JPIIMUN 2016
Pope John Paul II High School’s Fifth AnnualModel UN Simulation
Saturday, September 17th, 2016, 8:45 AM – 3:00 PM
Main Committee (Auditorium):Legal Committee
with the topic of Prisoners’ Rights.
Smaller Committee (Library):UN Environmental Programme (UNEP)
with the topic of Ocean Pollution.
Position Papers: Are optional, but are due Tuesday, September 13th, 2016,
following the “Arkansas format” to be eligible for Position Paper Award.
Itinerary
8:45-9:00 AM Registration
9:00-9:15 AM Opening Ceremony
9:15-12:00 PM Committee Session One
12:00-12:40 PM Lunch (Provided)
12:40-2:30 PM Committee Session Two
2:30-2:40 PM Break
2:40-3:00 PM Closing Ceremony
Awards: Best Position Paper, Best Delegate, Delegate’s Choice
Cost: $20 via cash or check made payable to “JPII”
to cover supplies, lunch, and awards.
JPIIMUN 2016 Background Guide for Legal Committee
(Edison High School 2015 Conference Background Guide)
Background:
Prisoners across the world are given a sentence for their criminal activity, but they do deserve rights that nations are seemingly avoiding or losing significance in the minds of policy makers. One of the major issueswith the prison system is the excessive sentencing, which is unjust and disadvantageous to the prisoners, andresults in overcrowding. In developing countries such as El Salvador or the Philippines, the average occupancylevel of their prisons is well over three hundred percent. Although the issue is present in mostly impoverishedareas, developed countries struggle with balancing the amount of prisoners and available living space, such as
the United States, which has slightly over a hundred percent prison occupancy level. Some countries view the death penalty, also known as capital punishment, as a systematic approach to deter overcrowding in prisons. However, many argue that this is in direct opposition to prisoner’s rights. As of March 2015, a total ofninety-nine countries chose to completely abolish capital punishment. In 2014, over twenty countries carried outexecutions and nearly 2,500 people were sentenced to death.
Another major challenge that prisoners face is receiving a fair trial. In Peru, defendants who plead guiltyreceive shorter sentences than those who plead not guilty and then are later proven guilty. Some view initiallypleading guilty as seemingly positive because it encourages people to be honest and avoids wasting taxpayers’money. In contrast, as seen in Peru, defendants may plead guilty in order to avoid paying for a lawyer in adrawn-out trial, which could be more costly than simply serving their sentence. Often times, outcomes of trialsare determined based on a prejudiced approach that leaves human beings unrightfully sentenced due to their
skin color or religious background. Another important issue is how prison guards and employees treat prisoners. In July 2008, twenty-six inmates died due to malnutrition in one of the most prominent prisons in the Congolocated in Mbuji Mayi. In North Korea, groups of over forty prisoners are forced to stay in a fifty-meter byfifty-meter room on a layer of straw. Methods of torture within prison facilities in various countries have causedoutrage within the international community. For example, controversy has been sparked in the United Statesbecause of their detention camp in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Leaked images that have surfaced from the
facility show inmates that were brutally tortured for being terrorist threats. Defining someone as a terrorist threat can become a grey area, which governments can take advantage of in order to carry out their maliciousways of torture. Actions, such as waterboarding, are a direct violation of the Declaration of Human Rights. Recently, England was put into a negative political spotlight for using various torture methods and detainingindividuals solely based on suspicion of terrorist activity. Many argue that pre-charge detention is the ideal way to eliminate terrorism; however, it contradicts the democratic rights of the people of the United Kingdom.
Although most of the attention is predominantly focused on countries that act against the human rights ofprisoners, there are also quite a few countries that work to ensure the fair treatment of their inmates, such asAustralia and Switzerland. Australia enjoys a comfortable average prison occupancy level of just over ninetypercent, with just over 30,000 inmates total. Nations like Australia are able to maintain lower levels of prisonoccupancy by making advancements such as adjusting drug possession sentences so they are proportionateregardless of the type of drug in possession, reducing prison time for quality behavior, or decreasing sentencesif inmates choose to enroll in rehabilitation programs. Countries with these similar values should be used as a
model that other nations could strive to emulate, in order to alleviate the problem of prisoner mistreatment and secure the rights that prisoners deserve.
