1. The Responsibility to Protect in the Americas: Exploring Sources of Mass Atrocity Risk and Best Practices for Response
- Author:
- Elisabeth Pramendorfer
- Publication Date:
- 03-2024
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- Over the past four decades, countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have made important strides – transitioning from dictatorship to democracy, exploring avenues for transitional justice, reconciliation and memorialization of past atrocities, and becoming champions of the human rights norms and multilateral institutions that safeguard humanity. Despite this progress, today the region has once again become one of the most violent in the world and governments around the region are systematically curtailing human rights. Independent UN investigations have documented possible crimes against humanity in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Similar patterns of systematic violations are unfolding in El Salvador. Escalating urban and gang-related violence in Brazil and Haiti resemble conflict zones and have resulted in unprecedented casualties. Meanwhile, the structural marginalization of Indigenous Peoples across the region, the militarization of security strategies and attacks against judicial independence are emblematic features of many countries in the Americas. Despite documentation of how phenomena like gang violence and structural marginalization of Indigenous Peoples may facilitate an environment conducive to the commission of atrocity crimes, atrocity prevention frameworks have not sufficiently considered the unique risks associated with these threats. While varying in scope and severity, democratic backsliding has further exacerbated the risks associated with these patterns in recent years. Instead of addressing such institutional risk factors, governments have gradually eroded the rule of law and have resorted to violating human rights, curtailing, and, in some cases, repressing and criminalizing civic space. Disproportionate and violent responses to street protests in Chile, Colombia and the United States further demonstrate that atrocity prevention should become both a domestic and foreign policy imperative. This Occasional Paper assesses recent protracted and emerging atrocity crises by examining various institutional and hybrid risk factors present in Venezuela, Nicaragua and El Salvador. This paper also provides recommendations for governments to identify gaps and opportunities to address atrocity risks in their own country, as well as how to strengthen the region’s atrocity prevention capacities by presenting options available on the regional and multilateral level to ensure robust and time-sensitive response. It is not too late to ensure effective, holistic and coordinated response to emerging situations in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Doing so will require the requisite political will, a steadfast commitment and the courage to prioritize human rights by countries in the region and beyond.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocity Prevention, and Democratic Backsliding
- Political Geography:
- South America, Latin America, and Caribbean