Dear CIVICUS friend,
The UN Security Council (UNSC) is holding a closed-door meeting today (22 Feb) to discuss the crisis in Libya and there is something you can do about it!
The situation in Libya is escalating with mass killings of protestors, resulting in the commission of crimes against humanity. The ongoing cruel and wanton murder of protestors by Libyan government forces is a serious risk to humanity that the UN Security Council must address now. Failure to act will not only result in the deaths of large numbers of innocent people, which constitutes a crime against humanity, but will also embolden other despotic regimes to use similar measures against their populations.
We believe that there is a strong case for the UNSC to invoke the doctrine of 'Responsibility to Protect' to deal immediately with the threat posed to international peace and security.
Following the 2005 World Summit on Human Rights, the international community made a historic commitment to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity through the doctrine of ‘Responsibility to Protect'. We believe that this is the time for the UNSC to discharge that commitment towards the people of Libya who are being brutally massacred by a despotic regime.
CIVICUS has called upon the UNSC to treat the ongoing atrocities in Libya as a threat to international peace and security and act in accordance with Chapter 7 of the UN Charter by taking appropriate non-military and military action to restore peace and security for the people of Libya
You can play a key role in lobbying members of the UNSC to take an active position. Silence is not an option, and solidarity among civil society organisations must inspire us to take action.
Click here for a template that you can use to write to members of the UNSC. We call upon you to take action on this extremely important issue.
For more information, please refer to the these two statements from CIVICUS: