UNITED NATIONS, April 28 (UPI) -- The United Nations Security Council on Friday passed a landmark resolution making world leaders responsible to protect civilians from genocide and war crimes.
The vote by the 15-member Council confirms an agreement reached by world leaders at the U.N. World Summit in September on their collective responsibility to protect civilians from genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
International aid agency Oxfam said this was the first resolution approved by the Council to include the World Summit agreement on the collective "responsibility to protect." The Summit agreement and Security Council resolution affirm that national governments have the primary responsibility to protect their civilians from atrocities.
If national governments fail to protect their people, the international community is obligated to intervene, according to the resolution.
Nicola Reindorp, head of Oxfam International's New York Office, said the resolution was an important moment for the protection of millions of people caught in violent and deadly conflicts.
"The Security Council has today said that in the twenty-first century, the world will not tolerate genocide or crimes against humanity. It is a landmark resolution that, if implemented effectively, should save countless lives," Reindorp said. "The Security Council has today committed to act to prevent genocide or ethnic cleansing."
At September's World Summit in New York, United States President George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined world leaders from over 180 other nations signed an historic measure pledging to intervene when national government do not protect their own.
The resolution was made to avoid a repeat of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when the international community for three months turned its back on the slaughter of some 800,000 people.
