Dealing with Human Rights abuses

The United Nations has been losing respect and credibility due to both lack of efficiency of the Security Council, but especially in the area of human rights.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=21169&Cr=sex&Cr1=abuse
UN peacekeepers have commited human rights abuses (mostly sexual) during mission (ex: Congo, Haiti) Even though the zero-tolerance policy has been created and is being enforced, more needs to be done.
The US would like to question other Security Coucil members on their views on:
-If the zero-tolerance policy is positive and efficient
-The efficiency of the current Human Rights Council

Delegate, is your resolution dealing with this issue? Could the delegate please give some information on the resolution?

Thank you

It does deal with these issues. The how is rather complex to explain now. Let it just be stated that the HRC needs to become more efficient.

Salam fellow delegate of USA !
The delegate of Afghanistan is shocked about the human right violations made by the UN peace keeping troops. It is a shame that the ones supposed to keep the word safe are actually being responsible for more blood and injustice. The delagete of Afghansitan however, believes that this unbearable situation will be reverted. Afghan will support meaures to change the disgusting image that the UN peace keeping troops, and calls upon other nationas to support reforms, keeping in mind that the Internaional Community's goal is peace and security. إله يبارك أنت

I agree with you, Afghanistan: human rights abuses are ridiculous, no matter from where, and from UN PEACEkeeping troops, it is absurd beyond imagination.

delegates, just take a look at this:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/InternationalOrganizations/hl868.cfm[/url]

United States,
At first glance your proposal seems very coherent and favoravel for the improvement of the UN. France agrees with the delegate, with the fact that those who try to promote peace, by participating in UNHR are exactly those, who violate such ideals. The United Nations should serve as a supremal organization that sets the right example. For this reason, France will support the U.S proposal in reforming UN organs that have been somewhat " corrupted" . France only looks forward for more details on how the delegate wishes to do so...=D but it seems to be a very good resoltuion.
besous et au revoir

United States be careful with human rights abuses… do you remember Guantanamo bay? Do you know that really passes with your soldiers in Iraq and in Afghanistan? The photos of prisoners and American soldiers that have fallen in the internet in relation to torture. Don’t forget the fact that your nation allows death penalty. And this is a human rights abuse. Any nation has the authority to kill their citizens. How can you explain that? Look deeply in your constitution and you will see various types of human rights abuses!

Well, caucus leader, just to defend the United States's point, there is a very notable difference between death penalty and human rights abuses. Not to go into the entire "death penalty or not?" debate, but human rights abuses commited by people are absurd. Even if you consider death penalty wrong, that does NOTHING to change the fact that human rights abuses are wrong and should NOT be tolerated. And besides, death penalties are not distributed to anyone; they are only applied to people who commit the most severe crimes. Human rights abuses aren't organized: they are random acts of... evil.

concerning the death penalty: capital punishment does not exist only in the United States. Not all states endorse it, either.
Guantanamo bay: Detainees started being takent there in 2002, Bush administration. Both candidates for US presidency now propose to close the base.

Plus, the resolution proposed adresses human right violations by UN peacekeepers and of course, seeks the improvemnt of the human rights council. Is that a condemnable pursuit?

Dear Delegate of the United States,

Congratulations! I didn't expect to live to see the day when the Americans would realize, in an unmatched intelectual stroke, that human rights abuses must be punished, should they come from rebel militias in Darfur, or from the UN's own peacekeeping troops.

Now the Security Council is surely going to stride forward in terms of acknowledging and addressing such outrageous violations of human rights that have so far remained taboo. Now that the Americans have decided to forget Abu Ghraib, now that the Americans themselves are locked up in a Judicial struggle regarding Guantanamo (one in which, hopefully, law will prevail), now that America readies itself to welcome its first Black/Arab President, now we can act against human rights abuses.

America chooses to forget about its sordid past of human rights violations, ushering in a new era of zero-tolerance towards abuses committed by UN Peacekeeping Troops. Iran is ready to implement more stringent measures against such abuses, but Iran will not forget the past. Iran will not forget those who've died in Guantanamo. Iran will not forget those Iraqis, those Arabs, who has their rights violated so blatantly in several Iraqi prisons by American soldiers. Soldiers who were supposed to promote democracy and "liberate" Iraq turned out to be Iraqi's worst enemies. Therefore, how can we trust the intentions, aims, and capability of the United States to pave the way for an ethical cleansing of the UNPKOs? If the U.S. has been unable to control its own soldiers, having to feed them drugs and stimulating all sorts of vices to keep them in line amidst terrifying circumstances, Iran believes the U.S. cannot fare better at leading the way to create a ridig moral code for our brave blue helmets.

