Intervention to Protect Civilians in Darfur: Legal Dilemmas and Policy Imperatives

This research paper by Kithure Kindiki examines the legal and policy challenges surrounding the atrocities in Darfur, arguing that the scale of human rights violations justifies forcible humanitarian intervention despite claims of state sovereignty by the Government of Sudan.

• The author argues that the human rights violations in Darfur reach the legal threshold of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, which justifies the use of forcible humanitarian intervention by groups of states, whether they act through the UN, the AU, or independently.
• While the author believes intervention is legitimate outside of established frameworks, they suggest that for the sake of global and regional peace and security stability, preference should be given to interventions conducted within the institutional frameworks of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN).
• The paper contends that the traditional doctrine of state sovereignty is evolving; sovereignty is now increasingly viewed as being dependent on a state's responsibility to protect its own citizens, and a failure to do so justifies intervention by other states, including military force.
• The author concludes that the principle of sovereignty in international law has yielded to the exception of humanitarian intervention in cases of serious human rights violations, and recommends that the international community shift its focus from peacekeeping toward urgent forcible humanitarian intervention in Darfur, preferably authorized by the UN.

APA

Kindiki, K. (n.d.). Intervention to Protect Civilians in Darfur: Legal Dilemmas and Policy Imperatives. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-131-intervention-to-protect-civilians-in-darfur-legal-dilemmas-and-policy-imperatives-kithure-kindiki

Chicago

Kindiki, Kithure. Intervention to Protect Civilians in Darfur: Legal Dilemmas and Policy Imperatives. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-131-intervention-to-protect-civilians-in-darfur-legal-dilemmas-and-policy-imperatives-kithure-kindiki.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kindiki |first1=Kithure |title=Intervention to Protect Civilians in Darfur: Legal Dilemmas and Policy Imperatives |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-131-intervention-to-protect-civilians-in-darfur-legal-dilemmas-and-policy-imperatives-kithure-kindiki |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kindikindintervention, author = {Kindiki, Kithure}, title = {{Intervention to Protect Civilians in Darfur: Legal Dilemmas and Policy Imperatives}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-131-intervention-to-protect-civilians-in-darfur-legal-dilemmas-and-policy-imperatives-kithure-kindiki}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }