ABSTRACT

This chapter studies the views of both groups of anti-genocide activists on the principle of sovereignty and the related duties of the sovereign. It presents two cases namely, the East Timor case and the Libya case. The first concerns the response of the Portuguese government and Portuguese solidarity activists to the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. The second case describes the views on sovereignty and sovereign power as held by R2P-advocates. Both groups of activists respond differently to the question of who or what authority are legitimized to intervene in case the sovereign state. To East Timor solidarity activists, 'sovereignty' means 'self-determination', as in the political right to chose one's own government in free and fair elections. To R2P-advocates, sovereignty means 'responsibility' as in 'the responsibility to protect populations from mass atrocities'. Although the R2P-advocates and East Timor activists are alike in viewing their mission as a long road to change, the road to change and salvation they suggest differs.