Legal 2012

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

1/48

HNMUN 2012

Legal Committee

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

2/482Harvard National Model United Nations 2012

Dear Delegates,

It is with great excitement that I welcome you to Harvard National Model United Nations 2012! My name is DominikNieszporowski and I have the honor to serve as your Secretary-General for the 58th session of HNMUN. I am currently asenior at Harvard concentrating in Applied Mathematics and Economics. Originally from Warsaw, Poland, I have participatedin Model UN for more than 7 years now, having attended several conferences in Europe, North America, and Asia. Even thoughmy primary areas of interest are focused on business and nance, I have always thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to discussmajor world issues with people from other countries that MUN offers. My other passions include international developmentand public service I have been particularly involved with programs creating educational opportunities for children in AfricaSports also play an important role in my life having been brought up as a staunch Chelsea London supporter, and having triedalmost all major disciplines from rowing to fencing, I settled on regularly practicing volleyball and swimming.

This document will provide you with Welcome Letters from your Under-Secretary-General and your Director, the StudyGuide for your committee, and the Rules of Parliamentary Procedure. The entire Secretariat and Senior Staff have committedcountless hours to ensure that the substance and presentation of this document are of the highest quality, and that you areprovided with the most useful tools to succeed at conference. Each Director has worked over the past eight months to provideyou with the foundation necessary to continue your own exploration of the topic areas. We look forward to working with youto continue HNMUNs tradition of substantive excellence.

Apart from this document, you will also be able to access a number of additional documents that will aid in your preparationsfor conference. Our Guide to Delegate Preparation reviews the substantive side of HNMUN, highl ights differences betweenour session and other MUN conferences, and explains our policies on substantive matters, such as the award selection processand position papers. It also includes our updated Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, which are also found at the end of thisdocument. Our Guide to First Time Delegations provides information regarding substantive and logistical issues for thosenew to HNMUN, and includes a timeline for delegate preparation. The Guide to Starting a Model UN Team outlines thesteps necessary to establish and expand a universitys MUN organization. Finally, Update Papers to committee Study Guides

wil l be posted in late November to provide further exploration and/or recent news developments concerning the topic areas.

If you have any questions about this document, the other Guides, or your committee in general, please do not hesitate tocontact your Director or your Under-Secretary-General. They are truly excited to meet you all and are eager to address anyconcerns you may have before, during, or after the conference. I hope you enjoy reading the following Study Guide, and Icannot wait to hear about your ideas this coming February!

Sincerely,

Dominik P. NieszporowskiSecretary-GeneralHarvard National Model United Nations 2012

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


The General assembly

Dear Delegates,

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the General Assembly of Harvard National Model United Nations 2012! My name isGillian Farrell and I am thrilled to have the privilege to serve as your Under-Secretary-General in the largest and most excitingorgan of the conference. A bit about myself I am a junior at Harvard studying Chemistry and Government. Originally from

Long Island, New York and Dublin, Ireland, I have had the chance to grow up in two different areas of the world and to travelextensively opportunities to which I attribute my love of international affairs. I have been a part of Model United Nationssince my freshman year of high school (HNMUN 2012 will be my sixteenth conference). In my time spent apart from ModelUN, I work at the Harvard College Admissions Ofce and at the Harvard Business School and enjoy running and playinglacrosse.

However, the General Assembly would not be possible if it werent for the immensely talented and dedicated Directors andAssistant Directors who make up the staff of the of GA. They have worked tirelessly to ensure that the eight largest committeesof HNMUN 2012 are nothing less than superb. In addition to the four standing committees of the General Assembly the Disarmament and International Security Committee, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, the SocialHumanitarian and Cultural Committee and the Legal Committee, the conference will also feature three specialized bodies: the

World Health Organization, the Historical General Assembly of 1956, the Special Summit on Non-Discrimination, as well as

the Non-Governmental Organization Program. I hope that the diverse ofng of featured topics will provide you with a uniquechance to engage with issues that fall within your areas of genuine interest.

The General Assembly boasts some of the nest debate of the conference, and the delegate experience is truly unmatched. TheGA will push you to rethink what has been previous accepted, to push your skills of negotiation, and to ultimately balanceinternational cooperation with your own national interests. It is my sincere hope that you will depart from HNMUN 2012 witha greater understanding of and excitement for international affairs as well as memories of an impassioned, stimulating, andfun four days of debate. It is my promise to you, the delegates, that I will work tirelessly to ensure to meet your expectationsof substantive excellence. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding anycommittee of the General Assembly, and I will make sure to assist you to the best of my ability.

Delegates, welcome to the General Assembly. I look forward to meeting you in February.

Sincerely,

Gillian FarrellGillian FarrellUnder Secretary General for the General AssemblyHarvard National Model United Nations 2012

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Powers of the Committee Staff

POWERS OF THE COMMITTEE STAFF

The staff of Harvard National Model United Nationshave distinct roles and responsibilities at conference. Delegatesmay nd that the substantive staff at HNMUN takes on amore active role than what they have been accustomed to atother Model United Nations conferences. The primary jobof the staff is to work with the delegates in achieving thegoals of the committee in particular and the conference asa whole. The staff of each committee includes a Director,a Moderator, and Assistant Directors. At HNMUN, theDirector is the substantive expert, and the Moderator is theprocedural expert; together, they share the duties of runningthe committee, rather than being coordinated by only onecommittee chair.

Directors

The committee Director is the substantive expert ofthe committee. At HNMUN, the Directors choose their

committees topic areas, prepare the study guides, and doextensive amounts of other pre-conference substantivepreparation. The Director oversees submission of alldocuments to be discussed. All draft resolutions andamendments in committee must be approved and signed bythe Director to be presented to the committee as a whole.Before accepting working papers and draft resolutions, theDirector is allowed to suggest changes if he or she feels thatthe Questions a Resolution Must Answer (QARMAs) arenot sufciently addressed or if it is similar in content to othersubmissions. Please note that the Director may not approve ofall written submissions and may suggest appropriate changesbefore accepting any draft documents.

Another important role of the Director is to oversee debate.As the substantive leader of the committee, the Director alsohas the discretion to rule on all points and motions broughtbefore the committee. The Director may periodically commenton the direction of debate and suggest alternative courses ofaction. Committees sometimes overlook important issues

within a topic area, and Directors are encouraged to bringthese to the attention of the delegates. As for committees

with crises, the direction of crises is determined entirelyby the course of debate. Statements made by Directors are

not meant to steer debate along a predetermined crisis plan,although Directors are encouraged to guide delegates whendebate appears to have strayed from the topic at hand. Anyquestions about substantive issues should be raised with theDirector.

MoDerators

The Moderator performs the procedural role for whichthe traditional chair at other Model UN conferences

would be responsible. While the Director is the substantive

expert, the Moderator is the procedural expert who runs thecommittee when it is in formal session. The Moderator has afull understanding of the rules of procedure, and it is his or heresponsibility to facilitate the committees work by ensuringthat the sessions run smoothly. However, the Director retainsthe ultimate power to rule any motions dilatory. In somesmaller committees, the moderator may also eld some of

the substantive issues that Directors typically handle. Undercertain extreme situations, the Moderator is allowed tosuspend certain rules of procedure to streamline debate. Anyquestions about procedural issues should be raised with theModerator.

assistant Directors

Before the conference, the Assistant Directors prepare theupdates to the committee study guide. During the simulationtheir job is to aid the Director by answering delegatesquestions, monitoring blocs during caucus, and by providingsounding boards for delegate ideas, solutions, and concernsIf the committee is producing a large amount of paperworkat some point in the course of debate, Directors will rely onthe Assistant Directors to work directly with delegates onpreparing and suggesting revisions to draft resolutions. The

Assistant Directors also help keep track of the Speakers Lisvotes, and other procedural matters. Delegates should feel freeto approach the Assistant Directors at any time with questionsabout the substance or procedure of the committee.

secretariat

The nine members of the Secretariat, headed by th

Secretary-General, are the principal organizers of theconference and supervise all other members of the HNMUNstaff. They will be available throughout the conference toanswer any questions or address any issues that delegates mayhave with their committee or with the conference as a whole

All modications to the Rules of Procedure will be providedby the Secretariat before the conference, and any member ofthe Secretariat may address any committee at any time.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

leGal CommiTTee

Topic Area A: Revision o the Geneva Conventions in the Role o War

Topic Area B: Rights o Minorities in International Law

Dear Delegates,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Legal Committee of Harvard National Model United Nations 2012! My name isLucas Swisher and I am a sophomore at Harvard. I was born in Santa Rosa, California, but have spent the last 10 years callingOklahoma my home. At Harvard, I plan to major in Government and minor in Statistics, with a specic focus in International

Politics. Outside of the classroom, in addition to my work with the Harvard National Model Nations conference, I am alsoinvolved in Harvard Model United Nations, the high school conference. I also play Club tennis, play cello in an orchestra

work with advertising and marketing at the Harvard Crimson Newspaper, write for the Harvard Political Review, help collegestudents register to vote, spend time with the Harvard Republicans, and enjoy an occasional hour of sleep!

As the Conference approaches, I hope that you become extremely excited to participate the most thrilling committee of theGeneral Assembly. I hope you will come to Conference ready to passionately debate, to learn from your fellow delegatesand most of all, to have a rewarding and fun four days. During our committee sessions, you will be delegates of the LegalCommittee, and you will be discussing possible revisions to the Geneva Conventions in light of our changing world and therights of minorities in International Law. Both issues are especially relevant today and should stimulate interesting debate anddiscussion.

As you prepare yourself for conference and begin on your research, I encourage you to keep up to date on current events aroundthe globe. The study guide is a great starting point for research but I hope you will continue gathering information so that youcan come to conference with a strong foundation with which to enter debate. If you have any questions, please dont hesitate toemail me. I look forward to meeting all of you in February!

Sincerely,

Lucas SwisherLucas Swisher339 Eliot Mail CenterCambridge, MA [email protected]

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

INTRODUCTION

Thomas Paine once wrote, He that would makehis own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy fromoppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes aprecedent that will reach to himself.1 Today, the globalcommunity faces unprecedented challenges in the eld of

warfare. Governments around the world grapple with anentirely new kind of combat; rather than directly waging waragainst established governments, leaders often seek out non-government sponsored and privately-owned military groups.

These groups are versatile and adaptive, having grown andevolved over hundreds of years. The new challenges of warfaremandate that the strategies adopted by the United Nationschange with the times; the Geneva Conventions should bealtered to include non-state actors in the international arena,deal with crises and revolutions, and bring humanitarian aidto warring regions.

However, while the Conventions should be altered to

aid governments, the rights of citizens, especially those ofminorities, should not be forgotten. The Universal Declarationof Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly of theUnited Nations on 10 December 1948, reads:

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equalin dignity and rights. They are endowed with reasonand conscience and should act towards one anotherin a spirit of brotherhood

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights andfreedoms set forth in this Declaration, without

distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex,language, religion, political or other opinion, nationalor social origin, property, birth or other status.2

Written to protect the rights of all global citizens, theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights is the modern worldsattempt to combat oppression, discrimination, and identity-based segregation. While the United Nations has a declarationand a working group that deal with minority rights, theremust necessarily be a resolution that offers clear-cut actionsthat the United Nations will take to combat the oppressionof minorities. The resolution must balance the rights of theminorities in the international arena with the sovereignty ofnations and must include direct humanitarian responses tocrises such as those seen in North Korea.

HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE

The longstanding and vital United Nations LegalCommittee held its rst session in 1948 and passed its rstmajor resolution in 1961. This makes the legal committee oneof the oldest at the United Nations. From its inception, theLegal Committees mission has been to solidify and enforce all

international laws that are passed, specically the protectionof citizens under international law.

In the past, the Legal Committee has played hometo a host of conferences. For example, in 1958, the LegaCommittee hosted the United Nations Conference on theLaw of the Sea. At this conference, the Committee adoptedseveral conventions, now known as the Geneva Conventions

on the Law of the Sea regarding specic borders, the humanekilling of marine life, and the testing of nuclear weapons atsea. In 1968, the Legal Committee hosted the United NationsConference on the Law of Treaties. At this conference, theCommittee codied the rules that guide the term treaty. Iset in place a framework that included rules on the conclusionand entry into treaties, their interpretation, and amendmentsand modication. Since then, most conferences hosted bythe legal committee have focused on treaties, from the 1977Conference on Succession of States in Respect of Treaties tothe 1986 Conference on the Law of Treaties between Statesand International Organizations or between Internationa

Organizations. While most of the conferences in these yearsaimed to revise and clarify the 1968 conference, in 1998 theLegal Committee held a Conference on the Establishment ofan International Court. This conference was held to establisha court that would bring to justice those who commit themost heinous crimes against the international community, andit is often thought to be a response to the Rwandan Genocideof 1994.

As the Sixth Committee of the United Nations Genera Assembly, the Legal Committee works very closely witmembers of all committees in the General Assembly andplays an imperative role in the functioning of the Genera

Assembly and the United Nations as a whole. The Committee

The United Nations General Assembly was established in June 1945.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

7/486

Legal Committee

General Assembly

has representative from each UN member nation and eachmember holds an equal vote when passing resolutions.

In recent years, the Legal Committee has addressedseveral new topics, passing resolutions regarding terrorismand violence among nations with respect to indigenouspeoples, minorities and crimes against humanity.

TOPIC AREA A: REVISION OF THE

GENEVA CONVENTIONS IN ROLE OF

WAR

HistoryoftHe ProbleM

History o Humanitarian Law and the GenevaConventions

Until the late 19th century, a universal humanitarian lawapplicable specically during times of war did not exist.3

The only protections for prisoners of war were those thatwere identied in a treaty between individual nations, which

designated specic time periods and specic occasions of war.This system changed in 1859, when Henry Dunant, on histravels through northern Italy, recorded the fate of thousandsof soldiers who died on the battleeld during the Italian warof independence.4 He later published these observations ina book, where he proposed two ideas to combat the agonyhe had witnessed: rst, that relief societies be constructedto care for the wounded in wartime and, second, that thesenurses be protected and recognized under international law.

These suggestions were the basis for the founding of theInternational Committee of the Red Cross, an organizationthat is closely bound to the Geneva Conventions of 1864.5

The Conventions

Representatives of twelve governments convenedin Geneva in 1864 to pass the rst piece of internationalhumanitarian law, entitled the Geneva Convention for the

Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded in Armies in theField.6 In 1949, shortly after the founding of the UnitedNations, these Conventions were reafrmed and expanded.

The four protocols that comprised the Geneva Conventions,as currently ratied, are treaties that apply to all cases ofarmed conict or occupation among nations. 7 The rstConvention protects military personnel not directly involved

in battle, including wounded and sick soldiers, medical workers, and military chaplains.8 Specically, according tothis document, these out of battle soldiers must be treated

without any kind of discrimination, receive adequate medicalcare, be protected against ill treatment, and remain safe frommurder, torture, or experimentation. The second Conventiongrants protection to soldiers who are at sea.9 Those protectedare armed forces members who are wounded or shipwrecked,personnel on hospital ships, and civilians who accompany themilitary at sea. Furthermore, neutral ships cannot be captured,

and all religious, medical, and hospital personnel serving oncombat ships must be respected and protected. The thirdConvention sets guidelines for the treatment of prisoners ofwar and specically prohibits

violence to life and person, in particular murder ofall kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; thetaking of hostages; outrages upon personal dignity,

in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;and the passing of sentences and the carrying out ofexecutions without previous judgment pronounced bya regularly constituted court, affording all the judicialguarantees which are recognized as indispensable bycivilized peoples.10

Prisoners of war (POWs) can include members of anyarmed force or resistance movement, as well as civiliansaccompanying armed forces.11 According to the Conventionscaptors must allow all POWs to correspond with familiesprotect them from any act of violence or humiliation, andmust be housed in adequate shelter allotted all medical

and nutritional care in order to maintain adequate healthAdditionally, female POWs must receive special considerationdue their sex. The legal system of the captor nation may tryPOWs, but all POWs must be released when the conict endsFinally, governments must repatriate gravely ill POWs to theirhome country.12

Since the initial ratication of these conventions in1949, these treatises have been reconrmed twice to clarifythe protection of civilians during wartime.13 However, dueto a new type of warfare that includes both terrorist andmercenary groups, the Legal Committee must reconsider theGeneva Conventions.