The U.S. has the right to hope for a new role within the War for Human Rights, but the rest of the world has the duty to remember how much that nation sacrificed Human Rights on its failed War for Democracy.

Delegate of Iran:
First of all, there is absolutely no need for the sarcastic comment in the beginning. Seriously.

Secondly, I believe that even though the United States of America has had a past full of troubles and wrong-doings, it is not a reason for us to distrust this resolution. The fact that they're willing to reconciliate is not reason for us to be unsure of their policy: it is reason to agree with them. After all, this is a war in which we're all involved. Human rights abuses are, once again, intolerable, and if the United States is trying to pass a resolution against human rights abuses, then I believe that other nations should offer support.

"Iran believes the U.S. cannot fare better at leading the way to create a ridig moral code for our brave blue helmets."

Iran, the US is not aiming to create a rigid moral code. The code of conduct for peacekeepers already exists. The US will simply propose ways to enforce it, since its sole existence is not enough to keep peacekeepers from abusing human rights.

Dear Colombian and American delegates,

Your nations truly make an amazing team. It's a pity that Colombia has to pay so dear a price to remain in that team: its sovereignty. Nonetheless, Iran appreciates the enlightening remarks from both delegates. We are aware that there is a moral code in place, and we are aware of the known U.S. intentions regarding its strict enforcement. Yet we are also aware that the U.S. Army has a very strict code of conduct (one that was upheld by the military vigorously prior to the Abu Ghraib and other less conspicuous human rights violations), and it did not stop the members from the 372nd Military Police Company of the United States of America and members of the OGA (Other Governemnt Agencies - aka CIA) from abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Iran is not questioning the U.S. agenda - though history has also proved that American (public) agenda is as trustworthy as weather channel forecasts. Iran is questioning the ability of the United States to act on Human Rights abuses by UNPKO troops, when it obviously needs some lessons about human rights itself.

Before you develop your argument, Dear delegate of Colombia, please beware that your country doesn't rank very high on the "Human Rights Compliance" standards either. Or have you already forgotten yesterday's resignation by one of your Chief Military officers due to severe accusations (backed by overwhelming proof) that the Colombian military has been killing civilians (yes, civilians) to feign an "increase in the army's effiency in battling the Farc and the drug trade". Now, I repeat: Colombia and the U.S. do make a wonderful team. It is a pity that your credibility levels, together, only act against your resolution's honorable pursuits.

A few things to be considered:

BBC NEWS:
"The human rights situation in Iran is worse now than at any time since reformist Mohammad Khatami became president in 1997, a report says."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3782793.stm

Human Rights Watch:
"Iran hanged a juvenile offender on October 30, 2008, the seventh this year, only two days after Iranian authorities “categorically denied” that it still executes juveniles, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and Human Rights Watch said today. Both organizations appealed to Iranian authorities to end such executions immediately."
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/11/03/iran20126.htm

Human Rights Watch:
"Iran is also a world leader in overall executions. Iran executes more people than any other country except China. The number of executions in Iran has skyrocketed since the election of President Ahmadinejad. In 2005, the year he took office, Iran executed 86 people. In 2007, it executed 317 people, an increase of nearly 300%. Many of these executions follow unfair trials in an extremely opaque judicial process. For example, 29 men were hanged on a single day - July 27, 2008 - though the authorities announced the names of only 10 of them."
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/2008/iran0908/iran0908web.pdf

Iran Focus:
"Esha Momeni, an American student visiting Iran, has been arrested and held in solitary confinement in the notorious section 209 of Tehran’s Evin prison for daring to campaign for women’s rights.
Friends, who have had no contact with her since she was arrested more than a fortnight ago, fear that she will be tortured. Her computer and film footage were seized by intelligence officials and she has not been allowed any visits by her family or her lawyer.
Her arrest comes as the hard-line government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched a crackdown on the One Million Signatures campaign, which fights for equal rights in a country where women are treated as second-class citizens. [...]
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced Momeni’s arrest. Amnesty said she was “at risk of torture or other ill-treatment”. Former prisoners in section 209, which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence, have complained of solitary confinement, interrogation and torture. Five years ago Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian photographer, died after being beaten there."
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/human-rights/us-student-held-in-notorious-iran-torture-prison-16597.html

Seriously? Stop the sarcasm. It's annoying.

