The Role of the Doctrine of the ‘responsibility to Protect’ (R2p) in Kenya’s Post-election Violence

Abstract

This study explores the application of the doctrine of responsibility to protect (R2P) in Kenya during the 2007-08 post election violence. It dissects the two R2Ps which are the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) R2P and the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. The objectives of this study were (1) To investigate whether the doctrine of responsibility to protect was applied in resolving Kenya‘s post-election violence; (2) To explore the relevance of the doctrine of the responsibility to protect; (3) To draw lessons from the applicability of the doctrine of the responsibility to protect. The study employed qualitative approach; it sought to cover the exploratory, descriptive and explanatory elements of the research process. The first part of the study gives a background of the post election violence in Kenya and doctrine of responsibility to protect, giving its elements as outlined in the ICISS report. In the second part a presentation a theoretical overview and normative status of the doctrine responsibility to protect. In the third part, the position of the international community on the doctrine of responsibility to protect from the international community at the world summit and the 2009 general assembly is given, in the fourth part of the paper, a critical analysis of the concept of responsibility to protect where the emerging issues on the topic of interest is outlined. The findings of this study reveal that some of the abuses R2P seeks to address are not well defined to warrant applicability of the doctrine of R2P in the 2007-2008 post election violence in Kenya.