History o Terrorist Groups and Mercenary WarareWhile the United Nations has no approved denition of

terrorism, the United States Department of Defense denesterrorism today as the calculated use of unlawful violenceor threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended tocoerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuiof goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.14

Organizations have used terrorism as a method of achieving various goals for hundreds of years, and while terrorismis an act of violence may be directed against a singular orsmall group of individuals, a larger audience almost always

witnesses its effects. The strategy of terrorists is to act in away that brings the attention of the larger public to their causeTerrorists hope to gain the greatest publicity with their actsoften attacking important public symbols.

The rst known terrorist groups originated in the 1s

century and often organized themselves for religious purposesFor example, the Zealots of Judea began as a group of radica Jews who, when oppressed by Roman rule, carried out anunderground campaign of assassinations against Romancommanders and leaders.In subsequent centuries, a faction

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

of Shia Islam adopted the tactic of assassination against theirenemies, utilizing small, calculated strikes because of theirrelatively small numbers.15

For the early period of modern history, the actions of

these various terrorist organizations had little effect or ledto open warfare because governments at the time lacked thecentral authority and communication structure required forthe terror attacks to cause mass hysteria.16 However, thisbegan to change around the start of the French Revolution.

The term terrorist was rst coined during the Reign ofTerror lead by Maxmillien Robespierre in the 1790s, whenagents who carried out the governments oppressive actions,or The Terror, were referred to as terrorists.17 Robespierre,like most terrorists, did not believe his actions were evil. Hesaw himself as a freedom ghter for a noble cause, andasserted, subdue by terror the enemies of liberty, and you

will be right, as founders of the Republic.18 Terrorism evolved rapidly in the 19th century with

the development radical political ideologies and rapidimprovements in technology.19 Political groups, such asanarchists, successfully utilized new weapons to bring terrorto nation-states. However, because of their refusal to acceptthe sympathy of any larger organization, they quickly fellapart.20

International Terrorism and Terrorism in the Modern Era

While terrorism has been utilized for hundreds of years,non-government sanctioned terrorism has emerged most

forcefully in the last century and has taken signicant holdin the last several decades. Acts of terrorism were prominentand widespread in the early 20th century as nationalistsentiments ran high. In the early 1900s, with the developmentof the ideals of self-determination, small ethnic and religiousgroups, such as the Irish and Macedonians, utilized terrorismin the hope of attracting the attention and sympathy of largernations that might aid their cause.21

These groups gained legitimacy in World War II as theconcept of total war took hold. As many populations became

desensitized to violence, numerous nations openly supportedand aided partisan and resistance groups that utilized terrorisattacks, even though these groups often targeted civilian andeconomic capacities.22

Post-World War II saw another evolution in terrorismWhile terrorist groups were still largely nationalist insurgenciesseeking international attention and sympathy, the Sovie

Union exploited these groups in the ideological battle againstthe United States during the Cold War. Terrorist groupsthat hoped to separate from the British or French Empirescommitted violent acts to gain international attention andthe aid of the Soviet Union, a major power that could helpthem with military power. During this time, the beginning ofthe Cold War era, the Soviet Union sponsored many of theseorganizations in return for the promise of violent revolution.23

Several of these terrorist organizations would eventually gainindependence or control of their countries and later adopcommunism and join the Eastern Bloc.

The internationalization of terrorism began as mas

communication matured in the modern era, the rstperiod to witness purely symbolic attacks as a way to gaininternational attention. As hijackings became a popular toolto gain international infamy, groups such as the Popular Fronfor the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) emerged. The PFLPfor example, would specically hijack ights from Israel, acountry they saw as a barrier to establishing nationhood.24

Furthermore, networking between terrorist groups emergedduring this semi-modern era of terrorism, as new means ofcommunication became available. As early as 1970, Palestiniangroups and European rebels shared strategies and coordinatedjoint attacks.

While independent terrorist groups complicinternational humanitarian law today, other non-governmensponsored groups also reveal the need for revised GenevaConventions. Only mentioned in the Conventions in thecontext of post-colonial Africa, mercenary armies, though noprevalent in 20th century warfare, are under consideration as anoption for military forces in the United Kingdom and wouldlikely be the method chosen by the United Nations shouldit decide to employ its own peacekeeping force. Because theConventions mention them so narrowly, a revised GenevaConvention should fully address the treatment of these othetypes of non-government sponsored armies. It will be thiscommittees assignment to decide how to deal with mercenaryarmies: whether to treat the armies as part of the nation thaemploys them or to grant them different rights.

Defnition o a Mercenary

A mercenary is described by the Geneva Conventions inArt. 47:

1. A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatantor a prisoner of war.

2. A mercenary is any person who:

A red cross is the international symbol o the Geneva Conventions.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

9/488

Legal Committee

General Assembly

is especially recruited locally or abroad in order to ght inan armed conict;

does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by

the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised,by or on behalf of a Party to the conict, materialcompensation substantially in excess of that promised

or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions inthe armed forces of that Party;is neither a national of a Party to the conict nor a

resident of territory controlled by a Party to theconict;

is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to theconict; and

has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to theconict on ofcial duty as a member of its armedforces25

Essentially, a mercenary is any person who is hired by aforeign nation to ght on its behalf for signicant monetary

gain.

Early Mercenary History The use of mercenary armies stretches back as far as

the practice of war itself. The rst well known recordedemployment of mercenaries began with the Roman Empire.

To conquer new lands, the Romans utilized mercenarieswhenever possible, which meant being able to conscript non-Roman citizens, pay them signicantly less than their ownforces, and not worry about deaths on the battleeld. Romansoften utilized mercenary armies to repress uprisings andkeep villages suppressed; eventually, some mercenaries were

granted Roman citizenship.26

In the 12th and 13th centuries, mercenary warfare remainedmuch the same. As rulers such as Genghis Khan conquerednew lands, enemies would often offer themselves to him assoldiers. In turn, the rulers would bind them to long terms ofservice in exchange for small amounts of pay and eventualcitizenship. Mercenaries, due to poor pay and other factors,

were known for their practice of pillaging and completelydestroying land as they marched through.27

From the 1300s to the 1600s, mercenary service began tochange. The Gallowglass, for example, was an elite group ofIrish mercenaries who served as some of the rst bodyguards.

A military or national leader would often employ the servicesof a Gallowglass- in exchange the Gallowglass would payfewer dues to the government.28 During this time, Irelandsupplied the bulk of mercenary armies.29

In the 18th century, the practice of mercenary warfareevolved again. Prior to the American Revolutionary War,King George III of Great Britain conscripted hundreds ofthousands of troops. However, when the American colonistsrevolted, the kings troops were spread thinly around the

world, leading to an insufcient force with which to ght the

American rebels. Because of the shortage, Great Britain strucka deal with Catherine the Great of Russia, accepting 20,000of Asias most competent soldiers in exchange for 70,000British Sterling. In this agreement, the world saw an exchangewhere a nation sold its own troops as mercenaries for anothernations war.30 Later in the war, Britain would also turn to theGerman Hessian troops for military support. In this era, the

use of mercenaries became prominent; in fact, in the 1700s itis estimated that around one-third of the male population ofScotland was ghting a war for another European country.31

In the 19th and 20th centuries, mercenaries were oftenutilized as colonial enforcement.32 When empires neededforces to subdue indigenous people or uprisings in coloniesthey would hire foreign military personnel. In other casesmercenaries would seek work as military units to gainpublicity. Prior to the First World War, American ghter pilotscontracted themselves to the French military to gain publicityfor the war and attempt to sway the United States to shed itsdoctrine of neutrality in favor of aiding France. The practice

continued in World War II when American pilots enlisted inthe Royal Air Force.33

current situation

TerrorismTerrorist attacks on embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in

the 1990s and the tragedy on 11 September 2001, when fourplanes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Centerthe Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, ushered in themodern era of terrorism. Rather than drawing motivationfrom a need to gain liberty, many modern terrorists engage

in a global war against so-called western values and thecurrent world order.34 Terrorists in the organization Al-Qaedamade infamous by Osama Bin Laden and the 11 Septemberattacks, believe western values denigrate Islam and thus theyprimarily seek to remove Americans from Muslim countriesand to dismantle pro-American governments in the MiddleEast.35

The nations that comprise the North America Trade Organization (NATO) are currently engaged icounterterrorism efforts primarily in Afghanistan but also inthe broader Middle Eastern region.36 While these efforts dealtconsiderable damage to Al-Qaeda leadership in the regionthe organizations ideology has successfully spread in smallercell groups and remains active in other terrorist groupsthroughout the Middle East.37

While Al-Qaeda has gained infamy for the scale of itattacks, other groups also pose serious security threats in theMiddle East and North Africa. Extremist militant groupssuch as Al-Shabab, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and political partiessuch as Hamas and Hezbollah, continue to cause instabilityin the region. Hamas and Hezbollah often nd themselvesin international news for their repeated attacks on Israel in

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

support of a Palestinian state.38 The central strategy of manyof these terrorist groups remains suicide bombing.

