IHSMUNC 17 TABLE OF CONTENTS TOPIC PAGE NO. LETTER FROM THE CHAIRPERSON 3 COMMITTEE OVERVIEW 4 TOPIC HISTORY 5 TIMELINE OF EVENTS 8 CURRENT SITUATION 11 BLOC POSITIONS 13 PAST INTERNATIONAL ACTION 15 QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER 18 Page 2
IHSMUNC 17 LETTER FROM THE CHAIRPERSON Greetings Delegates! It gives me great honor to welcome you to SPECPOL, and I hope that you are as excited about this experience as I am. To the veteran delegates, I assure you that a very enlightening debate awaits you, and to the novices, I am thrilled to be a part of the beginning of your MUN journey. So, I ll let you know a little about myself, I m currently in Grade 10, but besides that, I love watching films, reading books, and memorizing random facts. Although most are passionate about MUN because of its heated discussions, my intentions of still doing MUN is to get the hang of diplomacy. Some may think of diplomacy as negotiations, while others may say alliances, but this broad strategic ideology, in any form, in any context, is enough to save the world from strife. The crisis in the Ukraine has been a hot topic ever since this nation has been divided between pro-eu and pro-russian activists, a situation further aggravated in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. The tensions within Eastern Ukraine would not have intensified to the level of military conflict without Russian aggression, which is therefore the core of the conflict. With the unforeseen consequences in different blocs, and the involvement of the European Union and the United States of America, peacekeeping in Ukraine has become crucial. The Executive Board expects the delegates of the committee to be tactful while respecting other countries opinionated views and working around these, without compromising their own stand, and thereby reaching a unanimously acceptable solution. The background guide is intended to familiarize you with the agenda as well as the committee, however note that this guide is only the starting point of your research and the Executive Board encourages all delegates to go beyond this guide and grasp all the important facets of the vast agenda. Represent your allotted country in its best possible way while respecting its foreign policy and putting in wholehearted efforts in research. Lastly, please feel free to contact the Director, Prijith, Vice-Chair, Ojas, or myself in case of any questions regarding the agenda or the committee. Thank you and I can t wait to meet you all in December! Rishika Segireddy Chairperson of SPECPOL IHSMUNC 17 specpol.ihsmunc17@gmail.com Page 3
IHSMUNC 17 COMMITTEE OVERVIEW The Fourth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL), is the mainly concerned with decolonization, peacekeeping, public information, and refugee crises, but also handles issues such as but not limited to mine action, atomic radiation, decolonization of space, and human rights. Established in 1993, the Fourth Committee is a combination of the Decolonization Committee and the Special Political Committee. Ever since the time of the creation of the United Nations in 1945, over eighty former colonies have become independent, and today, partly due to this committee s involvement, only fewer than two million people live in colonized territories, a number SPECPOL is determined to dilute. This committee s mandate stems from Chapter XI of The Charter of the United Nations (especially Articles 73 and 74), which consist of principles that commit Member States to respect self-determination of all peoples and preserve the dignities and rights of people living in non-self-governing territories. SPECPOL also addresses issues of colonized people, occupation and subjugation, with the prime objective of helping all countries gain independence and become self-sufficient from external powers. In addition to this, since SPECPOL was derived from the Disarmament and International Security Committee (First Committee), it discusses issues that the First Committee does not address. According to its mandate, SPECPOL cannot take military action but can pass on suggestions to the Security Council, which makes the final decision of whether the plan of action will be carried out. The committee s foremost goal is to ensure that all countries enjoy the benefits of the independence to which they are entitled, and only when all countries are economically, culturally, and socially liberated can the world move forward. Page 4
IHSMUNC 17 AGENDA: PEACEKEEPING IN UKRAINE The Ukrainian Crisis began as a dispute over a trade agreement, but quickly elevated into a gruesome conflict in Europe and is almost equivalent to the wars over Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Following Russia s annexation of Crimea in 2014, world leaders managed to shake hands upon an unsteady peace deal in 2015. But it wasn t enough to stop the violence in the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine-2016 was recorded with an increase in the number of causalities and in 2017, a flare-up of fighting has kicked off. So how did this conflict begin and how did it then flare-up into a civil war? TOPIC HISTORY Ensuing the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the creation of several states, in Eastern Europe, sowed seeds of prospective conflicts between democratic and socialist forces. Ukrainian is spoken by 70% of the population, but Russian is the mother tongue of most in the east. (Source: CNN) Page 5
