329 Beatriz Vázquez Rodríguez Spain and the Responsibility to Protect:... It is worth underlining that given the fact that the actions of North Korea’s govern-ment were classified as crimes against humanity, our delegation made reference to the responsibility to protect in the debate on the issue; the Spanish representative recalled that the above-mentioned government: « … is the first responsible for ensuring and protecting the human rights of its own people. Faced by the unresponsiveness of that government, it falls to the international community to assume that responsibility and take the necessary measures to protect a population that has suffered far too long. … the time has come for the Security Council to also provide a response to the systematic violations of human rights that the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are suffering. … Inaction would in fact be tantamount to taking sides and turning our back on international law»36. Some other states also focused on the subject from the perspective of the respon-sibility to protect37, however the great majority made no reference at all to the notion in their interventions. This, together with the earlier opposition by some permanent members to the discussion of human rights in the DPRK, as well as the increasingly frequent use of the veto in the Security Council, led one author to declare that the principle of the responsibility to protect: «Est aujourd’hui vidé de sa substance. Désigner le Conseil de Sécurité comme organe de la Communauté internationale pour agir en cas de défaillance de l’Etat principalement responsable de la protection internationale de la population n’a de sens que s’il est apte à adopter des mesures dans tous les cas qui correspondent à une telle situation. En réalité il est généralement paralysé. Le consensus de 2005 est donc brisé»38. Alongside what has already been mentioned, one further action undertaken by our country in the Security Council should be highlighted that we feel further reflects the fact that the principle of the responsibility to protect is a priority for Spain. On the 14 December last year, an informal and open «Arria-formula» meeting was held in 36 S/PV.7575, 10 December 2015, The situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, In-tervention by the Spanish representative, p. 15. 37 This is the case for Lithuania: «… the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has manifestly failed to comply with the responsibility to protect its own people, and international action is required. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a State Member of the United Nations, has for decades pursued policies involving crimes that shock the con-science of humankind. The international community must accept its responsibility to protect the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea», S/PV.7575, 10 December 2015, The situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Intervention by the Lithuanian rep-resentative, http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee p. 13. 38 WECKEL, P., «Corée du Nord, la responsabilité de protéger est un fiasco», Sentinelle, Bulletin nº 456, 13.12.2015, <http://www.sentinelle-droit-international.fr/?q=content/cor%C3%A9e-du-nord-la-responsabil-it% C3%A9-de-prot%C3%A9ger-est-un-fiasco>, Consulted: 8 January 2016.
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