UN Involvement:
In 1990, the General Assembly adopted A/RES/45/111, which outlines the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners. The Principles include a focus on allowing inmates to retain their cultural identity and achance at education, in order to make the reintegration process for prisoners as seamless as possible. ThePrinciples also focus on the elimination of solitary confinement due to the fact that it creates mental and socialissues for the inmates. The Principles conclude with the disclaimer that the set of guidelines shall beimplemented impartially. On December 18, 2014, in order to support the prisoners who unjustly face the deathpenalty, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution that launched an international moratoriumon capital punishment. 117 countries voted in favor of the resolution with a total of 37 countries in opposition,which is a groundbreaking sign of support from global community. This vote signals the positive direction, inwhich the world is moving in relation to the rights of prisoners. The resolution also focuses on improving therights of individuals that are arrested in a foreign country and a description of the required maintenanceguidelines that must be the same for each inmate. The United Nations has attempted to span its influence acrossthe globe and earn prisoners the rights they deserve; however, it is a difficult and complicated task to complete
without infringing upon other nations’ sovereignties.
Questions to Consider:
1. How can international rights of prisoners function in correlation with the rights of prisoners on a national level?
2. How can prisoner mistreatment and torture be limited and ultimately eradicated?
3. What is the most efficient way to inhibit the growing prison overcrowding issues on a global level?
4. What specific sentencing reforms would improve prisoners’ rights?
5. What kind of standards can be placed on police forces and prison staff to improve prisoners’ rights?
Works Cited:
"A/RES/45/111. Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 8 May 2015.<
"Death Penalty." Amnesty International. Amnesty International, n.d. Web. 3 May 2015.
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"Democratic Republic of Congo - Researched and Compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland."Democratic Republic of Congo (n.d.): n. pag. Refugee Documentation Center (Ireland). Legal Aid Board, 22May 2010. Web. 7 May 2015.
"Highest to Lowest - Occupancy Level." Prison Studies. International Center for Prison Studies, n.d. Web. 5May 2015. <
Lachlan, McWilliam. "Rights of Prisoners." (2014): n. pag. Rights of Prisoners Briefing Paper. GeorgeWatson's College. Web. 3 May 2015.
"Pre-Charge Detention for Terrorist Suspects: United Kingdom." Library of Congress. Library of Congress, 15Dec. 2014. Web. 9 May 2015. <
"Record Number of States Vote for UN Resolution on Death Penalty Moratorium | Al Jazeera America." AlJazeera America. Al Jazeera, 18 Dec. 2014. Web. 9 May 2015. <
JPIIMUN 2016 Background Guide for UNEP
(Edison High School 2015 Conference Background Guide)
Background:
Oceanic pollution has turned marine ecosystems into the world’s largest landfill. Over the course of several decades, 267 species worldwide have been classified as endangered. Pollutants, toxins, and wastes enter the ocean most commonly through rivers, atmospheric and pipeline leakages, offshore mining, and gas explorations. Such contaminants are spread by ocean currents and include sewage, industrial waste, military wastes (munitions and chemicals), garbage, dredged material, and construction debris along with radioactive wastes. The dumping of radioactive material consists of a total of approximately 84,000 terbecquerels (TBq) or a unit of radioactivity equivalent to 1,000,000,000,000 atomic disintegrations per second. According to the UN, the safe level of atomic disintegrations per second is 74,000 Bq/gallons. Eighty percent of pollution to the marine environment originates on land sourcing from runoff, waste buildup and plastics. However, water pollution in the ocean often emerges as air pollution, which then settles into waterways that drain into the seas. When pollutants are circulated into the ocean, not only do the results cause extremely detrimental factors to sea life, but it also induces radically high levels of nitrogen to arise in the water. Such deleterious accumulations of nitrogen cause algal blooms, which suffocate coral reefs by devouring oxygen sources from the surrounding ocean water resulting in a blockage of sunlight to the organisms of the reef. The nonpoint source pollution contaminates ocean life through septic tanks, smog from vehicles, and agricultural industry. Factory farm runoff contributes to the formation of algal blooms that kill sea life by depleting water of its oxygen, adding to the formation of hundreds of “dead zones” worldwide where no life exists.
