北大模联决议题

1、AIMUN 2009 Security CouncilUpdates for Topic A:Child SoldiersHello delegates!Hope you had a good time writing your position papers. The committee is very excited and eagerly anticipates the commencement of AIMUN in March!In the past 10 years, the p henomenon of child soldiesr' has attracted enor

2、mous media attention and has also become a policy priority in the humanitarian field. The central thesis of the global discourse on child soldier' is that children have no placein war under any circumstance and that child soldiering is an unambiguous violation of universal children 'risghts.

3、 With this belief, humanitarian organizations have lobbied for various international legal instruments that prohibit the military recruitment of those under 18-year-olds and hold adults who recruit children criminally culpable for war crimes. At the same time, the images and tales of child soldiers

4、have proliferated in such a way that childsoldiers h'as almost become a moral and emotional issue, with activists and organizations taking it on with almost missionary zeal.In the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, children are increasingly victimized and traumatized by the recurrent hostilit

5、ies. Ms. Coomaraswamy, special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, urges the parties to the conflict to halt fighting and to take all necessary measures to protect civilians including children. The Special Representative raised specific concerns about the systema

6、tic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and child soldiering. Widespread recruitment of children by the troops of Laurent Nkunda and the Mai Mai continues. Forcing children to participate in the hostilities is a war crime. On 17 September 2008, the Lord 'sResistance Army attacked a number

7、of villages in Congo and abducted 90 children from their schools. The SRSG and UN urgently called for immediate and unconditional release of all the abducted children. There are documented cases where children kidnapped by groups in this region have been forced to fight as child soldiers, and where

8、young girls have been raped and used as sex slaves. The situation in Congo and Uganda is severe not only due to the severity of the attacks against women and children, but due to the lack of respect for the life of a woman or child.On 17 September of 2008, the U.S. was commended for its legislative

9、efforts to combat child soldiering. The Child Soldiers Pr evention and Accountability Act sent 'a clear message to whom it may concern that recruitment and use of child soldiers is unlawful. Perpetrators of such crimes could also become accountable under U.S. domestic legislation. The Child Sold

10、iers Accountability Act 'that was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives, criminalizes the recruitment and use of child soldiers. It gives the United States the authority to deny admission or to deport individuals for such activities. This means that the unique engagement of the S

11、ecurity Council through resolution 1612 played a crucial role in awakening the's effortsconscienee of the international community and has started to bring results at global level. And the U.S. legislative sanction could be considered to be product of its efforts. The Child Soldiers Prevention Ac

12、t: which was passed later on 10th December 10, 2008, would impose significant restrictions on the transfer of military tech no logy and provisi on of U.S. military assista nee to gover nments or paramilitaries using child soldiers in violation of international law. The U.S. engagement will definitel

13、y add impetus in bringing tangible changes to the child soldiers issue around the globe and may prompt other governments to follow suit. Also, the U.S.may mark the start of more domestic legislati ons to come.On 4 December 2008, the Governme nt of Sri Lan ka, the TMVP (a breakaway faction from the T

14、amil Tigers) and UNICEF signed an action plan to ensure that the recruitme nt and use of childre n by the TMVP comes to an end, and that all childre n curre ntly with the TMVP are released and are provided with rein tegrati on assista nee. The action plan, which gives a clear timetable of required a

15、ctions by the signatories over the n ext three mon ths, was sig ned by the leader of the TMVP, Mr. V Muralitharan, in the presenee of Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, Mr. Siva nesathuraiSan thiraka ntha n;and by theCommissio nerGen eralforRehabilitation, Mr. Suhada Gamalath; and the UNICEF Re

16、presentative in Sri Lanka, Mr. Philippe Duamelle. According to UNICEF's most recent figures, the TMVP has 133 outstanding cases of underage recruitment in its ranks. The signing clearly states the commitme nt of these three parties to efficie ntly tackle the issue of the use and recruitment of c

17、hildren. UNICEF also gathers reports from families whose children have been recruited and advocates for their release. Upon release, UNICEF supports the reintegration of child soldiers into their families and communities through schooling, educational projects, psychosocial support, and vocational t

18、raining. Thus far, UNICEF has succeeded in reintegrating around 3,500 childre n associated with armed groups.On 21 January 2009, Barack Obama ordered all trials at Guantan amo Bay to be halted, in clud ing those of Omar Kadhr and Mohamed Jawad, hours after tak ing the oath of office as the 44th pres

19、ide nt of the Un ited States. In one of the first acts of his adm ini strati on, Mr. Obama and the Departme nt of Defense asked for a 120-day suspe nsion of all military trib un als. It has bee n very con troversial as to whether these childre n are to be tried by military commissi on for war crimes

20、 allegedly committed whe n they were youn ger tha n 18 years old. If Preside nt Obama does not suspe nd the military commissi on trial of Omar Khadr, the Un ited States will become the first western nation since Nuremberg to hold a war crimes trial for crimes allegedly committed by a child. Omar Kha

21、dr' srial would require Preside nt Obama to break from international practice and to flout international standards that recognize children used as child soldiers should be treated first as victims in need of rehabilitation, not abused and prosecuted by an un just and discredited military commiss