Soon after the 11 September attack, United States PresidentGeorge W. Bush retaliated with military force in Afghanistan,utilizing the conventions to justify enhanced interrogationtechniques to gain important security information.39 However,he received a backlash from many in both the American andinternational communities. Soon after his retaliation, protestserupted throughout American cities and the internationalcommunity called for certain prisons, such as the prison at

Guantanamo Bay, to be shut down.Because of spontaneous crises that grow more common

in the modern era, such as terrorist attacks and revolutionslike the Arab Spring, the Geneva Conventions should berevised to help leaders adequately address crises of terrorism.One of the missions of this body will be to decide whether anation should have the ability to suspend the Conventions inthe face of terrorism and what justication should be needed.

The Conventions must be modied to include these threatsbecause of the specic problems terrorist groups cause

to nations around the world. It will be this bodys decisionto either continue or limit terrorists protection under theConventions, and whether to modify the Conventions togive nations certain circumstances in which they can overrulethe Conventions in order to maintain security. As long asthe Conventions remain unmodied, nations will be unableto adequately hold accountable terrorists for their actionsFurthermore, these discussions must eventually lead to howinternational law discusses terrorist groups as a whole. Ifthe Conventions allow the same protection to terrorists as

soldiers from a nation-state, it treats terrorist groups the sameas a legitimate nation-states.

The Arab Spring

In December of 2010, Mohammed Bouazizi, a youngcollege graduate from Tunisia, began selling fruits and

vegetables out of a cart in one of the countrys most populouscities. Unable to nd employment because of poor jobopportunities, the young salesman lit himself on re, gaininginternational media attention and sparking riots and proteststhroughout Tunisia.40 On 29 December, Tunisian President

On 11 September 2001, two commercial air crat crashed into the World Trade Center in the worst terror attack in American history.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

11/4810

Legal Committee

General Assembly

Ben Ali promised a crackdown on the protestors: the law willbe applied in all rmness, and [enforcement will be targetedat] a minority of extremists and mercenaries who resort to

violence and disorder.41 Protests exploded in the rst twoweeks of January, as riots against unemployment and socialills scattered to cities across the country.42 On 14 January2011, the Tunisian president ed to Saudi Arabia, signaling a

victory for the protestors.43

Over the next few weeks, protests erupted in Egyptand Algeria, forcing their leaders to leave their respectivecountries.44 While these protests garnered much politicalattention, the uprisings in Libya and Syria have caught theeye of the international community. In both countries, theleaders have refused to leave their positions of power andhave responded to peaceful protests with violence. In bothLibya and Syria, peaceful protesters have found their protestsbroken up by security forces and helicopter re, leaving a deathtoll as high as 30,000 in Libya and 400 in Syria, according tothe Obama administration.45

It is the duty of this body to decide how to alter theGeneva Conventions and draft new legislation to help protectprotestors in these nations. This legislation should also offersolutions to leaders on how to deal peacefully with protestors.Moreover, the committee should address how the internationalcommunity can properly provide adequate humanitarian aidto these regions.

Mercenary Armies

The last several decades have seen resurgence in the useof mercenary armies as a tool of war. While private mercenarycompanies like Blackwater gain international attention

frequently, hundreds of other private mercenary groupsare used throughout the world.46 Supplied largely by South

Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom, thesemercenaries are often ex-military personnel and specialize incertain tasks.47 The instability of the Middle East has turnedthese military services into a large industry, as the nation-stateslowly becomes less prevalent in the waging of war.

The coalition authorities, primarily NATO, have giventhese private companies contracts to protect oil sites andtrain security forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Thesecontracts can have terrible consequences, as exemplied inthe 2007 Blackwater shootings, where military contractors

shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians. Most importantly for NATO,however, they do not have to count deaths of private militarycompanies in their death tolls.48

Not only do these organizations present practical andethical challenges to society by changing the battleeld into abusiness, but they also present problems for international law.It is the obligation of this body to determine how these privatemilitary companies will be formally addressed in the GenevaConventions and international law. Moreover, this committeemust clarify how the Conventions apply to mercenary armies.

Past internationalactions

The most important document addressing the internationalstandards of the treatment of terrorists, mercenary armiesand humanitarian aid to revolutionary regions remains theGeneva Conventions. However, with the advent of 21s

century warfare and evolutions in war, these conventionsneed to be revised. The Geneva Conventions address thetreatment of all persons captured by the enemy in Common

Article 3.49 Moreover, the Protocol II, which was added tothe Conventions in 1977, claries these rights: reafrmingfurther that the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of12 August 1949 and of this Protocol must be fully appliedin all circumstances to all persons who are protected bythose instruments, without any adverse distinction based onthe nature or origin of the armed conict or on the causesespoused by or attributed to the Parties to the conict.50

However, these provisions do not adequately address theprotections for non-state actors that are needed in the 21s

century. Specic holes in the Geneva Conventions, such asa failure to address what constitutes armed conict, haveallowed countries to twist international law to deprive victimsof human rights.

While terrorism is not addressed adequately in the GenevaConventions, the United Nations has taken serious stepsto countering terrorism in other policies. Sixteen universalinstruments have been created to combat internationalterrorism utilizing the framework of the United Nationssystem. Moreover, members today use the United Nations andthe General Assembly to coordinate their counter-terrorismefforts.

To better coordinate their efforts, in 2006, membestates created a counter-terrorism strategy to standardize theframework for combating terrorism. According to the UnitedNations, the Strategy forms a basis for a concrete plan ofaction: to address the conditions conducive to the spread ofterrorism; to prevent and combat terrorism; to take measuresto build state capacity to ght terrorism; to strengthen the roleof the United Nations in combating terrorism; and to ensurethe respect of human rights while countering terrorism. 51

Member states acknowledge that the defense of humanrights and the rule of law must be upheld while counteringterrorism. These aims are complementary, according to the

report, and mutually reinforce themselves. In the reportmember states pledge to take measures against terrorism butat the same time ensure that these actions uphold humanrights obligations. To support these obligations, the UnitedNations created a position to uphold the protection of humanrights and freedoms while countering terrorism. According tothe United Nations,

The Special Rapporteur, operating under the newHuman Rights Council, works to identify, exchange

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

and promote best practices on measures to counterterrorism that respect human rights and fundamentalfreedoms. The Special Rapporteur also addressesallegations of human rights violations in the courseof countering terrorism. He conducts visits toselected individual countries and has engaged incorrespondence with more than 40 countries abouttheir laws and practices. He reports regularly bothto the Human Rights Council and to the General

Assembly, including on selected thematic issues andhis country visits.52

While human rights have been addressed through theRapporteur and the unifying counter-terrorism strategy,human rights should be either afrmed or altered in theGeneva Conventions to reect the circumstances nations facetoday.

While the United Nations actively pursues a policy againstterrorism, it has taken less action toward mercenaries. In1967, the Security Council drafted a resolution condemningany State which persists in permitting or tolerating the

recruitment of mercenaries with the objective to overthrowthe governments of the United Nations.53 It also orderedgovernments to ensure that their territory as well as theirnationals are not used for the planning of subversion,recruitment, training and transit of mercenaries.54 In1979, the General Assembly drafted a resolution to draftan international convention against the recruitment, use,nancing and training of mercenaries. In 1989 the UnitedNations created the position of Special Rapporteur on theUse of Mercenaries to help document and report to theUnited Nations on the use of mercenary armies.55

The Rapporteur has often clashed with member states,which limited its mandate in 1995, when the newest resolution was not adopted by consensus. Furthermore, since thecreation of this position, no committee has actively addressedmercenaries or their connection to the Geneva Conventions.