IHSMUNC 17 Ukraine, which borders Russia to the east and Poland to the west, became a battle front for pro-russian and pro-democratic forces. Based on its geography, Ukraine was split into the east, where Ukrainians lean to pro-russian forces, more than their western pro-european counterparts. Crimea, a long-contested peninsula, has been an autonomous part of Ukraine since the split of the Soviet Union. Numerous referenda have been held to settle the status of the region as a sovereign territory. Political instability in Ukraine stemmed about seven years ago, when Viktor Yanukovych, a Russia-backed politician, defeated Yulia Tymoshenko in the 2010 Presidential election. Later that year, the Ukrainian parliament rejected a plan to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the following year, Ms. Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison. In 2013, Yanukovych rejected a trade deal with the European Union (EU), and this resulted in the eruption of a huge wave of street protests in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, dubbed the Euromaidan. In response to this, the President, in open resistance to the movement, ratified laws that constrained the right to protest in Ukraine which only led to more clashes with the authority. In February 2014, Yanukovych was ousted from office, after the parliament voted upon his removal, and Ms. Tymoshenko was released from prison-this was called the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution. But the oblasts, i.e. the eastern provinces, were dissatisfied and challenged the rightfulness and legitimacy of the new government of the acting president, Oleksandr Turchinov. In late February to early March 2014, Russian forces slowly began to enter Crimea, whose population was politically split between pro-ukrainian and pro-russian opinions, and soon demonstrations from both sides broke out. Ukraine condemned the presence of Russian troops in Crimea, and the then Ukrainian Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, called Russian President Vladimir Putin s action a declaration of war to my country. Later that March, Russia annexed Crimea as part of a referendum in which over 90% of citizens voted to leave Ukraine. Many countries, particularly in Europe and North America, rejected the referendum and branded it a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, while many claim that following the failures of the Yanukovych regime and the establishment of a pro-west government, the Russian Federation intervened to coerce Ukraine back to the east and into the Russian sphere of influence. There were reports of many Russian troops gathering in border areas adjacent to the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine's industrial heartland. On 7 April 2014, protesters occupy government buildings in the eastern cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv. Although Kharkiv is retaken the following day, the occupations spread to other cities, and many prorussian leaders declare that referendums on granting greater autonomy to eastern regions will be held. On 11 May, pro-russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk declare independence as "people's republics" after the referendums, which were not recognized by Kiev or the West. On 11 May, pro-russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk declare independence as "people's republics" after the referendums, which were not recognized by Kiev or the West. Page 6
IHSMUNC 17 KEY TERMS AND TREATIES Sovereignty: Authority of a political state subject to no higher power, expressed in full self-determination within its territory and freedom from any outside influence. Annexation: The formal act of acquiring something, especially territory, by occupation or conquest. Referendum: It is the submission of a law, proposed or already in force, to a direct vote of the people, as in superseding the legislature. Self-Determination: It is the right of all people to freely decide their own political status and to freely pursue their own cultural, social, and economic development. Minsk Protocol: The ceasefire deal between pro-russian rebels and Ukraine in Minsk on 5th September 2014. It failed to stop fighting in Donbass. The Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE): Obliges participating states to refrain from making each other's territory the object of military occupation." In addition, the signatories agree to "refrain from any intervention, direct or indirect, in the internal or external affairs" of another participating state. Budapest Memorandum: In this 1994 agreement, Ukraine agreed to transfer all its nuclear arms to Russia and in exchange, the US and the UK reaffirmed "their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine." Russian-Ukrainian Friendship Treaty: Ukraine and the Russian Federation signed this treaty in 1997, which secured the policy of strategic partnership and mutual commitment not to use its territory to harm the security of each other. The treaty is still in force. Page 7