Dearest Colombian Delegate,

Thank you for the article links, they were a most enlightening example of how Google really is a good research tool. I'll have a dispatch sent to our magnanimous President to see what can be done about pleasing Western Journalists for they seem very upset at Iran - wonder why. Just beware of inaccurate reports that circulate around the internet, they may give you a very dangerous sense of knowledge about an issue and lead you to false assumptions

The delegate of Iran wishes to give you several pieces of advice:

1. Do not trust everything the media says. The Colombian government itself, in the person of Alvaro Uribe and other high-ranking figures, have lashed out at the media for allegedly suffering from an "ideological bias" merely because it denounced cases of human rights abuses by the paramilitary and government forces supported by the Government. As you seem very keen on precise numbers, here are some. Although the delegate obviously knows them by heart, I'll post them for the sake of the other delegates who're anxiously following our friendly exchange:

"Of those [1400 civilian deaths in Colombia in 2007] where the perpetrator is known, paramilitaries were responsible for at least 300 killings of civilians in 2007, security forces for around 330...The remaining 500 or so killings could not be attributed to any specific group [but we all know who did it, right?]"

"Of the cases [of torture] where the perpetrator is known, the security forces were responsible for 60 per cent of the total, paramilitaries for 27 per cent, and guerrilla groups for around 11 per cent." That's curious: From the publications we receive in Tehran and New York, Iranians have been led to believe that the FARC were the greatest violators of human rights.

"More than 60 parliamentarians – most of whom are part of President Uribe’s governing coalition in Congress – were at the time of writing under formal or preliminary investigation by the Supreme Court of Justice for their suspected links to paramilitary groups." Even more curious...

However, as you have pointed out some of the workings of the Iranian judicial system - which are obviously misunderstood by the Western press - I would like to take this opportunity to respond with verifiable data to the most urgent accusations, even though the delegate of Colombia completely left the main focus of this discussion thread, which is the American-sponsored resolution about punishing UNPKOs' human rights abuses. But I understand that certain countries tend to take accusations very seriously, especially if they are true. So, let us not blame the Colombian delegate from going off topic only to accuse the humble Islamic Republic of Iran.

The delegate of Colombia accused Iran of "hanging a juvenile two days after Iranian authorities categorically denied that it still executes juveniles". As a matter of clarity, the Iranian delegate would like to point out that the name of the juvenile in question is Gholamreza H. Indeed, he was sentenced to death and executed on October 30th, 2008. However, the article by "Human Rights News" itself points out that Gholamreza H. was 19 (yes, nineteen), therefore no longer under the auspices of the the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. If the delegate of Colombia hadn't been in such a rush to copy paste sections of the article onto his post, he would have read that information.

Furthermore, Iran is determined to build up a moral and ethical society, one in which there is no room for crime and vice. We therefore reaffirm our rights to try and punish the criminal offenders within our jurisdiction. Iran never complained about the American rights to punish their criminals who've underwent fair trials (that did not involve torture). Iran never criticized Colombia's right to fight the FARC in a legitimate ways. What we cannot accept is the removal of prisoners to countries where torture is allowed, or the arrest of citizens without any charges (for further details, email Mr. G. W. Bush).

Iran remains committed to discuss the better enforcement of the UNPKO troops' code of conduct, and it is not through baseless copy paste of articles into this forum that such a discussion will take place and the issue will be solved. However, Iran would like to apologize to Colombia for talking so blatantly about its subservience to the United States. We'll try to keep it low for the remainder of the time to the conference.

Cheers.

Iranian delegate:
Firstly, I did not simply copy and paste. I actually read the entire articles. Yes, it is true that Gholamreza H was executed when he was nineteen.
Yes, some of the arguments that you've presented in this last post are irrefutable. However, a thing to note:
1)"Of those [1400 civilian deaths in Colombia in 2007] where the perpetrator is known, paramilitaries were responsible for at least 300 killings of civilians in 2007, security forces for around 330..."
"Of the cases [of torture] where the perpetrator is known, the security forces were responsible for 60 per cent of the total, paramilitaries for 27 per cent[...]"

This is exactly the reason why I'm here defending this resolution. Thank you, delegate of Iran, for presenting me with this information (even though I "already knew it by heart"). I don't agree with it either.

Just to get back on topic, which is the US's resolution against human rights abuses, this is why we should vote in favor of it. If Iran accuses Colombia of committing these human rights abuses and these mistakes, then why not vote in favor of the resolution?

And for the sake of courtesy, I accept your apology and also apologize for all the accusations with a little lack of reason in my last post.

Oh, and now there is the little issue of the women's rights-defending American student who has been arrested and has been kept in solitary confinement. I am genuinely interested in what the Iranian delegate has to say about it. What do you have to say about it?

Till your next post,
Colombian Delegate.

One last thing:
Not for doubting you or anything, but what is your source for those very useful quotes in your last post?
Just to check it out and acknowledge the facts completely.

