COMMITTEE GUIDE GA 1 CHAIR : Lilli Basic DEPUTY CHAIR : Gloria Ambrosia
Table of Contents COMMITTEE GUIDE : Topic Key Terms Issue explanation Involved parties Media Contribution Previous attempts to solve the issue Bibliography
Chair and Deputy Dear delegates! My name is Lilli Basic and I have the honour to be the Chair of the GA1 ( also known as DISEC). I m born and raised in Germany, not far away from Stuttgart. MUN-conferences are a big passion of mine, this will actually be my second time chairing! In my freetime I love to play tennis, theatre and the piano. I m looking forward to a successful and fruitful debate!
Topic: Reducing the prevalence of extra judicial executions in the Middle East
Key Terms Middle East : The Middle East is a transcontinental region centered on Western Asia, Turkey (both Asian and European), and Egypt (which is in North Africa). Extrajudicial executions : An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution) is the killing of a person by governmental authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. Extrajudicial punishments are mostly seen by humanity to be unethical, since they bypass the due process of the legal jurisdiction in which they occur. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions : The Rapporteur is a, since 1992, existing function of the Human Rights Council in the UN for investigations on extrajudicial executions. The person who is entrusted with this commission is travelling to different nations and is writing annual reports. Law and order : In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through stricter criminal penalties. These penalties may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws, and in some countries, capital punishment. Issue Explanation In many countries people still get killed extrajudicial, especially in the Middle East. The number of people getting executed is growing slowly but steadily. In 2008 there were about 100 executions when compared to 2015 there were about 150 ( Please keep in mind that those are only the minimum numbers, since it is hard to report all of them). Every nation should set this problem as a high priority since it is extremely violating to general human rights. While today 139 countries have abolished capital punishment in law or practice, a handful of countries account for a majority of the world's executions. Many of the countries that still retain the death penalty are in the Middle East. Iran and Saudi Arabia, apply the death penalty for a range of offences such as
drug trafficking and sexual misconduct plus, sometimes, religious "crimes" such as apostasy and witchcraft. A further problem with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan is the continuing execution of juveniles those who were under 18 when they committed the crime. They justify this on the grounds that they have a different view about the age of majority. Sheikh Bouamrane, head of the High Islamic Council, said ``he could never endorse the abolition of the death penalty", because doing so would "jeopardise several verses of the holy Qur'an". Historical Background Turkey: In 1990 Amnesty International published its first report on extrajudicial executions in Turkey. [53] In the following years the problem became more serious. The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey determined the following figures on extrajudicial executions in Turkey for the years 1991 to 2001. In 2001 the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Ms. Asma Jahangir, presented a report on a visit to Turkey. [119] The report presented details of killings of prisoners (26 September 1999, 10 prisoners killed in a prison in Ankara; 19 December 2000, an operation in 20 prisons launched throughout Turkey resulted in the death of 30 inmates and two gendarmes). For the years 2000 2008 the Human Rights Association (HRA) gives the following figures on doubtful deaths/deaths in custody/extra judicial execution/torture by paid village guards. Please notice that Turkey was only taken as a general example, in every Middle East country the historical background is similar ( but not the same, please inform yourself about the country you represent carefully and correctly). Nowadays, it is easy for everybody to achieve access to weapons etc. That is why in especially the last quarter extrajudicial executions became a bigger problem. Even though the Philippines aren t part of the Middle East their background history is a good example on general historical background on extrajudicial executions ( just like Turkey). In 1995, 10,000 Filipinos won a U.S. class-suit against the Ferdinand Marcos estate. The charges were filed by victims or their surviving relatives for torture, execution and disappearances. Human rights groups placed the number of victims of extrajudicial killings under
martial law at 1500 and over 800 abductions; Karapatan (a local human rights group's) records show 759 involuntarily disappeared (their bodies never found). Military historian Alfred McCoy in his book "Closer than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy" and in his speech "Dark Legacy" cites 3,257 extrajudicial killings, 35,000 torture victims, and 70,000 incarcerated during the Marcos years.the newspaper "Bulatlat" places the number of victims of arbitrary arrest and detention at 120,000. Previous attempts to solve the issue : An important step into the right direction did the UN years ago while setting up the position of the Special Rapporteur on extralegal executions. This position did extremely important research and helped over the years many people. The UN also set a sustainable development goal concerning this topic, goal number 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies. Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals is dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels. Many NGOs are fighting this problem since many years (e.g. Amnesty International and Avaaz). As a solution to extrajudicial killings, there was proposed that the resumption of peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines- New People s Army-National Democratic Front), on the condition that there would be a three year bilateral ceasefire.this attempt indeed failed. Media Contribution Since we live in 2018 the media contribution is getting out of control. Many videos and pictures do belittle this serious topic and it s easier to find supporters for terrorists etc. It s also easier for everybody without any
permission to buy weapons due to media contribution. People who are not informed about this topic can easily believe in false information. As you can see media contribution has to be controlled and websites and accounts supporting extra legal executions should be shot down immediately. An example of media contribution in Nigeria : How do we get the mass media to pursue investigative journalism and to stay with a particular issue until justice is served? What incentives can we put in place to ensure that the media stands on the side of the oppressed, poor, vulnerable and defenceless Nigerians? How can we engender the values and ethos of protest writing and protest broadcast in media practice, in a way that imposes a moral obligation on media practitioners to take sides with the powerless against the depredations of power? I believe that these questions are at the heart of understanding the role of the mass media in a broken society. Professor Chinua Achebe has said that the role of the media in a society depends on the society s state of health. If the society is ill, the media has a duty to point it out. If the society is healthier, the media s job is different.
Bibliography UNITED NATIONS MANUAL ON THE EFFECTIVE PREVENTION AND INVESTIGATION OF EXTRA-LEGAL, ARBITRARY AND SUMMARY EXECUTIONS, U.N. DOC (1991). UN Peacemakers N.p., n.d. Web., 23 Jan. 2018 Extrajudicial killing Wikipedia N.p., n.d Web., 23 Jan. 2018 CONCEPT OF EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION AND PROHIBITION OF ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF LIFE N.p. n.d Web., 23. Jan 2018 The Media And Extrajudicial Killings N.p. n.d Web., 23. Jan 2018 UN independent expert on extrajudicial killings urges action on reported incidents N.p. n.d Web., 23. Jan 2018 searching-for-solutions-to-extrajudicial-killings N.p n.d Web., 23. Jan 2018 Extrajudicial killings as crime against humanity N.p n.d Web.; 23. Jan 2018