I only recently came across the text of the Fourth Annual Gareth Evans Lecture delivered by Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on October 29, 2014 at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Her title was “Stopping Mass Atrocities and Promoting Human Rights: My Work as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights”. The lecture addresses three major issues: sovereignty, international intervention, and assistance to states.

For me, the best passage appears on page 2 when Pillay talks about the thorny issue of R2P and state sovereignty. These are her words: “State sovereignty is often invoked to deflect UN action to prevent serious human rights violations. But as I have often said to representatives of governments, ‘You made the law; now you must observe it.’ … Sovereign states established the UN, and built the international human rights framework, precisely because they knew that human rights violations cause conflict and undermine sovereignty.” To generate robust human rights protections, she emphasizes three mechanisms found globally to constitute best practice: “strengthening civil society actors, increasing participation by women in decision-making and dialogue and addressing institutional and individual accountability for past crimes and serious violations of human rights”.

Sometimes, though, international intervention will need to take place, and hanging over that is the March 2011 Libya action authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1973. With a charge of mission creep frequently leveled at the western states that took control of implementation, the entire R2P agenda is now widely thought to be endangered. About that, Pillay has this to say (p.4): “Lest the R2P concept loses support, it is important to address the concerns raised. It is clear that the concept itself cannot be faulted. As far as I can see, no objection has been raised to the concept itself but to its application and implementation. R2P, like human rights, must never become politicized, employed selectively or be the weapon for double standards and regime change.” Indeed, as High Commissioner, she condemned the unlawful killing of Gaddafi, and called for a full and independent investigation.

Finally, there is a long-term global commitment to assist states to implement R2P. Here, Pillay’s major focus is on the importance of early detection systems. Through Rights Up Front, the UN Secretary-General can be more proactive than ever in signaling potential crises. The Human Rights Council can also bring states together in a representative international forum. Commissions of inquiry and other fact-finding mechanisms are critical. Pillay rightly underlines the importance of all this (p.5): “Let me stress that having to react to past or ongoing atrocities implies that we have already failed to protect. The most effective way to implement R2P lies in the prevention of relevant violations and crimes before they occur. It is at this stage that the international community can and should be most effective.”

This is an excellent lecture – just five pages long, but full of good insights and solid arguments.