in Kashmir: January 1989 - November 2018

Total killings: 95,186

Custodial Killings: 7,120

Women raped/molested: 11,107

Objective of the Study
The basic aim and objective of this study is to make the Kashmir region more secure and peaceful by all means and evade the military from the region, which is the main cause of carnages. This is under the guidelines provided by UN resolutions. It also investigates, why the international community has a responsibility to protect Kashmir?

Theoretical Framework

The most appropriate theory that can be applied here is Dependency Theory. This is because the Core of Periphery Nations (CP), such as India and Pakistan, serve the interests of the Core of Core Nations (CC), like the UK and USA. As such, these nations will never intervene in any conflict that is harmful to their economic interests. Given that India and Pakistan are the largest purchasers of arms in the world, it is very difficult for the doctrine of responsibility to protect to be applied in Kashmir.

Literature Review

In the context of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the role of major powers in the Kashmir conflict, some resources have been conferred. A book which has been reviewed, "Humanitarian Intervention: A History", edited by Brendan Simms of the University of Cambridge and D. J. B. Trim of the University of Reading, provides a long-term overview of humanitarian intervention. This spans from the origins of nation-state politics through to the golden age of intervention in the nineteenth century and up until the recent past, illustrating that it is not just a concept devised in the 1990s, but has a long-term history.

A book titled "Jammu Kashmir Book of Knowledge", edited by Saeed Assad, has been reviewed. The book offers insights into the basic problems of the Kashmir conflict and also provides a brief history of Kashmir as a state before and after India and Pakistan.

The article, "The Responsibility to Protect—Five Years On" by Alex J. Bellamy, highlights the R2P practice in different regions of the world. It also discusses various situations, provides evidence, and outlines outcomes.

The report, "Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty December 2001: The Responsibility to Protect" by Gareth Evans and Mohamed Shannon, analyzes the international problems for RtoP.

The article that has been reviewed is "That Thing That India and Pakistan Do" by Mohammed Hanif, which is about the role played by the regional actors in the case of Kashmir.

Statement of Problem

In this study, the problem statement is the adaptability of the responsibility to protect (R2P) in the Kashmir crisis. The lack of interest shown by international actors due to their self-interests in the resolution of the Kashmir issue has led both main actors of the conflict to abide by the UN resolutions, causing instability in the region. This is directly affecting the lives of the Kashmiri people who are demanding their rights.

Research Questions

What are the main causes preventing the adoption of the R2P doctrine in the Kashmir Conflict?

What should be done for the implementation of R2P in Kashmir?

Why isn't the international community giving importance to the Kashmir issue like they are to Libya and Syria?

Hypothesis.

The "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) doctrine can't be applied to the Kashmir issue because of the lack of interest from core states/international actors.

Research Methodology
This will be a qualitative type of research. In this study, the historical, descriptive, and analytical methods will be used for the case study. The collection of material and information will be through primary and secondary sources such as books, journals, reports, documents, articles, and some help will also be taken from the internet.

Conclusion

"Responsibility to Protect" can be applicable in the case of the Kashmir conflict, but several causes bring this possibility to a standstill. It depends upon the will of international actors whether they want to solve the Kashmir conflict through the R2P doctrine or not. However, it could be difficult when economic interests come into play. Regional actors are also playing a role in serving the interests of international actors. This is a cause for the lack of international community intervention in the conflict.

References/Bibliography

Asad, Mohammad S. Jammu Kashmir Book of Knowledge, 2015.
Behera, Navnita C. Demystifying Kashmir. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2007.
Bellamy, Alex J., and Catherine Drummond. "The Responsibility to Protect in Southeast Asia: Between Non-Interference and Sovereignty as Responsibility." The Pacific Review 24, no. 2 (2011): 179-200. doi:10.1080/09512748.2011.560958.
Blackford, William R. "The Responsibility to Protect and International Law: Moral, Legal and Practical Perspectives on Kosovo, Libya, and Syria." Master's thesis, Portland State University, 2014.
Britannica Educational Publishing, Editor. The Geography of India: Sacred and Historic Places. Britannica Educational Publishing, 2010.
Evans, Gareth, and Mohamed Sahnoun. "The Responsibility to Protect." Foreign Affairs, November/December 2002.
International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, and International D. Centre. 2001. http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/ICISS%20Report.pdf.
'Kashmir Conflict 70 Years on.' Kashmir Conflict 70 Years on. n.d. https://www.trtworld.com/video/the-newsmakers/kashmir-conflict-70-years-on/5a40bce841736a1f528ad4b8.
Lost Kashmiri History. Accessed December 19, 2018. http://lostkashmirihistory.com/.
'Opinion | That Thing That India and Pakistan Do.' Breaking News, World News & Multimedia - The New York Times (blog). November 1, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/opinion/india-pakistan-peace-talks-war.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FKashmir&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection.
Simms, Brendan, and D. J. B. Trim. Humanitarian Intervention: A History, 2011.
Welsh, Jennifer M. "The Responsibility to Protect after Libya & Syria." Daedalus 145, no. 4 (2016): 75-87. doi:10.1162/daed_a_00413. 

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