22、i on. If Omar Khadr' s trial goes forward, it would establish a dan gerous precede nt for the Un ited States and the en tire world. Time is running out for Preside nt Obama to honor his promise to break from the Bush adm ini strati on by respect ing U.S. huma n rights treaty obligations. Experts

23、 raised concerns about the creation of an international precede nt where in dividuals are tried for war crimes with regards to alleged acts committed when they were children and therefore considered as child soldiers.There are hopes that these cases will be resolved in a manner that will respect int

24、ernational standards that safeguard the rights of children.According to UNICEF, some children as young as nine are being recruited by armed groups, both governments and rebel forces alike. UNICEF said over the past few years, it has succeeded in getting armed groups in North Kivu, DR Congo to releas

25、e about 10,000 child soldiers. Nonetheless, according to UNICEF Representative Pierette Vu Thi, many children who have been reintegrated into their communities are being targeted again for recruitment by the armed groups. UNICEF reported rampant sexual violence and exploitation taking place with imp

26、unity in villages and sites for internally displaced people. It said women and girls of all ages are raped in the fields and in their homes. The photo exhibit "Children of War: Broken Childhood" was held in the visitors lobby of the Secretariat of the United Nations from 20 November 2008 t

27、o 30 January 2009.The event was designed tocontribute to the call to stop the unbearable phenomenon of child soldiering. The UN will continuously ramp up efforts to combat child soldiering with active participation of countries across all over the world.Contrary to popular opinion, recently a new gr

28、oup of people has begun to argue that we need to explore the possible gap between the global discourse and local realities. There still seems to be a lack of an explicit attempt to bring together the macro-levels of analysis (the global discourse) and the micro-analysis (ethnographic studies) on the

29、 issue of child soldiers. For instance, the militant child and youth activists in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s were hailed as heroes. Likewise, thousands of under-18 British soldiers who fought in World War I were (and are still) regarded as brave young men

30、' who responded to their historical call, as exemplified by the following inscriptions typical of many gravestones: ONLY A BOY BUT A HERO' HERO; Killed in Action 30th August 1916, aged 17'(van Emden 2005: 11) a nd so forth. This may shed light on a desperate need for an investigation on

31、how the well-intentioned global humanitarian discourse on child soldiers may be disregarding the complex local understandings and experiences of military recruitment.The coming AIMUN 2009 will be a place where we can share a great many of ideas on the issue of Child Soldiers. Feel free to express yo

32、ur opinions! And we will try our best to make this a great conference!Cheers!AIMUN 2009 Security CouncilReferences1 Understanding and Addressing the Phenomenon of ChildSoldiers 'Th:e Gap between the Global Humanitarian Discourse and the Local Understandings and Experiences of Young People '

33、sMilitary Recruitment, University of Oxford Ah -jung Lee2 Article on World Vision U.S.,“ New Law Prevents U.S. Tax Dollars From FundingUse of Child Soldiers Abroad” , 10 December 20083 United Nations website on Children and Armed Conflict, /children/conflict/english/index.html4 Websi

34、te of the United Nations Children' s Fund (UNICEF),/emerg/index_childsoldiers.html5 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers website, http:/www.child- /homeAIMUN 2009 Security CouncilUpdates for Topic B:Non-proliferation and the Islamic Republic of IranHello de

35、legates!This update serves to provide an overview of some fresh developments, of which some are considered heartening, since the study guide was written. Also, given the extensiveness of this topic, there may have been some information that may not have been included in the previous study guide. Thu

36、s, this update serves to supplement the study guide.As President Obama forms his administration, the world anticipates his new foreign policy direction for the United States, who is considered to be the most important actor involved in the issue of Iran's nuclear development. Gary Samore, a prol

37、iferation expert at the Council on Foreign Relations says, "Barack Obama may be more successful than Mr. Bush in mobilizing an international coalition- and thatmeans the Europeans and the Russians - to bring pressure on Tehran." He believes that the Obama administration's willingness t

38、o talk directly to Iran, and to make an effort to try to find a broader accommodation with it on a range of regional issues, may also make it easier to resolve the nuclear issue.On the other hand, the declining price of oil may also provide a better atmosphere for conversation, as Iran's economy

39、 may become more vulnerable to outside pressure and may not have the ability to support those terrorist offshoots. However, some experts believe that the global financial crisis could make European partners reluctant to support sanctions against Iran out of a desire to protect jobs and market share,

40、 thus dampening the effect of economic pressure.A renewed offer was made in summer 2008 by the US, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany, known as the P5+1 (the permanent five on the Security Council plus Germany) or the E3+3 (the European three plus the three others from the Security Council).

41、It builds on a previous offer of 2006 and says that if Iran suspends its uranium enrichment activities, then talks can move on towards building a long-term agreement. On offer includes the recognition of Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and the treatment of Iran in &q

42、uot;the same manner" as other states under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.Iran announced its willingness to continue negotiations with the group of P5+1 ston 21 December 2008, but is against the participation of Arabian countries in the negotiation process. Iran said that the participatio

43、n of Arabian countries is an American policy in order to hinder Iran's peaceful use of nuclear power, and it will "just complicate the issues".The Security Council held its 6036 th Meeting on 10 th December 2008 to monitor the implementation of the sanctions imposed on Iran. During the conference, the United States provided a briefing on its efforts to implement provisions of resolutions 1737 (2006) and 1803 (2008) relating to the transfer of goods and technology t