Legal Committee Update Paper

Transcription

1 Legal Committee Update Paper Topic A: The Russian Revolutions of 1917 At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a large, impoverished peasant class in Russia. This was largely because the country was slow to modernize: Russia abolished serfdom in 1861, while Western Europe had done away with the practice in the Middle Ages. Additionally, Russia industrialized much later than Western Europe and the United States, and even when they did, working conditions for many were miserable. 1 In January 1905 a large number of strikes took place, and on Sunday, January 9, a group of demonstrators marched on the Winter Palace in order to deliver a petition to Tsar Nicholas II which included demands such as fairer wages and an eighthour workday. 2 Though these workers were unarmed, the Imperial Guard shot, trampled, and massacred them. This event later became known as Bloody Sunday and fueled the peasants desire for change. The impetus for the 1917 Revolutions was the Tsar s decision to bring Russia into World War I on the side of Britain and France in 1914, in the hopes that a good military showing would restore some of the glory Russia lost when it after the Russo-Japanese War in Instead, the opposite occurred. Early on, Russian forces were decimated by superior German ones, 3 and as the war dragged on, food shortages increased and the economy became more strained. More and more strikes and demonstrations occurred, causing the Tsar to use the army to quell the riots with force. The demonstration on February 26 later became known as the February Revolution. The army 1 Russian Revolution. History.com, A&E, 2009, 2 Documents in Russian History. Workers' Petition, January 9th, 1905 (Bloody Sunday) - Documents in Russian History, academic.shu.edu/russianhistory/index.php/workers%27_petition,_january_9th,_1905_(bloody_sunday) 3 History - World Wars: Battle of Tannenberg: August BBC, BBC,

2 officers refused, and most either mutinied or fled. 4 The Tsar was talked into abdicating the throne, and finally did so on March 2. He was eventually executed along with his family in July of The Tsar s government failed for many reasons: firstly, the Tsar possessed the wrong amount of autonomy at the wrong times. Notably, he possessed a too much autonomy when making the disastrous decision to enter the Great War. The Russian monarchy also lacked adaptability: it abolished serfdom so late because of its belief in divine right and a refusal to accept more modern norms. Lastly, there was a lack of coherence in the Tsar s government: as evidenced by Bloody Sunday, his government frequently exacerbated disputes rather than solved them. After the Tsar abdicated, a provisional government, led by Alexander Kerensky, was set up. 5 It lasted eight months, and was eventually overthrown by the Bolsheviks, led by a man named Vladimir Lenin, in what came to be known as the October Revolution. Like the monarchy, the provisional government failed thanks to a lack of adaptability. While it implemented more liberal reforms, such as advocating for freedom of speech and the release of political prisoners, its inability to withdraw from the war increased discontent amongst citizens. Furthermore, the provisional government mishandled the problem of complexity: in its brief existence, it issued a decree shifting the authority of army officers to elected committees - a poor choice, as it led to the army becoming less disciplined. 6 Such a decree transferred power from a more stable to less stable place, and contributed to the provisional government s demise Topic B: The Smoking Delegate 4 Beckett, The Great War. p Russian Revolution of Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 24 July 2017, 6 Fernholz, Elizabeth M. The Russian Revolution of The Russian Revolution of 1917, academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/russian-rev.htm.

3 On Wednesday, April 7th, 2010, a junior diplomat from Qatar caused a minor international incident when he was found smoking a small pipe in the lavatory mid-flight from Washington, D.C. to Denver on an assignment to visit a Qatari member of al-qaeda in jail there. 7 When the junior diplomat, Mohammed al-madadi, opened the door to leave the bathroom, one of the flight attendants smelled the smoke coming from the bathroom and confronted al-madadi. 8 According to the flight attendant, al-madadi joked that he was trying to mask the smell of the bathroom by lighting my shoes on fire, 9 an unfortunate reference to Richard Reid, a British shoe bomber who attempted to detonate explosives on a flight in 2001 by lighting his shoes. 10 When al-madadi refused to turn over his lighter to the flight attendants, air marshals on the flight were notified and confined al-madadi to his seat after alerting the pilot to activate a national alert system for all planes. 11 Fighter jets were scrambled and safely escorted the plane to its landing in Denver. 12 Mohammed al-madadi was taken in for questioning due to suspicious activity, but was released shortly thereafter. Qatar s Ambassador to the U.S. stated that al-madadi was "was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity", and that "facts will reveal that this was all a mistake. 13 Under U.S. law, smoking in an airplane lavatory is illegal, and the only offense committed was illegal smoking - a charge that al-madadi was immune to due to his diplomatic status. 14 Typically, when a 7 Karen DeYoung, and Spencer S. Hsu, Diplomat on Denver flight to be sent back to Qatar, U.S. says, Washington Post, April 9, Qatari diplomat sparks US jet bomb scare, BBC News, April 8, Karen DeYoung, and Spencer S. Hsu, Diplomat on Denver flight to be sent back to Qatar, U.S. says, Washington Post, April 9, Smoking Diplomat Causes Midair Bomb Scare, Fox News, April 8, Karen DeYoung, and Spencer S. Hsu, Diplomat on Denver flight to be sent back to Qatar, U.S. says, Washington Post, April 9, Ibid. 13 Qatari diplomat sparks US jet bomb scare, BBC News, April 8, Karen DeYoung, and Spencer S. Hsu, Diplomat on Denver flight to be sent back to Qatar, U.S. says, Washington Post, April 9,