Dearest Colombian Delegate,

My deepest apologies, the websites I used to retrieve the above mentioned information are the following:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/colombia-leave-us-peace-targeting-civilians-internal-armed-conflict-fact and http://www.hrw.org/englishwr2k8/docs/2008/01/31/colomb17754.htm

There's also a particularly interesting website if you would like to see a little animation about the very situation I argued about in my posts, which has deeply stained Colombia's human rights record. http://www.amnestyusa.org/all-countries/colombia/page.do?id=1011135

I'm extremely happy with the outcome of our little insight into Human Rights. Surely we can proceed without any more references to one another's human rights records, even though it is interesting to point out the only reason why President Uribe has not yet released all the politicians convicted of "colluding with paramilitaries" from jail was the U.S. opposition. With such a bad reputation for Human Rights, the Americans didn't really want to hang out with a nation accused of further rights violations. So, to end our feud, I'd just like to point out that regarding the Iranian-American graduate student currently hosted by the Iranian Security Ministry, Iran reaffirms its right to determine and act on possible threats to its national defense - something we manage to do without troops and money from a neighboring superpower.

It sure was a very heated argument, but the sake of international cooperation, we must focus on what's really at stake here: to ensure that UN Peacekeeping Missions retain their credibility. Iran shall engage in meaningful talks with both Colombia and the United States if needed, and I would like to express a sincere wish to know more about the American-sponsored resolution.

Yet, my points remain unanswered. With its credibility shattered, can the U.S. lead the way in strengthening the UN's credibility across developing nations? I'm willing to wait and see. I'll give the Americans the benefit of doubt until further discussions can be held on the matter. Strangely enough, the America delegate seems to have vanished from these discussions, leaving the U.S. hitman, our brave Colombian delegate, to do the dirty (and tiring) work of opposing the humble Iranian delegation.

Okay, maybe the U.S. Delegate joined Os.. Obama's celebrations in Chicago and therefore could not be present for the past couple of days. Iran remains hopeful, however, that she will come back with convincing arguments soon enough.

Cheers.

Delegate of Iran, please refrain from disrespectful jokes regarding the newly elected American president; Mr. Barack Obama. Jokes like the one on your previous post, "Os.. Obama's" will not be tolerated. Consider this an informal warning. I sincerely hope it is also the last.

Iran,
I checked out your website, and they were very useful, especially for myself, since I need to write a persuasive speech on the FARC and whatnot. Thank you very much.
And I agree with you when you say that it is necessary to have talks regarding the United States's credibility regarding human rights abuses. Even though I believe in them, you don't, and several other delegates don't, which provides us with a discussion that should be interesting and should resolve quite a few conflicts =D
Anyway, it's good that we've settled one feud, but relax - there are many more to come. *evil laugh*
Regards,
Colombian delegate

The US delegate did not vanish. In fact, I've accompanied the tiering bickering between the Colombian and Iranian delegates. The US delegate is simply aware that this discussion is not productive, since it does not even mention the future. Pointing out individual countries' violations does not change the fact that UN peacekeepers are violating human rights.
The US had no intention to enter this debate at all, since it is leading no one nowhere. However, just one thing to be mentioned: Iran has not even seen the resolution and is already discrediting it simply because it is the United States'. Now that truly displays a desire for diplomacy.

Iran wishes to give a warm welcome to the U.S. Delegate! We hope she is not too worried that the future changes in administration will reflect in a change of the U.S. diplomatic representation to the UN.

Just to reaffirm Iran's wish to engage in meaningful talks about the issue, I'd like to draw attention to the my previous post where I stated that

Quote :

"Iran shall engage in meaningful talks with both Colombia and the United States if needed, and I would like to express a sincere wish to know more about the American-sponsored resolution."

Throughout its delightful (and extremely useful in terms of facts and data)exchanges with the delegate of Colombia, whose skill and debate dexterity I would like to commend, Iran never outright dismissed the American resolution. We simply questioned the American leadership on the topic of human rights. My reasons have been over stated, and need no further explanation, but Iran seeks to know more about the U.S. resolution, if only to prove that Iran's concerns were correct.

One important point to include in your resolution, U.S., would be to make sure that countries providing UN peaceekers have ratified the Statute of Rome that created the ICC. As it happens, the U.S. has not only not ratified the Statute, but also openly opposed the ICC's establishment. The U.S. should consider its position and the importance of the ICC as a tool to punish human rights abuses by UN peacekeeping troops. Iran would appreciate if the U.S. delegate would think that through.

Thank you.

Well, I guess that after a lot of debating we have reached a conclusion that both of us agree on (which is very pleasing, since that is what this is for), so the delegate of Colombia finds it safe to say that this topic is finished.

Cheers!