WHITHER THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT AND THE SYRIAN CRISIS?

ABSTRACT
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is an intricate and developing norm of international law that seeks to provide a means for the international community to prevent crimes against humanity occurring within the boundaries of a sovereign state. Under R2P the use of force is reserved for actions within the United Nations Charter’s Chapter VII framework. As the Syria crisis has demonstrated, this position hinders efforts by the international community to protect populations from grave breaches of human rights. Hence, this article will analyse R2P with reference to the crisis in Syria with a view to arguing that when peaceful measures have been exhausted and the Security Council is deadlocked, the General Assembly should act