IHSMUNC 17 TIMELINE OF EVENTS November 21, 2013: President Yanukovych suspends talks of trade deal with European Union due to pressure from Russia. Thousands of protesters hit the streets. February 22, 2014: Yanukovych flees Kiev. March 1, 2014: Russian military forces are sent into Crimea. Two weeks later, Russia completes its Crimean annexation in a referendum that is considered illegitimate by Ukraine and most of the world. April 15, 2014: Kiev s government launches its first military action against pro-russian forces. May 25, 2014: President Petro Poroshenko is elected into office. June 27, 2014: Poroshenko signs the trade deal with the EU and warns Russia that Ukraine is determined to pursue its European dreams. September 20, 2014: Pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine agree to a ceasefire where they pull back their weapons from the front lines of the conflict. January 22, 2015: Donetsk International Airport falls to rebels after months of combat with Ukrainian government forces. June 22, 2015: The foreign ministers of the EU extend sanctions against Russia, imposed because of the country's activities in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. August 5, 2016: The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released new figures showing that the conflict resulted in an increase in civilian causalities. December 1, 2016: As reported by Ukrinform, Ukraine carries out missile launches near Crimea. Page 8
IHSMUNC 17 February 1, 2017: The armed struggle escalates in the early days of Donald Trump s presidency. CASE STUDY: Crimea The Republic of Crimea, officially part of Ukraine, lies on a peninsula stretching out from the south of Ukraine between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is separated from Russia to the east by the narrow Kerch Strait. Crimea has been ruled over by a multitude of countries and the issue of territorial disputes is not a new one for the Peninsula. Crimea was under the reign of the Ottoman Empire before it was annexed by Russia in 1783. Crimea was a source of tourism and energy resources for the Russian federation for almost two centuries before declaring itself autonomous and changing its name to the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1921. The region saw autonomous rule for almost 25 years before Joseph Stalin abolished the autonomy of the state post the conclusion of the Second World War. Stalin justified this abolition as a result of the large Russian population residing in Crimea which wished to be reconciled with Russia. This situation is very like the one at hand, with President Vladimir Putin playing a role analogous to that of Stalin in 1945. It wasn t until 1994 that Russia finally recognized Crimea and even pledged to uphold the territorial integrity and Page 9
IHSMUNC 17 sovereignty of Ukraine at the Budapest Memorandum Treaty summit the same year. The following year saw the Ukrainian parliament play a rather tyrannous rule by abolishing the Crimean Constitution which allowed Crimea considerable autonomy while it was still a part of Ukraine. Ukraine also ousted its then-president Yuriy Meshkov and deported him from Ukraine in 2011 when he tried to restore the 1992 version of the Crimean Constitution. The referendum conducted by the Russian Federation recently gave voters a choice to restore the same constitution, however, this referendum was denounced by the international community and not recognized by the Ukrainian Parliament, as discussed below. Hence, Crimea has a long history of territorial conflicts and constitutional breaches and recent events can be compared to Crimea s long-disputed past. In early 2014 Crimea became the focus of the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, after Ukraine's pro-moscow president Viktor Yanukovych was driven from power by violent protests in Kiev. Russian-backed forces seized control of the Crimean Peninsula, and the territory, which has a Russianspeaking majority, voted to join Russia in a referendum that Ukraine and the UNGA have deemed illegal. The Republic of Crimea addressed the UN seeking recognition as a sovereign state and called on Russia to integrate it into the Russian Federation. 