Promise and pitfalls of the responsibility to protect and lessons to be learned from the case of Libya Wester, A.M.C.

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1 UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Promise and pitfalls of the responsibility to protect and lessons to be learned from the case of Libya Wester, A.M.C. Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Wester, A. M. C. (2016). Promise and pitfalls of the responsibility to protect and lessons to be learned from the case of Libya General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam ( Download date: 31 Dec 2018

2 UNIVERSIT Y OF AMSTERDAM On the cover: mural in Tripoli, September The graffiti reads 17 February, and Libya free. Karin Wester Promise and Pitfalls of the Responsibility to Protect and Lessons to be Learned from the Case of Libya Karin Wester has been working in the field of international relations, diplomacy, and human rights for twenty years. She is currently the Strategic Policy Adviser for the Middle East and North Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Karin Wester In 2005 UN member states reached agreement on the responsibility to protect a principle which stipulates that each state has the primary responsibility to protect its populations from mass atrocities, and that the international community has a complementary responsibility. In 2011, the crisis in Libya represented the first case in which the international community invoked the principle in order to justify taking coercive measures first sanctions and then the use of military force. This study analyzes the promise and pitfalls of the responsibility to protect against a historical background. Subsequently, it reconstructs and analyzes specifically how the principle has been applied in the case of Libya. Finally, the volume examines the implications of the Libyan case for the normative development and the implementation of the responsibility to protect in the future. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, including in-depth interviews with politicians, diplomats, and NGO-representatives, this study demonstrates that ultimately, the case of Libya has fully exposed the potential as well as the complexities inherent in the responsibility to protect. Karin Wester Promise and Pitfalls of the Responsibility to Protect and Lessons to be Learned from the Case of Libya

3 PROMISE AND PITFALLS OF THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT AND LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE CASE OF LIBYA

4 Dit onderzoek werd mede mogelijk gemaakt door steun van het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, de Universiteit van Amsterdam en de Universiteit Leiden, en door de toekenning van een Hijmansbeurs door de Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid van de Universiteit van Amsterdam.

5 Promise and Pitfalls of the Responsibility to Protect and Lessons to be Learned from the Case of Libya ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula der Universiteit op woensdag 6 april 2016, te uur door ANNA MARIA CLASINA WESTER geboren te Heemskerk

6 PROMOTIECOMMISSIE Promotores: Prof. dr. P.A. Nollkaemper, Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. ir. J.J.C. Voorhoeve, Universiteit Leiden Overige leden: Prof. dr. T.C. van Boven, Universiteit Maastricht (emeritus) Prof. dr. Y.M. Donders, Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. W.J.M. van Genugten, Universiteit Tilburg (emeritus) Prof. dr. M.E. Glasius, Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. mr. dr. B.M. Oomen, Universiteit Utrecht Prof. dr. A. van Staden, Universiteit Leiden Prof. dr. D.J. Vandewalle, Dartmouth College Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid

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8 Contents Preface 11 Introduction 17 Chapter 1 The Origin of the Responsibility to Protect 30 I. The process leading to the adoption of the responsibility to protect 31 II World Summit consensus 34 III. Legal aspects 38 IV. Conclusion 42 Chapter 2 International Authority Based on Protection in a Historical Context 44 I. The appeal to protection to legitimize international authority in a historical perspective 47 II. Recurrent patterns and normative changes 83 III. The responsibility to protect significance and status 94 IV. Conclusion 101 Chapter 3 Libya: an Accidental State in the Desert 106 I. From Christian oasis to Ottoman backwater 110 II.The Italian conquest and Fascist rule 114 III. The road to independence 122 IV. The United Kingdom of Libya 129 V. The 1969 revolution and the era of the masses 136 VI. Foreign relations in the 1970s and the 1980s 141 VII. Lockerbie and international isolation in the 1990s 147 VIII. Rapprochement and rehabilitation 156 IX. Conclusion 174

9 Chapter 4 The Libyan Uprising and the International Response, February I. The start of the Libyan uprising 181 II. The international community responds 199 III. The Security Council adopts resolution IV. Conclusion 225 Chapter 5 The Libyan Uprising and the International Response, 26 February - 17 March I. The crisis in Libya deteriorates 233 II. The internatonal community strengthens its response 241 III. The U.S. defines its position 260 IV. The Security Council adopts resolution V. Conclusion 286 Chapter 6 Operation Odyssey Dawn 292 I. The inadequacy of peaceful means? 293 II. Operation Odyssey Dawn 299 III. Reactions to Operation Odyssey Dawn 308 IV. From Operation Odyssey Dawn to Operation Unified Protector 316 V. Conclusion 323 Chapter 7 Operation Unified Protector, NATO and the UN 328 I. Operation Unified Protector 329 II. Political predicaments faced by NATO 341 III. NATO and the UN 360 IV. Conclusion 375 Chapter 8 A Divided International Community Confronts a Divided Libya 380 I. A divided Libya 381 II. A divided international community 393 III. Convergence of views towards the end of the conflict 435 IV. Conclusion 447

10 Chapter 9 Conclusion 452 I. The significance of the responsibility to protect 452 II. The responsibility to protect applied in Libya 457 III. Conclusions to be drawn for the normative development and the implementation of the responsibility to protect in the future 474 Samenvatting 499 Summary 511 Selected Bibliography 522