Berlin Model United Nations

Berlin Model United NationsNovember 19 - 22, 2008

BERMUN - ICJ - YA - Press - Forum

Disarmament Committee

Welcome to the BERMUN 2008 Disarmament Committee!

We are Can Soylu from Robert College, Istanbul, and Carl Kuehl from the John F. Kennedy School, Berlin, and we will serve as your chairs this year. In order to aid you in your research and preparation for BERMUN, we will hereby briefly elaborate on this year’s topics.

Please keep in mind that you will only benefit from the conference if you invest some time and effort into its preparation. Therefore, please conduct research on both topics. Every delegate is required to draft at least one resolution on one of the topics and some additional single clauses for the other topic. Ideally, you should write a resolution on both topics, since a debate is only productive and fun if every delegate contributes to the discussion.

We realize that collecting information on some of the issues will present difficulties. If you run into problems or have any questions concerning our committee, the resolution process, or the conference in general, please don’t hesitate to contact us under dc@bermun.de. We are always eager to help. Another great reference is the BERMUN Forum (http://forum.bermun.de/). It includes a special section for the Disarmament Committee, where you can meet fellow delegates and start lobbying and exchanging ideas. We strongly encourage the use of the forum, since it’s the ideal tool for research, lobbying, and first debating.

Please be aware that the topic descriptions below do not in anyway substitute for your research. On top of what you will read below, you should conduct extensive research on both of the issues!

Regulating the Trade of Weapons of Mass Destruction

When regulating the trade of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), one must first look at past undertaken steps. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT ) of 1968, Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) of 1996, Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of 1993 and Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) of 1972 strictly prohibit any transfer or acquirement of the WMD in question.

The situation in regards to chemical weapons is slightly more complicated. The CWC states that all state parties should not “develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to anyone”(Chemical Weapons Convention). However the CWC divides chemicals that qualify for weaponry into three categories and assigns each category different regulations in terms of trade.

Though technically the trade of such chemicals is allowed, according to the CWC this trade should not support purposes prohibited under the CWC, e.g. trade of WMD. Additionally, the Security Council (SC) Resolution 1540 (2004) calls upon member states to implement the terms set down in the CWC and to act in accordance with the multilateral treaties. In conclusion, the current international law prohibits the trade of WMD.

Though currently international law and treaties appear to be prohibiting the trade of WMD, there have been severe allegations against countries that supposedly help others (be it groups or other countries) to acquire WMD.

However, none of these examples include the direct trade of complete, functionary WMD. These examples rather regulate the trade of technology and expertise. Thus regulated WMD trade seems to be an unprecedented issue.

Research Links

Impressment of Women and Children into Armed Conflicts

Throughout history, women and children have been regarded as the main prize to soldiers after a conflict. But today women become part of the war. Crimes against women have become a method of warfare. Women are inseminated to commit ethnic cleansing.

All over the world women, who are living in areas of conflict, are subject to rape, sexual and other physical violence, and harassment. UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said “This means that fighting is now more often taking place, not on the battleground, but in the places where people live”. The ones lucky enough to survive wars later suffer under psychological problems such as traumas, permanent physical injuries, and diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

In the past, women have suffered all over the world in time of conflict. When the war in the Balkan region broke out in 1992, 20,000- 50,000 women were victims of rape during the first 5 months. Although the world community was witness to mass rape, concrete measures against war criminals were never taken.

Another cruel example was the civil war in Sierra Leone. Over 80% of all refugees were women and children of which another 94% experienced sexual crimes, including rape, torture and sexual trafficking. Although many other conflicts during the end of the 20th century showed similar statistics, the world community hesitated until treaties and laws were passed to enforce the security of women and children in war- stricken zones.

The Beijing Declaration was the beginning of an increased international interest in obstacles women face throughout the world. The United Nations (UN) Security Council (SC) resolution 1325 Women, Peace and Security was groundbreaking by calling for the equal participation of women in measures of maintenance of peace and security.

Resolution 1325 marked only the beginning of increased international involvement in the issue. Many other treaties and resolutions followed that dealt with the prevention of sexual crimes and the impressment of women into armed conflicts. Although many measures have been taken, there is still a lot to be achieved.

Research Links

Good Luck with you research,
See you at BERMUN,
Can Soylu & Carl Kuehl
Chairs of the Disarmament Committee

News:

2008-12-08:

2008 Conference Photos

2008-11-23:

2008 Newspapers

2008-10-15:

Student Officer Team
Committee Letters