96.77 percent of the Crimean population voted for the integration in a referendum. Crimea was declared an independent sovereign state, the Republic of Crimea, on Monday, the autonomous Ukrainian regional parliament's website stated. The Supreme Council of Crimea unanimously voted to integrate of the region into Russia. Russia has argued that the Crimean independence is legitimate as the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo provides legal precedent for such a scenario. The Obama administration and most European governments argue that the referendum violates both the Ukrainian constitution and international law. The Ukrainian constitution requires that any changes to the territory of Ukraine be approved by a referendum of all of the Ukrainian people. The requirement is consistent with general principles of international law, which respects the territorial integrity of states and does not recognize a right of secession by a group or region in a country unless the group or region has been denied a right to "internal self-determination" (i.e., its right to pursue its own political, economic, social, and cultural development) by the central government or has been subject to grave human rights violations by the central government. These factors, which could give rise to a right of remedial secession under international law, are not present in Crimea. Up to now, the UN has come up with two "major" moves on Ukraine: First, there was a vote in the UN Security Council, convened in March at the request of the interim government in Kiev, on the draft resolution condemning the referendum in Crimea that saw it leaving Ukraine and joining Russia. The resolution was vetoed by Russia, with China abstaining and the rest, including Chad, supporting it wholeheartedly. And secondly, the UN General Assembly resolution on March 27 which called on nations not to accept the Crimean referendum and was approved by 100 countries, rejected by 11, with 58 abstaining. Page 10
IHSMUNC 17 CURRENT SITUATION The Russian president accused Kiev of playing a FSB Operatives in Crimea dangerous game and said he saw no point in holding new round of talks about the troubled peace process in eastern Ukraine on the sidelines of a G20 summit in China. The people who seized power in Kiev... have switched to terror tactics instead of searching for ways for a peaceful settlement, Putin told a news conference, saying Russia would not let such actions pass without a response. The attempt to provoke an outbreak of violence, to provoke a conflict is nothing other than a desire to distract (Ukrainian) society from its problems, he added, calling Ukraine s actions criminal. The Russian allegations follow an uptick in Russian military activity in northern Crimea and heavier fighting in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian government troops are battling pro-russian separatists. If true, the events - which the FSB said involved at least two armed clashes on the border between Crimea and Ukraine - would be the most serious escalation on the contested peninsula since Moscow annexed it from Ukraine in 2014. U.S. and European Union sanctions to punish Russia for the land grab remain in place, though Moscow has made clear it has no intention of handing Crimea back. However, Ukraine s president has stated that these Russian claims are preposterous, with one instance of gunfire at the border being blamed on drunken Russian forces. Russian accusations towards Ukraine of terrorism in the occupied Crimea sound as preposterous and cynical as the statements of the Russian leadership about the absence of the Russian troops in Donbass (region of Ukraine), Poroshenko said. Poroshenko used his speech at the annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly to accuse Moscow of not contributing to international security, but of being its biggest threat. The latest hybrid peacekeeping proposal from Moscow is yet another example of Russia s real ambition to legalize its proxies and freeze the conflict forever, he said. We remain confident that a fully-fledged peacekeeping operation is the only viable solution to de-escalate and protect the people of Ukraine. Page 11
IHSMUNC 17 CASESTUDY: STUDY: War Situation of the Crimean Tartars CASE in Donbass The Tatar people have lived in settlements across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union ON APRIL 12th, 2014 Igor Girkin, a former Russian military officer, sneaked across the border since the Middle Ages. Crimea has been home to a vibrant Tatar community for over 1,000 into Ukraine s Donbass region with a few dozen men and took control of the small town of years, during which the peninsula has been governed by many rulers. Crimean Tatars have Sloviansk, igniting Europe s bloodiest war since the 1990s. To create the impression of strength, as part the Russian a vassal state to the Ottoman Empire, asasa province Mr.lived Girkin, an of aficionado of Empire, historicalasbattlefield re-enactments, masqueraded a memberofof the Soviet Union andand as an republic of Ukraine. During the Soviet Joseph Russia s special forces, hadautonomous his men drive two armored personnel carriers aroundera, every night accused communities of conspiring with the Nazis and began a campaign of to Stalin simulate a largetartar build-up. repressions against the Crimean Tatars, ordering the deportation of some 180,000 of them to Central Asia 1944 and many wereasent to labor camps. Having just lostincrimea and lacking functioning government or military command after the Maidan revolution, Ukraine was stunned. As Russia massed its forces on the border with Ukraine, For a long time, Crimean Tatars have been discriminated by ethnic