The largest dead zone is located in the Gulf of Mexico and is nearly the size of the state of New Jersey. Additionally, each year over one million gallons of oil are being dumped into the ocean, creating a layer on top of the water that prevents sunlight from reaching plants, which limits their growth and causes production of food for marine life to come to a halt. While oils that spill into the ocean lay on the surface of the water, toxins reside at the bottom of the ocean once they are dumped and cause deadly eutrophication to occur starting with the animals at the bottom of the food chain. Furthermore, the ocean receives 8 million tons of nondecomposable garbage each year. Often this is garbage that is not directly dumped into the water. The garbage kills marine life from entanglement or ingestion. The marine life is also at risk from the buildup of trash that is continuously increased and oxygen is leached away from surrounding waters. Currently the world’s largest oceanic garbage site is the North Pacific Gyre off the coast of California. It is consistently referred to as the “island of garbage” and is twice the size of Texas. Scientists estimated that it would take sixty-seven ships to clean up less than 1% of the North Pacific Gyre. According to United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), if oceanic pollution continues without serious intervening, more than half of the world’s marine species will be on the brink of extinction, which will significantly decrease biodiversity and ultimately eliminate food sources.
UN Involvement:
The United Nations has always considered achieving peaceful, cooperative, and sustainability. With the legally defined uses of the sea as a forefront, the international community must address the environmental repercussions. This was exemplified through the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during the first annual World Oceans Day: “Safe, healthy and productive oceans are integral to human well-being, economic security and sustainable development”. In London of 1975, the United Nations implemented the Convention of the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, which initiated the step in reversing oceanic pollution. The Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982 by the UN and was the first groundbreaking advancement made towards protecting the seas by putting forth rules and regulations that governed the uses of the ocean’s vast resources.
During 2014, at the forty-seventh session of their Executive Council the UN passed the IOC Resolution EC-XLVII/2 to continue in their commitment to the Scientific Committee on Ocean Research, fostered by the 2015-2020 strategy to safeguard the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System. Additionally, the UN promotes cooperation between member states through its initiative entitled “Sustainable Development: Harmony with Nature” in order to achieve widespread awareness of the environmental effects caused by chemical plants or other waste sites that harm the oceans and its coral reefs once released. Under the UN, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) developed and administers treaties, which seek to prevent and decrease oceanic pollution worldwide. The partnership between the IMO and UN has resulted in the creation of Greeeningtheblue.com. This non-governmental program targets individuals in the workplace by converting appliances to be more environmentally friendly, reducing excess waste altogether.
Through the implementation of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission by UNESCO, taking action to promote safe and non-environmentally depleting uses of the sea, the UN seeks further protection of the seas. Enabled by the UN, the Regional Seas Visioning Workshop conducted the first World Ocean Assessment, which gathered information to formulate the Regional Seas Global Action Plans in 2014. The Race for Water Organization partnered with UNEP at a plenary session on the “Global Partnership on Marine Litter” seeking to provide public education to spur action towards the fight against oceanic pollution. UNEP’s main programs that work in the division on marine pollution is the Regional Seas Program (RSP). The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO uses the Ocean Biographic Information System (OBIS) to monitor marine animals responses to increases in pollution through their global database.
Questions to Consider:
1. If it is cheaper for treatment centers to dump treated as well as un-treated wastes into the ocean, how will contaminants, such as sewage, be otherwise disposed of especially in poorer developing countries that have no regulatory bodies?
2. How does your country plan to get industries that greatly contribute to oceanic pollution, such as the plastic and oil industries, to agree to less detrimental practices in order to make advancements in the fight against oceanic pollution?
3. Since virtually all pollution regulation laws grant authority to the states, how will your country ensure that they will actually create their own programs for implementing the laws against oceanic pollution?
4. How will your country draw publicity to key events, such as major oil spills and toxic waste leakages, that contribute to oceanic pollution so that perpetrators are held accountable?
5. How will you eliminate contaminated runoff from draining into the ocean particularly from cities containing high levels of pollution?
Works Cited:
"Campaign." Oceana. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. "DEME Group." Environmental Dredging. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015.
"Facts and Figures on Marine Biodiversity | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization." Facts and Figures on Marine Biodiversity | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. ocean/blueprint-for-the-future-we-want/marine-biodiversity/facts-and-figures-on-marine-biodiversity/
"Ocean Pollution." Ocean Pollution. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015.
"Pollution Issues." Laws and Regulations, United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015.
"Pollution Issues." Ocean Dumping. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. "The Problem of Marine Plastic Pollution | Clean Water Action."