4 country wants to remove an ambassador, they would declare them persona non grata - a power granted by the Vienna Convention which has the effect of expelling the affected individual. However, in this case, Mohammed al-madadi was not declared persona non grata and was not expelled; rather, the Qatari administration decided to remove him on their own terms, 15 as his ability to function effectively has been significantly compromised. 16 The decisions made to remove the diplomat caused a debate over the correct steps and the handling the situation. According to the Washington Post, it is very rare for law enforcement to get involved when there are disruptive passengers who commit smoking violations, despite it being a common offense. Statistics shows that a third of all passenger reports involve some sort of smoking, and then of those, law enforcement got involved in seventeen percent of cases. Twenty-four of those cases actually made it to court, of which one resulted in a fine and a conditional sentence. 17 Some diplomats argue racial profiling of an Arab man due to how it was handled, but Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano believed that the marshals took appropriate and immediate action to secure the aircraft and communicate the potential threat to authorities on the ground. 18 This incident will be an important one to remember when considering how best to handle diplomatic violations of domestic law. Issues to consider include differences in procedure that arise when handling incidents such as this between different cases and different countries, as well as how diplomatic immunity comes into play while the incident itself is unfolding. Topic B: The Berlin Discotheque Bombing 15 Ibid. 16 Qatari diplomat sparks US jet bomb scare, BBC News, April 8, Karen DeYoung, and Spencer S. Hsu, Diplomat on Denver flight to be sent back to Qatar, U.S. says, Washington Post, April 9, Ibid.

5 On April 5th, 1986, the La Belle discotheque in the Friedenau district of West Berlin was the target of a bombing which killed three people and injured 229 others. The establishment was frequented by United States military personnel - two of the dead and 79 of the injured were American servicemen. The explosion of the bomb from under the disc jockey s booth killed Sgt. Kenneth T. Ford, 21 and Nermin Hannay, 29 instantly, while Sgt. James E. Goins, 25 died from injuries two months later. 19 Many of the other victims lost limbs and were left permanently disabled from injuries sustained in the blast. The United States responded immediately, with President Ronald Reagan ordering two retaliatory strikes on Libyan military assets including air defense networks, barracks, and airfields in Benghazi and Tripoli. In an address to the American people, Reagan argued that his response was an imperative exercise of self defence. 20 No individual was officially accused of the bombing until 1990, four years after the event, during the reunification of Germany and the opening of the Stasi files. During the investigation, German Prosecutor Detlev Mehlis discovered a Libyan agent, Musbah Eter, listed in the Stasi files. Musbah Eter, who worked at the embassy in East Berlin, and another Stasi agent, Ali Chanaa, were found guilty in the planning of the bombing. Yasir Shraydi, a Palestinian, was believed to have been the ringleader in the organization of the bombing. 21 Verena Chanaa, a German citizen, allegedly carried the bomb in a travel bag into the night club. Prosecutors said that the bomb was assembled in the living place of the Chanaas and that the explosive was brought into Berlin through the use of a libyan diplomatic bag. A diplomatic bag has an immunity to search and seizure, and is often 19 Flashback: The Berlin disco bombing. BBC News. November 13, : US launches air strikes on Libya. BBC News. On This Day. 21 Erlanger, 4 Guilty in Fatal 1986 Berlin Disco Bombing Linked to Libya. Muammar el-qaddafi, has not been proven; sentences Verena Chanaa and Yasir Shraydi to 14 years in prison and Musbah Eter and Ali Chanaa to 12 years; acquirts Andrea Hausler

6 escorted by a diplomatic courier who is similarly immune from arrest and detention. 22 Such an event is a basis of criticism for the diplomatic bag, as it demonstrates the bag s potential for abuse. Peter Marhofer, the judge for the trial, said it remained unclear as to whether Libyan Intelligence or Gaddafi ordered the attack. While indications supported Libyan Intelligence, Gaddafi had previously called for Arab assaults on American interests worldwide after a confrontation between US and Libyan navies in the Mediterranean, where two Libyan boats were sunk in international waters in the Western Gulf of Sidra. 22 "Diplomatic bag: The inside story". BBC News. March 10, 2000.

7 Works Cited BBC ON THIS DAY : US Launches Air Strikes on Libya. BBC News, BBC, 15 Apr. 1986, news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/15/newsid_ / stm. Beckett, The Great War. p Documents in Russian History. Workers' Petition, January 9th, 1905 (Bloody Sunday) - Documents in Russian History, academic.shu.edu/russianhistory/index.php/workers%27_petition,_january_9th,_1905 _(Bloody_Sunday) Erlanger, Steven. 4 Guilty in Fatal 1986 Berlin Disco Bombing Linked to Libya. The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2001, inked-to-libya.html. Fernholz, Elizabeth M. The Russian Revolution of The Russian Revolution of 1917, academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/russian-rev.htm. History - World Wars: Battle of Tannenberg: August BBC, BBC, Karen DeYoung, and Spencer S. Hsu, Diplomat on Denver flight to be sent back to Qatar, U.S. says, Washington Post, April 9, Malinarich, Nathalie. Europe Flashback: The Berlin Disco Bombing. BBC News, BBC, 13 Nov. 2001, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/ stm. Qatari diplomat sparks US jet bomb scare, BBC News, April 8, Russian Revolution. History.com, A&E, 2009, Russian Revolution of Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 24 July 2017, Smoking Diplomat Causes Midair Bomb Scare, Fox News, April 8, UK Diplomatic Bag: The inside Story. BBC News, BBC, 10 Mar. 2000, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/ stm.