Russian living in the most observers (and participants such as Mr. Girkin) expected a swift invasion followed by Peninsula.Instead, However, the created annexation of Crimea by Russia 2014, the the ethnic annexation. the after Kremlin an ersatz civil war, absurdlyin portraying Kiev discrimination has turned into institutionalized persecution. Although international economic government as a fascist regime and the separatists as freedom fighters. As the Ukrainian army sanctions on Russia forgirkin its illegal of Crimea, Moscow ratified a moved in to were try toimposed retake Donbass, Mr. and hisoccupation fighters took up positions in a psychiatric treaty on declaring its annexation legal. has left Tatars in a precarious and hospital the outskirts of Sloviansk, usingthis its patients as Crimean human shields. dangerous position: accept the de facto control of Russia in the region, along with its Today, the ruined hospital, scene outhome. of thethousands battle of Stalingrad, is a diminutive view psychiatric of the Crimean Tatarresembling people, oraflee their have already symbol ofthe thelatter madness of an essentially theatrical conflict thatand haselsewhere cost 10,000 displaced chosen option, fleeing to Ukraine, Turkey, Poland to lives avoidand oppression more than 1.7mofpeople. Yet officially, Russia and Ukraine are not at war. They maintain diplomatic at the hands the annexation authorities. relations and trade with each other. Ukraine has euphemistically designated the conflict zone an However, things are looking upwards with the successful approval of the draft resolution area of anti-terrorist operations (ATO). Most of the people caught up in the war do not care who "Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol started it, or what they call it. (Ukraine)" at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. After consideration at the UN Still, in 2017 the Armed Forces of Ukraine are in far better shape thanthe they were at is the General Assembly Plenary session in the second halfmore of December 2017, resolution beginning of fighting hastoseriously changedof the active hostilities expectedofto2014. forcecertainly, Russia astheannature occupying power stop violations human rights and four years ago have been replaced by a wording trench war. fundamental freedoms. The updated of the draft resolution substantially strengthens the demands of the international community for the occupying power. Page 12
IHSMUNC 17 BLOC POSITIONS International stances on Putin s perspective on Crimea Russian President Vladimir Putin says the ethnic Russians who dominate Crimea are at risk from the new government in Kiev, an allegation Ukraine denies. He backs the Black Sea region s appointed administration. A survey compiled by Bloomberg reveals the following stances. China: While Chinese officials have repeatedly urged a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine, they underscore their nation s ties to Russia and oppose sanctions against it. Syria: Syrian President Bashar al-assad sent a cable expressing support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the state-run SANA news agency reported on March 6. He reiterated Syria s support to President Putin s rational approach, which favors peace and seeks to establish a global system that supports stability and combats extremism and terrorism, the report said. Venezuela: Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro condemned Ukraine s ultra-nationalist coup, which it said was supported by NATO and the U.S., according to a Foreign Ministry statement March 7. The installation in Kiev of de facto authorities not only threatens Ukraine s national unity, but the stability of the entire region as it places in danger Ukrainian citizens of Russian origin and the Russian Federation s own sovereignty, the Foreign Ministry said. Page 13
IHSMUNC 17 India: Russia s ally during the Cold War has refrained from calling for a withdrawal from Crimea and urged talks to address the standoff. Russia remains one of India s largest suppliers of arm. The dispute should be solved through free and fair elections that meet the aspirations of all sections of Ukraine s population, the Foreign Ministry said in a March 6 statement. France: France called for the meeting of Group of Eight leaders to be suspended until Russia reverses its military intervention in Ukraine. Germany: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that while she prefers avoiding sanctions, events in Crimea demand a response by the European Union. There will be far-reaching change in our relations with Russia, possibly including a broad palette of economic measures, if Russia takes further destabilizing measures in Crimea in addition to those already undertaken, or takes military action, Merkel said on March 6. I hope it doesn t get to that point. We would like to see a diplomatic process. Japan: Japan signed the joint statement with fellow G-7 countries condemning Russia s clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has sought to strengthen ties with Russia amid Japan s escalating tensions with China, has held off on committing to potential U.S.