The Problem of Marine Plastic Pollution | Clean Water Action. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015.
"Top 10 Problems." Food Water Watch General. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015.
"20 Facts About Ocean Pollution - Conserve Energy Future." ConserveEnergyFuture. N.p., 26 May 2014. Web. 10 May 2015.
Sample Arkansas Format
Commission: General Assembly[Your committee name]
Delegate: Wilhelm Bunjor, Pope John Paul II High School[Your name,…]
Country: Russian Federation[Your country’s name]
I. Landmines[Name of the topic for this position paper]
A landmine is a bomb or explosive placed underground that goes off when an object goes over it. They are usually used in time of wars and placed along the borderlines of arguing countries. They are very easy and relatively cheap to make, but removal can be very expensive. As of now, there are about 100 million landmines in over 70 countries across the globe. Since 1975, landmines have cost the lives of over 1 million people. Many countries are working on removing landmines to save lives and injuries. [The first paragraph defines the topic. Use a credible search engine like Yahoo to search for the topic. Go to a website identified by the search engine and incorporate the website’s information by paraphrasing – putting the information into your words – or by quoting the website’s wording. At the end of the paper, include citations of all websites that you got information from for each paragraph]
The United Nations (UN) as a body is devoted to decreasing the use of landmines. The most significant treaty passed in regards to landmines is the International Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty (a.k.a the Ottawa Treaty). This treaty entered into force in 1999, and as of March 2007, had 153 state parties. These parties have agreed to “never to use, develop, produce, stockpile or transfer antipersonnel landmines, or to assist any other party to conduct these activities”. They also agreed to destroy all stockpiled landmines within four years, to clear all landmines within ten, and to the best of their abilities assist other countries in mine clearing efforts, stockpile destruction, and victim assistance. To ensure compliance, state parties must report their progress to the UN Secretary-General. To better promote victim assistance and mine clearing, the UN has devised the Nairobi Action Plan 2005-2009, which through its seventy points encourages more parties to join the Ottawa Treaty to implement it more successfully.
[The second paragraph explains UN action on the topic. Use a search engine to look up the “topic” and “United Nations”. Go to a website identified by the search engine and incorporate the website’s informationinto the paragraph. Look for UN Conventions on the topic or actions by specific UN agencies regarding the topic. At the end of the paper, list the citations]
II. Russian Federation’s Position[Your country’s position]
The Russian Federation is interested in reducing landmine stockpiles and assisting victims of landmines. Russia has a considerable landmine problem, especially in the Chechnya region due to a long history of ethnic warfare in the region. Between 1999 and 2008, there have been 2,609 casualties in the region. The rest of Russia, however, has not been spared and has suffered 186 casualties. To cope with the situation, Russia has focused on risk education with UNICEF support, which was unfortunately drastically cut last year due to funds. Russia also emphasizes victim assistance, but has experienced problems stemming from an understaffed and underfunded healthcare system beset by corruption. As the situation currently stands, the situation in Chechnya shows few signs of improving. To date, Russia has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty. The nation does endorse the humanitarian goals of the treaty and believes efforts should be made to end the use of landmines through a practical system. According to the Minister of Defense in 2000, Sergei Ivanov, Russia had 46 million stockpiled anti-personnel mines at the time with approximately one million being destroyed every year. It isthe cost of destroying the stockpile that has contributed to Russia not signing the Mine Ban Treaty as the treaty requires all members to destroy all landmines within four years of joining. Russia continues to use landmines to prevent smuggling and insurgency operations in the Chechnya region. Russia has begun to assist nations afflicted with Russian mines from previous conflicts. To that end, 35 million dollars have been devoted to mine clearing operations in Serbia. No landmines were, however, reportedly used in the recent conflict with Georgia. [The third paragraph discusses how your country is affected by the topic internally, how your government is addressing the topic locally and globally. Use a search engine to look up the “topic” and your “country”. Go to a website identified by the search engine and incorporate the website’s informationinto the paragraph. Look for comments by your government’s officials regarding the topic and quote those officials, listing their office and when they made the statement. These quotes will serve as primary source evidence of your country’s position. Look for Conventions that your country has or has not signed or for actions taken with regional groups like the European Union or international groups like the United Nations, which your country belongs to. Based on its statements and actions, discuss how your country would like the United Nations to resolve this issue in the future. At the end of the paper, list the citations]