This bodys resolution should address the link betweenmercenary activities and human rights violations accuratelyand should reect the modern day use of mercenary armies.

tiMelineof significant events

100- 1700 A.D: Terrorists operate largely for religiousreasons. As minorities oppressed under unfriendly

regimes, these terrorists seek freedom from oppressionby resorting to violence but have little impact becauseof limited communication throughout the world.Mercenaries are enlisted into service when conqueredby foreigners or are utilized as bodyguards fordignitaries.

1789 A.D: Robespierre ignites an era of ideologicalterrorism, inciting citizens to terrorism in the nameof liberty, asserting, subdue by terror the enemiesof liberty, and you will be right, as founders of theRepublic.

Early 1800s: Ideological terrorism peaks as anarchyunfolds across Europe but has little effect because

anarchy itself is decentralized and has few distinct, cleargoals. Mercenary armies reemerge, and are bought andsold from one nation to another as private armies.

1859: On his travels through the north of Italy, HenryDunant publishes a book recording the fate of soldierson the battleeld.

1864: Twelve national governments convene to passthe rst international humanitarian law: the GenevaConventions of 1864.

Early 1900s: Nationalism emerges as nations begin toassociate with certain ethnic and racial concepts. Smallethnic and religious groups such as the Irish and

Macedonians utilize terrorism to attract the attention ofsympathizers.

1940s: As the Second World War beckons, nations beginto directly support terror groups with whom they shareideological sentiments, or who have the potential tousurp their enemies.

1949: Shortly after the creation of the United Nations,the Geneva Conventions are updated to reect thetimes and expanded to the four basic conventions theinternational community understands today.

1950s 70s: Terrorism becomes an independencemovement. Backed largely by the Soviet Union,

British and French colonies utilize terrorism to gainindependence. Mercenaries are utilized as colonialenforcement.

1970s: The international era of terrorism emerges.Groups utilize terrorism to gain publicity on aninternational stage, often attacking symbols oftheir opposition. Often, these groups are non-statesponsored. The United Nations passes the rst andsecond protocol of the Geneva Conventions, updatingthe Conventions for the 20th century.

2000-Present: Religious extremists begin to utilizeterrorism to attack Western values and the current

world order. NATO and the United Nations passresolutions and create committees to ght terrorism.

The United Nations creates a strategy to counterterrorism. Mercenary armies make war a business;groups such as Blackwater form private armies thatserve in the place of regular security forces.

2010- The Arab Spring erupts around the Middle East,destabilizing the region and creating the need for newlegislation to help peacefully deal with uprisings.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

13/4812

Legal Committee

General Assembly

ProPoseD solutions

Although many problems do exist in the conventionstoday, there are a number of solutions that have beenproposed by numerous sources to respond to growing threats.

The corresponding paragraphs represent simply three sets ofsolutions among many that are possible.

National Sovereignty The rst set of solutions represents one that protects

indenitely the national sovereignty of individual nations. To receive protection by the Geneva Conventions, non-government sponsored groups must sign the Conventionsor become sponsored by a government. Without this, theirprotection under the Conventions is either non-existent orseverely restricted. This body must decide what restrictions

will be placed upon the groups. While the United Nationsrecognizes the need for the protection of human rights,groups must also be willing to comply with the Conventionsto receive protection. To help deal with terrorist attacks

and crises, governments should be allowed to suspend theConventions whenever they feel necessary for nationalsecurity. Treatment of protestors will be left to the discretionof the governments. Furthermore, governments should beallowed under any circumstances, but not required, to bringhumanitarian aid to regions affected by crisis.

Private mercenary armies will be treated as non

governments sponsored groups by the Conventions andthus must sign the conventions to receive full protection. Acommittee will be established to ensure that mercenary armiesabide by the conventions when in battle.

These solutions signicantly loosen the protection othe Geneva Conventions. They would allow governmentsto effectively and efciently deal with crises and terroristattacks but place a lower value on human rights than nationalsovereignty.

Mercenary militancy has become a common aspect o modern warare; in this photo, a group o mercenary soldiers occupies a small city.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

Countries in Crisis

The following set of solutions would ideally help a countryin crisis. In this resolution, all groups, be they governmentalor non-governmental, signers or non-signers, will be givenprotection under the Conventions. However, the UnitedNations will provide restrictions for non-signing groups.Governments will be able to suspend the conventions only

in extreme crisis conditions or in the event of an imminentthreat. In order to suspend the conventions, the UnitedNations Security Council must grant the nation permissionin a unanimous vote. The United Nations will grant peacefulprotestors special protection under the Geneva Conventions,and this protection will be enforced by the United Nations.However, sovereignty by nations will still be maintained to thefullest amount.

In coordination with the United Nations, if a terroristattack should occur or if a nation should erupt into revolution,member states will be asked to contribute humanitarian aid tothe region; the United Nations will supervise the distribution

of this aid and work to protect civilians in warring regions.Should a nation erupt into revolution, the United Nations

will establish direct relations with the leader of the foreigncountry to ensure that human rights are being protected and

will help facilitate a peaceful transition of power should theneed arise. The Geneva Conventions will protect mercenarygroups on an equal level as all other organizations and willestablish further committees to ensure that private militarycorporations do not violate human rights.

A Middle GroundThis set of solutions provides a thorough approach to

help nations deal with crises, allowing governments somesovereignty to deal with crises, while at the same timeupholding human rights. However, human rights may still becompromised if the nation is allowed to suspend the GenevaConventions.

This nal set of solutions protects human rights at allcost. All groups, be they governmental or non-governmental,signers or non-signers, will be given full protection underthe Conventions. No government will be able to suspendthe Geneva Conventions under any circumstances, and anew committee will be created to ensure that human rightsare being protected in all cases, regardless of whether the

group has signed the Conventions. To help deal with crises,the United Nations will begin direct communication withleaders after a crisis occurs and will provide security forcesto protect civilians and aid the government in keeping peaceand ensuring human rights. In accordance with the UnitedNations, if a terrorist attack should occur or if a nationshould erupt into revolution, member states will be askedto contribute humanitarian aid to the region; the UnitedNations will supervise the distribution of this aid and work toprotect civilians in warring regions. The Geneva Conventions

will protect mercenary groups on an equal level as all otherorganizations and will establish further committees to ensurethat private military corporations do not violate human rights

bloc Positions

United States, Western Europe, Israel, Japan

These nations are likely developed, and deal witterrorism on an international level, in addition to nations whoally themselves strongly with nations such as the United Statesor hold many of the same values. Faced with the constanthreat of a terrorist attack and likely being the suppliers ofprivate mercenary armies, these countries look for severalitems in a resolution. They hope for a resolution that is toughon terrorism but still respects human rights.

As developed nations and strong members of the UnitedNations, these countries would likely look for any assistancea resolution could give to help them deal with terrorism onan international level. However, they may also be in favor of

the suspension of the Geneva Conventions in a time of crisisgranted the permission of the Security Council. They wouldlikely advocate for the resolution to include the protection ofcivilians in warring or revolutionary regions and will upholdthe utilization of security forces to protect peaceful protestorsin a revolutionary nation. These countries would likely striveto create a relaxed denition of the term armed conict

which would enable member-states, as NATO did in Libya, tointervene in foreign affairs when deemed necessary.