-led sanctions against Russia. Abe on March 10 called for restraint from all parties involved in the standoff and is sending his National Security Council chief to Russia to convey Japan s position. European Union: The leaders of the 28-member European Union suspended trade and visa liberalization negotiations with Russia and threatened additional and far reaching consequences should Russia further destabilize Ukraine. The EU is considering a secondstage of sanctions including asset freezes and travel banks of unnamed Russian officials. We strongly condemn Russia s unprovoked violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, European Union President Herman Van Rompuy said after the March 6 emergency summit in Brussels. We call on Russia to immediately withdraw its armed forces; and allow immediate access for international monitors. United Kingdom: U.K. argues any referendum vote in Crimea will be farcical, illegal and illegitimate and calls on Russia to de-escalate its aggression and signal it understands the outcome won t be binding. United States: The U.S. says that Russia has invaded Crimea in violation of several accords protecting Ukraine s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The U.S. agrees with the new Kiev government that the planned Crimea referendum on joining Russia violates the Ukrainian constitution and that any such vote should be held nationwide. The U.S. wants the referendum to be canceled and Russia to pull back its forces to Russia or to authorized Russian bases in Crimea, where Russia maintains a major naval base that is home to its Black Sea fleet. On March 6, President Obama signed an executive order that authorizes sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, or for stealing the assets of the Ukrainian people. President Obama has been clear that we cannot allow Russia or any country to defy international law with impunity, Secretary of State John Kerry said March 6 in Rome. There s no place in the community of nations for Page 14
IHSMUNC 17 the kind of aggression and steps that we have seen taken in Crimea in Ukraine in these last days. But as of September 2017, the Trump Administration is reviewing whether to send weapons to Ukraine to help it defend itself, an option that previous U.S. president Barack Obama vetoed and which is opposed by Russia. PAST INTERNATIONAL ACTION Sanctions When Russia annexed Crimea, and started interfering in Eastern Ukraine, the West responded with economic sanctions. In July 2014, sanctions were enacted in a coordinated manner by the European Union, the United States, Canada, and other Allies and partners. These sanctions were further strengthened in September 2014. EU sanctions, which had been due to lapse in July 2015, have been extended to January 2016. The US and Canadian sanctions are open-ended. There are three types of economic sanctions. The first restricts access to Western financial markets and services for designated Russian state-owned enterprises in the banking, energy, and defense sectors. The second places an embargo on exports to Russia of designated high-technology oil exploration and production equipment. The third is an embargo on exports to Russia of designated military and dual-use goods. The justification for these Western sanctions is internationally well-understood. But to muddy the waters, Russia imposed a ban on food imports from Western nations in August 2014. That ban remains in place. The European Union extended for another year (June 19, 2017) its trade sanctions on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, and diplomats said they expected the bloc to do the same for its sanctions on Moscow soon. Moscow s annexation of Crimea is not internationally recognized. Along with Moscow s subsequent backing of an armed separatist rebellion in Ukraine s industrial east, it has prompted the bloc to impose sanctions on the peninsula and on Moscow, in sync with the United States. EU sanctions on Crimea will now remain in place until at least June 23, 2018. They include a ban on all imports from Crimea and exports to the peninsula that relate to transport, energy and telecoms. The sanctions also prohibit EU investment and the provision of tourism services there. The bloc s sanctions on Moscow restrict the Russian banking sector s access to international money markets and ban most arms trading with Russia, as well as the sale of some energy-related equipment and technology. Page 15
