“The language of R2P refers to state inability or unwillingness as the catalyst for the international responsibility to protect being activated. But often the state itself is the perpetrator of atrocity crimes when security forces, meant to protect people, are instead let loose in a killing spree.”
- Ramesh Thakur, Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo, was an R2P commissioner and a principal author of its report.
See his comment on the Libyan situation here.