Russian Federation, Peoples Republic o China,Democratic Peoples Republic o Korea

These nations are primarily Eastern, developing countriesThese countries often deal with instability in their own nationsand have less protection for human rights than the WesternBloc. Having problems to deal with at home and having aless active stance with regards to human rights, these nations

would pursue a resolution that would rmly grant sovereigntyto individual nations to deal with crises and involve lessinternational action with regards to the crisis. These nations

would focus less on the portion of the resolution dedicatedto dealing with terrorism and instead would insist on moreattention being paid to revising the Conventions to helpnations deal with crises such as revolutions. They would likely

support the ability to suspend the Geneva Conventions, andsome nations in this bloc would likely support the abilityto suspend the protection of human rights indenitelyHaving little to no interest in the affairs of other countriesexperiencing revolutions, these nations would likely supportlittle aid to those regions and would not support legislationallowing interference by foreign nations in warring regionsMoreover, these nations will be very concerned with nationasovereignty.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

15/4814

Legal Committee

General Assembly

Aghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Syria

These countries are predominately located in the MiddleEast and North Africa. While some are developed, and othersare developing, they share one important factor in common:their region. Governed mostly by long-standing regimes, thesecountries all lie in the region that experienced the Arab Spring.Moreover, these countries are acutely familiar with terrorists;

some regimes actively support them, while others ght them.This bloc will look for a resolution that revises the GenevaConventions to help countries deal with crises, and while theywill be divided on the issue of the protection and treatmentof terrorist organizations, they will stand rmly against thesuggestion of international intervention. However, this too

would depend on the success of the rebels in coming months.These nations would likely be in favor of the suspension

of the Geneva Conventions in a time of crisis. However, theymay disagree on the extent to which this should be allowed.Furthermore, these nations would likely oppose any portionof a resolution that addresses foreign aid to warring regions

or protection for protestors during a time of revolution. Ascountries that often feel threatened by Western powers, thesenations would support a resolution that protects their nationalsovereignty in the face of international crises

relevant Partners

Several organizations will be necessary to deal withhumanitarian aid as it is proposed in the resolution. TheRed Cross, as the central organization tied to the GenevaConventions, will be needed to provide information regardingthe Geneva Conventions and to distribute any humanitarian

aid that is required by the resolution. Both Doctors WithoutBorders and Surgical Aid to Children of the World will also beimportant in providing any humanitarian aid that is granted to

warring regions. Save the Children will be important to helpprotect human rights for children in warring regions.

In order to maintain accuracy with regard to internationallaw, the Global Policy Forum will be essentially whenconsidering any aspect to the resolution. Moreover, HumanRights Watch will be important if the United Nations decidesto create a task force to ensure human rights in revolutionaryregions.

Finally, organizations such as the North Atlantic Trade

Organization and the Organization for American Statesrepresent many of the countries who deal with terrorism andshould be used to make policy recommendations.

Questionsa resolution Mustanswer

Should non-government sponsored groups be givenprotection under the Conventions?

Should any country be able to suspend the Conventions?If so, under what circumstances?

How could the Conventions be revised to help deal withcrises, such as a revolution or terrorist attack?

How can countries bring humanitarian aid to warringregions?

How should the Geneva Conventions fully addressmercenary groups?

How should the Geneva Conventions dene armedconict?

How can the international community ofcially deneterrorism?

suggestionsfor furtHer researcH

When conducting further research, it will be especiallyimportant to stay up to date on current events. Because thetopics discussed in the Arab Spring section have the potentiato change overnight, and indeed evolve on a daily basis, news

websites such as the New York Times or the BBC will proveespecially helpful. While the delegates will need to understandthe Conventions, current events will provide the basis fordiscussion in the committee and are perhaps the mostimportant part of research for the conference.

When researching technical details regarding the GenevaConventions, the Red Cross website provides the fullConventions and summaries of each of the four treaties andthe two additional protocols. When researching revolutions

websites such as CNN collect data and maintain a timelinethat tracks all updates regarding revolutions. Finally, NationalGeographic has proved especially useful when researchingmercenary armies. A special called Shadow Force, whichis available online, details the past and present of mercenaryarmies.

TOPIC AREA B: RIGHTS OF

MINORITIES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

HistoryanD DiscussionoftHe ProbleM

The Roots o Oppression

To understand the oppression of minorities, one must rst

understand the root cause of oppression: prejudice. WebsterDictionary denes prejudice as an unfavorable opinion orfeeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thoughtor reason.56 Psychologists dene prejudice as an antipathybased on faulty and inexible generalization towards a groupas a whole or towards an individual because they are a memberof that group.57 From this one can deduce that often timesprejudice is based on broad generalizations, which may bebased in fact but may not apply to an entire population.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

Discrimination and oppression are manifestations ofthis prejudice, but what exactly connects the prejudice toits manifestation? The National Aids Society describes thesituation as such: a great deal of prejudice is unconscious,reected in the basic stereotyped assumptions that we makeabout others every day. These generalizations affect ourbehavior and cause us to discriminate against whole sections

of society. Eventually, large groups become ghettoized andthe people within these groups feel isolated and alone.58

Why is Man Prejudiced?Psychologists explain that prejudice is often not developed

through malice but comes about because it is easier to makegeneralizations than attempt to understand the complexitiesof society. Statements such as African Americans makegreat football players or hes Jewish, so he must lovemoney, contain assumptions and generalizations thatfalsely and offensively categorize people into certain groups.Psychologists suggest that prejudice is a result of a naturaltendency of humans to simplify the world so that it makesmore sense. These stereotypes are based on generalizationsthat we draw from our limited experiences and environment.

Early attempts to understand prejudice, such as thetheory that Theodor Adorno proposes in The AuthoritarianPersonality, suggested that certain people have personality traitsthat predispose them to prejudice. However, psychologistshave recently disputed claims that suggest prejudice is aninstinctual or biological reaction. If this were the case, theyargue, people would not be able to consider or accept newideas.

Instead, modern accounts, such as the Social Learning

Theory, suggest that the individual is only part of theexplanation for the prejudice he or she feels towards othergroups. These theories place the blame on specic upbringings,

[placing] a strong emphasis on our socialization, or on how we are brought up; the values of our parents and friendswhich we absorb, where we live, and what culture we belongto. All of these factors have a signicant impact on whichpeople and groups we believe are like us and which we wantto hold at arms length.59 However, this theory depends onthe idea that people necessarily group together.

From the oppression of the Jewish people under Romanrule to their persecution in the Second World War, it is clear

that the prejudice against and fear of a group, and the needfor a scapegoat upon which to blame a problem is timeless.Limitless power and little to no restriction of the behaviorof large groups leads almost inevitably to this persecution ofminorities.

Because the oppression of minorities is a timeless andsystemic problem, its history is a difcult one to chronicle.Moreover, the problems that plague minorities do notnecessarily evolve over time in a historical sense. Rather, theproblems exist repeatedly in isolated incidents. Moreover,

each case of oppression contains different motivationsBecause of the nature of the problem, this historical accounwill be more an examination of a series of case studies thana timeline. Each case study of a current or recent problem

will illustrate a different type of persecution and highlight an

important issue that this bodys resolution should address.

Oppression Based on Culture, Race, and the DoubleOppression o Women

Recently, Iran has come under re from numerouscivil rights its discrimination and unfair treatment ofminorities. However, this discrimination is not merely arecent phenomenon; Iran has a longstanding tradition ofdiscriminating against a large minority within its boundsspecically the Kurdish people.60

The Kurdish population has a longstanding traditionof constituting a minority within Iran, despite consisten

oppression. Despite discrimination, the Kurds maintain acomplete culture with their own traditions and language61 While most Iranians are Shia Muslims, most Kurds areSunni Muslims. This religious variance seems to be the poinof contention that the discriminatory policies seize uponthe difference in religion remains the justication for the

violation of human rights. Iran enforces several discriminatorymeasures against the Kurds including limits on the practice ofreligion and culture, restrictions on employment and access to

Theodor Adorno, one o the leading psychologists in prejudice.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

17/4816

Legal Committee

General Assembly

proper housing and education, and impositions on womensrights.62

First, Iran has placed illegal and restrictions on theKurdish right to practice their version of Islam. While theIranian constitution guarantees equality of religion under thelaw and recognizes Sunni Islam with formal legal standing,Sunni Kurds are essentially blocked from practicing their own

religion. One Amnesty International article says, There is nota single Sunni in Tehran according to reports; the governmenthas restricted the expansion of Sunni mosques that existelsewhere in the country.63

Many Sunni clerics have suffered gross human rights violations. For example, in 2008, the cleric Ayoub Ganji was kidnapped for thirteen days after delivering a sermonin Sanandaj. After thirteen days of protests outside ofgovernment buildings, Ganji was nally released, althoughnot in full health. He showed signs of extreme trauma, failingto recognize his wife and son and constantly crying out as ifbeing hurt. Such instances of human rights violations extend

to other areas, including restrictions on culture. Similar torestrictions regarding their religious practices, Kurdish parentshave a limited choice on what they can name their children.Many names, such as the Kurdish words for free, equal, andag, are banned in Iran.64

However, the discrimination extends to more than simplyreligion and culture. In Iran, the practice of Gozinesh is usedto select employees for any state sector job. This is importantbecause the state is the largest employer in Iran. Gozineshhas been used to deny the Kurdish people employment in thestate sector, and even in parts of the private sector, whereKurds are often refused jobs simply based on their ethnicity.