IHSMUNC 17 Peacekeeping Warring parties in eastern Ukraine have repeatedly failed to implement ceasefire agreements, allowing hostilities to escalate and the cumulative death toll to exceed 10,000 as the conflict entered its fourth year, a new United Nations report reveals. The report, published today, covers the three months through 15 May 2017, during which the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine recorded 36 conflict-related civilian deaths and 157 injuries, a 48 per cent increase from the previous three-month period, according to a news release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The report finds that there were daily ceasefire violations and routine use of small arms and light and heavy weapons in the conflict zone. Such attacks and the resulting damage to critical infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and water facilities, raise serious concerns for the protection of civilians, the report notes, warning that, as summer approaches, there is a risk of further escalation in hostilities, as in previous years. From the start of the conflict in midapril 2014 up to 15 May 2017, at least 10,090 people, including 2,777 civilians, have been killed, and at least 23,966 injured, according to a conservative estimate. Page 16
IHSMUNC 17 Speaking to the press in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on all sides to fully respect the ceasefire and underscored the Organization's support to the country and its people. You can be sure that for us this is something that we keep in the agenda. It is not a forgotten situation, said Mr. Guterres at a press conference, alongside Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine. The human rights bodies of the UN are, of course, active in relation to the situation, and, as it is known, the High Commissioner [for human rights] will be providing also his report on the human rights situation in Crimea in due time, he noted. He added that the UN is ready to support all efforts, including those of the Normandy Four, the Trilateral Contact Group and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In his remarks, the Secretary-General also highlighted the UN's support to humanitarian activities in the country and said that it would enhance its cooperation with the Government and that it will work to overcome any challenges in reaching the populations in distress. Mr. Guterres also said that UN fully supported the reform process of the Government and that he has closely followed developments in that regard. As the President mentioned, we are ready to upscale our cooperation and our presence to support the Government in the reforms that it will be promoting, he added. Further in his remarks, the Secretary-General expressed appreciation to the cooperation between Ukraine and the UN as well as the country's contributions to the UN peacekeeping efforts and to global peace and security as a member of the Security Council. Ukraine has been actively engaged in all processes in relation to both peace and security, sustainable and inclusive development, and human rights, and I want to express my deep appreciation for what has been an exemplary cooperation, he said. Also in his remarks, Mr. Guterres recalled his link with the people of Ukraine during his tenure as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. I started to work with them as High Commissioner for Refugees, and I want to say that I deeply feel the suffering of the people and I am deeply committed to do everything I can in order to be able to address their plight, he stated. Previous resolutions 15 March 2014 - S/2014/189 Declared that the Crimean referendum was invalid. Was vetoed by Russia. 21 July 2014 - S/RES/2166 - This resolution condemned the downing of Malaysia Airline flight 17 and called for an investigation of the crash. 17 February 2015 - S/RES/2202 - This was a resolution that endorsed the Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements signed on 12 February 2015. 19 December 2016 - A/RES/71/205 (General Assembly 71st session) - Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine). 14 November 2017 General Assembly 72nd session - condemning Russia s temporary occupation of Crimea and reaffirming the United Nations commitment to Ukraine s sovereignty over the Black Sea peninsula. The draft resolution urges Russia to immediately Page 17
IHSMUNC 17 end all abuses against Crimea residents including arbitrary detentions, torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, and to revoke all discriminatory legislation. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER Moving forward into the conference, delegates are encouraged to consider the following questions: How can the question of self-determination be applied to the situation of Crimea? Has the international community accounted for the human rights of groups such as the Crimean Tartars? The question of de-escalation of tensions within Crimea in order to prevent tragedies such as MH-17. The question of establishment of peacekeeping initiatives to ensure the stability of not only Crimea, but also the Black Sea region. If majority of the population supports it, can a referendum separate a region from a country? Can the validity of the referendum be questioned, and if so, is it possible to suggest actions which are feasible? How can the international community help in tackling intercountry disputes associated with aggression diplomatically? Keeping in mind that the Russian Federation is a major party, and a P5 nation in the United Nations Security Council, how does one formulate resolutions that can be passed successfully in the UNSC following GA4 without vetoes? Page 18
IHSMUNC 17 Page 19