Moreover, Amnesty International reports, Kurdish activistssay the government has neglected Kurdish areas, impedingemployment opportunities. For instance, activists say de-mining programs in Kurdish areas have been slow, hamperingthe development of agriculture and industry. While thoseareas have been expanding largely in the rest of Iran, theKurdish areas are seemingly left behind.

Furthermore, the economic discriminations the Iraniangovernment puts into place have also affected the housingsituation for many Kurds in recent years.65 During the Iran-Iraq War in 1980, many Kurdish and Iranian villages were allbut destroyed. While reconstruction occurred rather quicklyfor those Iranian villages, reconstruction in Kurdish villages

was sluggish, and to this day, the living conditions for Kurdsare extremely poor. Moreover, because of the economicdiscriminations and state neglect described above, forcedevictions of Kurds have become commonplace. The Iraniangovernment has not only failed to use its means to fulll therights of the Kurds, but it has also intentionally ignored them.

The failure to fulll basic rights also extends todiscrimination in the form of educational opportunities.66

While Irans ofcial language is Persian, and the ofcial

documents and textbooks for use must be in this language, itsconstitution also allows for minority languages to be presentin classroom. However, no measures have been introducedthat open up teaching in minority languages or connectminorities to their native languages. While Kurds have heldmany campaigns to further their education, the governmentrepeatedly denies these requests. 67

Kurdish women are seen as facing double oppressionbecause of their ethnicity and their gender; they not onlylive in the Kurdish minority but also as women in a largelypatriarchal society. Strict social and religions codes are used tojustify the restriction of human rights for women.68 Kurdish

women are largely illiterate and often must enter into forcemarriages. Iranian law also permits honor killings, where arelative may murder a woman in order to protect the familys

honor against her violation of Sharia law. For example, in2006, while a jailer was escorting a woman near a courthousea man appeared and slit the womans throat. According to

Amnesty International, the armed guards simply threw

pennies on the dead womans body- pennies intended toatone for the sin.69 In Iran, accusations of sexual relationsoutside of marriage constitute justication for the murder ofa woman. In contrast, sexual relations outside of wedlock fomen are rarely investigated, even in the case of rape. Women

who report rape are often jailed and accused of a crimthemselves. Because of this, rape often goes unreported atall.70

This case scenario highlights two major aspects ominority oppression. First, oppressors often utilize a cultureto categorize and oppress a group of people. In this case, TheIranian government uses the separation and conict between

Shia and Sunni Muslims to legitimize oppression of theKurdish people. It will be this committees duty to address theissues of oppression based on religion in the nal resolutionSecond, this case scenario highlights the plight of women innot only Iran but also the Middle Eastern region as a wholeIn Iran, Kurdish women suffer even more than Kurdish menbecause of the double burden of their gender. Women fromminority groups around the world undergo similar levels ofincreased oppression.

Dictatorial and Political OppressionThe current North Korean regime is perhaps the mos

oppressive regime that exists today. After the Second WorldWar, Japanese-occupied Korea was divided into two separatecountries. The North became a communist government undethe Soviet Union, and the South became a democracy underthe supervision of the United States. 71 The DemocraticPeoples Republic of Korea gained independence in 1948, andup until 1994, knew only one leader: Kim II-sung.72

When Kim II-sung died in 1994, the country grievedhysterically. Millions of people ocked to the more than 30thousand statues built in his honor; thousands committed

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

suicide.73 But why would a people grieve so hysterically forsuch an oppressive leader? To understand this it is necessaryto look back at the history of North Korea. One of KimII-sungs rst orders was to identify a (rather permanent)

class-based system based on loyalty to the government. Whatdeveloped was a three-tier class system; each family wasinterrogated and ranked in about eight different backgroundchecks and interviews. The upper class is known as the

Workers Party of North Korea, followed by the waveringclass, and at the bottom is the hostile class.74

In this strict caste system, upward mobility is negligible,but the slightest political offense, something trivial like aharsh word about the government, can cause demotionto the hostile class and shipment to labor camps. Theselabor camps, according to limited sources, are much likethe concentration camps of the Second World War, simply

without gas chambers. According to Tom Head, an expert oncivil liberties, the North Korean government maintains tenconcentration camps, with a total of between 200,000 and250,000 prisoners contained therein. Conditions in the campsare terrible, and the annual casualty rate has been estimated ashigh as 25%. The North Korean government has no system ofdue process, imprisoning, torturing, and executing prisonersat will. Public executions, in particular, are a common sight inNorth Korea.75

The DPRK maintains control over citizens through itsMinistry of People security, which requires North Koreans tospy on one another, often even family members. This systemcalled the inminban, turns families against one another andcreates a feeling of paranoia throughout the country. Ofcialsselected families from the wavering class to police their ownneighbors, while the upper class was given relative leniency

In this system, private enterprise is completely banned and isconsidered an affront to communism; it can land both buyerand seller in one of the camps. 76

The North Korean government maintains this loyaltthrough a system of thorough indoctrination that startsfrom the nursery and continues to the grave. In North Koreastudents are taught from an early age that religious minoritiesand those who speak against the government are responsiblefor the tragedies that befall them. Ian Ebright writes, Wha

were the people devoted to? Kim Il-sung, and his politicaphilosophies. It has been said that Kim Il-sung establisheda cult of personality. The government made sure he was

worshipped like a god, from childrens songs rehearsed in theschools to frequent reminders throughout the factories. 77 Inaddition, all radio and television, as well as books, magazinesand church services are controlled and monitored by thegovernment. Those who attempt to access or listen to anyforeign media are sentenced to the work camps.

While the country is nearly completely closed off tooutsiders, one German doctor who served for eighteen months

with a volunteer team in North Korea was able to speak out What Dr. Norbert Vollertsen observed may simply be thsurface of the oppression and maltreatment that the NorthKorean government exerts upon its people. I took care of

several hundred children in those kindergartens and hospitalsand they were literally dying under my hands. Most of the timeI was too late because they were so weak, Vollertsen said.78

They were looking like ghosts, so skinny; no more emotionareaction, they cant cry anymore, they cant laugh anymore.79

Vollertsen saw extreme hunger, going on to say, The peopleare eating rats, snakes, little animals, insects, whatever they cannd. The North Korean government is starving their ownpeople, starving mainly their own opposition in order to givetheir whole money and whole food to the military, in order toincrease military power. 80

However, Vollertsen saw not only extreme hunger, butalso signs of torture: Seven-year-old children, 70 year oldladies they all speak about torture, concentration campmass execution, rape, about baby-killing, about every cruelbiological medical experiment you can imagine, how theyare using human beings as guinea pigs to develop anthraxfor example And when we hear all these stories we will beashamed, Vollertsen said.81 We will be shocked that we wereso ignorant for nearly 50 years now, that we simply didnt carebecause we did not know. 82

A map depicting the Democratic Peoples Republic o Korea.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

19/4818

Legal Committee

General Assembly

However, because the country employs an extremeamount of secrecy in its policies, the people of the world maynever understand the extent of the oppression that occurs inNorth Korea.

The Root o the ProblemAs can be inferred from these two case studies, oppression

comes in all varieties, including political, racial, socioeconomic,

religious, and ethnic oppression . Opinions vary, however,regarding how the world believes the international communityshould deal with the problem. Some countries advocate fullintervention and sanctions against countries that oppressminority population. Other nations advocate a less activeapproach whereby each culture is sovereign and should beable to dene its own laws. The Legal Committee must decide

which of the two approaches it wishes to follow to solve thisproblem.

current situation

Oppression in Iran and the DPRK Today Today, while the Kurdish people in Iran have made

many advances in their search for human rights, oppressioncontinues both politically and culturally. More than 300people are still imprisoned in Iran for supporting Kurdishpolitical groups; Iran declines to comment on these arrestsand has not allowed Amnesty International ofcials to consultthe prisoners.83

Human rights defenders, primarily women, are targetedfor oppression. According to Amnesty International, Roya

Toole, a 40-year-old pro-democracy and womens rights

activist, was arbitrarily detained for 66 days beginning in August. She was held on trumped-up charges for helpingto organize demonstrations protesting against the killing ofShawna Qaderi, demonstrations that remained peaceful.84

A pathologist and founding member of the Associationof Kurdish Women for the Defense of Peace and HumanRights, she was held in solitary connement and tortured.She says that she only agreed to sign a confession becauseher captors threatened to burn her two children to death infront of her.85 Female Iranian human rights defenders haveoften aroused more hostility from the state authorities thantheir male colleagues because their activities are perceived as

defying cultural, religious or social norms about the role ofwomen.86

Equally important, Kurdish media in Iran suffers fromthe constant threat of shutdown by the government. Since

Ahmadenijads election, the government has forced morethan forty Kurdish publications to cease operations. AmnestyInternational describes one case:, Three members of theeditorial board of the Kurdish-language fortnightly Rojhelat

Farad Manipur, Reza Alipour and Saman Solaymani werearrested at the newspapers ofce in Canada in October

2006.87 They were charged with acting against nationalsecurity but released a month later on bail equivalent toaround US$54,000.88 They presented their nal defense to thecourt in Sanandaj on 31 December 2007. In April 2008 thejournal was banned on grounds of receiving money from anoutside source, possibly in connection with selling the journain the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The men were ned.89

While the treatment of the Kurdish population by thIranian government remains harsh today, other minoritygroups are also oppressed within Iran. Iran also oppressed

women and minority religious groups, as described above. Asseen in the protests against the re-election of Ahmadenijadthe Iranian government is willing to oppress any group thatspeaks out against the government.90

Oppression is also at an all-time high in North Korea. Atthe time of North Koreas conversion to communism, theleaders promised food to all of their citizens, an attempt togain popular support for their ideology.91 However, in theearly 1990s the system started to break down.92 Early stages

of famine became apparent to the North Korean peopleThe North Korean governments insistence on spending vastamounts of money on propaganda and the military had adetrimental effect on the countrys citizens in this way. . Thecountry was forced to rely on other communist nations forboth military and agricultural support.93

The Broken Telegraph reports, In all, an estimate600,000- 2,000,000 North Koreans died from the famineby 1998, and another 1,000,000 have died of famine-relatedconditions since then.94 North Korea received $2.4 billion infood aid between 1996 and 2005, though as the few visitorsto the country discovered, the large majority of the aid never

reached the population most in need, have instead been taken

This map depicts what is considered to be the region o Kurdistan.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012


Legal Committee

for military stockpiles or sold on the black market. It was notuntil 1998 that the UN was allowed to set up a reasonablemonitoring operation for the food aid, but, as Demickmentions, the worst of the famine was over by then because

everybody who was going to die was already dead.95

Since then, the famine and oppression has continued. While the North Korean people have begun to ght back,

recently developing a black market that has forced thegovernment to relax some restrictions on trade, other humanrights abuses such as executions have escalated.96

Oppressed Populations Worldwide While these are two of the most extreme cases of

oppression in the world today, the issue of minority rightsis by no means limited to Iran and North Korea. Fromthe oppression of Christian missionaries in China to thepersecution of women throughout the Middle East, therights of minorities must be protected. The issue of nationalsovereignty, however, has prevented the United Nations inthe past from involving itself in such issues. This body mustdecide in what circumstances and to what extent the UnitedNations and the international community should be able tointervene in a nations internal policies to solve problems.

Past internationalactions

The Universal Declaration o Human RightsPerhaps the most comprehensive and important

document protecting minority rights, and all human rightsin general, is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Declaration, while containing no enforcement clauses,

outlines the protection each nation should give to its peopleand outlaws all discrimination. The Declaration serves as thebasis for international law in the protection of minoritiesby protecting the right of all people, regardless of ethnicity,gender, political party, or religion, to openly practice andassert their opinions.

Declaration on the Rights o Persons Belonging toNational or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities

Until the last few decades, international law lackedany specic guideless for the protection of minority rights.However, in 1992, the United Nations adopted the Declarationon the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,Religious and Linguistic Minorities, which was a rst steptowards ensuring that the rights of minorities around the

world were protected. The Declaration protects the rights ofpersons to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practicetheir own religion, and to use their own language, in privateand in public, freely and without interference or any form ofdiscrimination.97 In addition to laying the groundwork forinternational law, the Declaration also established WorkingGroup on Minorities to work on the protection of minorityrights.

The Working Group on Minorities The mission of the Working Group on Minorities i

to examine ways and means to promote and protect the

rights that are set out in the Declaration. According to theUnited Nations, the Working Group, which is comprisedof ve members, representing each of the ve geographicregions of the United Nations, meets for one week eachyear. At this meeting, the Working Group prepares a formalreport to be considered by the subcommittee. 98 This annuareport contains information about the three priorities thecommission of the Working Group holds: the practicality ofthe Declaration, solutions to afictions involving minoritiesand understanding the relationship between minorities andgovernments in order to recommend further action to be taken

to protect minorities.

99

The Working Group provides a placefor non-governmental organizations and other members ofthe international community to consider issues that pervadeevery culture and to discuss differing perspectives that cultureshave regarding tolerance of minorities and the relationshipthat governments have with minorities. Essentially, it providesa sounding board for both minority groups who feel oppressedand also those countries that are accused of oppression.

According to the United Nations, the Working Groupalso has organized, together with national institutions andNGOs, a series of seminars on various topics related to theMinorities Declaration or specic rights contained therein

The reports of the seminars then serve as a basis for furthediscussion during Working Group sessions.100 Thus, the

working group serves not only as a center for recommendationbut also for debate and education.

The issues discussed in the Working Group are the verysame this body must discuss. In the past, the Working Grouphas recommended several actions be taken with regards tominority rights.

Economic sanctions: In the past the United Nationshas utilized an embargo to limit, interrupt, or hinder

The Univeral Declaration o Human Rights was drated in 1948.

8/3/2019 Legal 2012

21/4820

Legal Committee

General Assembly

a countrys economic activity. The goal of economicsanction is to force a government to compromisein order to protect the economy. Sanctions havebeen used, although not mandatorily and certainlyineffectually, to combat situations like apartheidin South Africa. Examples of economic sanctionsinclude boycotts of certain goods and high tariffs.

Suspension :Article Five of the United NationsCharter states that the Security Council can suspendthe privileges of a member state.

Expulsion: the involuntary withdrawal of a memberstate from the United Nations.

Military force: The most severe and least commonresponse, military force has been recommended andutilized to combat oppression.101

While the United Nations has a declaration and a workinggroup to deal with minority rights, the Legal Committeemust draft a framework to guide its future response to theoppression of minority groups. It must dene what kind ofactions should take place, if any, to combat the oppressionof minorities and should use the cases of the Kurds in Iranand the nation of North Korea as examples. It must alsobalance the rights of the minorities in the international arena

with the sovereignty of individual nations and include directhumanitarian responses to crises such as those seen in NorthKorea.

tiMelineof significant eventsBecause of the nature of the topic and because the issue

of minority rights and oppression has been so prevalentthroughout time, it is difcult to summarize signicantevents in the history of the oppression of minorities. Instead,this section contains a timeline of action taken against theoppression of minorities.

1948: After the Second World War, the UnitedNations passes the Convention on the Preventionand Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, whichcriminalizes genocide.102

1948: The United Nations creates the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights, which represents therst attempt, as almost a direct response to the Second

World War, to protect the rights of all humans.103

1966: The United Nations afrms the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protectsthe speech, religion, assembly, and electoral rights ofminorities.104

1976: The United Nation places into action theInternational Covenant on Economic, Social, andCultural Rights, which sets standards for the economic,social, and cultural rights of individuals within nations.

These include the right to health, education, and anadequate standard of living.105

1992: The United Nations drafts the Declaration on the

Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,Religious and Linguistic Minorities, which allows peopleto practice their unique culture, religion, and language

without any form of discrimination.106

1995: The United Nations establishes the Working Groupon Minorities, which meets each August to publish areport with three goals: renewing the practicality ofthe Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging toNational or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities,suggesting ways the international community canfurther protect these minorities, and proposing actionto implement these ideas.107

2006: The United Nations establishes the United NationsHuman Rights Council. This replaces the Committeeon Human Rights, which notoriously had a number ofmembers with long histories of human rights violations.

According to the United Nations, the Human RightsCouncil is responsible for promoting human rightsaround the globe. The Council was created by the UNGeneral Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the purposeof addressing situations of human rights violations.

ProPoseD solutions

Proposition 1: Sanctions and Military ActionThis proposition recommends that a committee should be

established that works with non-governmental organizationsand other United Nations committees to identify a listof countries each year that actively oppress minoritie

Documents

Legal 2012