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Hofstra University Model United Nations Conference Hofstra University Model United Nations Conference United Nations General Assembly First Committee Disarmament and International Security (DISEC) Nora Heidel Chairperson 1 Chair’s Welcome Dear Delegates, Hello, and welcome to the Disarmament and International Security committee! My name is Nora Heidel and it is an honor to be serving as your Chair for the Hofstra Model United Nations Conference! I am currently a Sophomore at Hofstra University, with a double major in Anthropology and Criminology. Originally from Connecticut, I joined Model UN during my Freshman of high school due to an interest in international affairs. I grew to love it and continued with Model UN for the rest of my high school career. I have attended conferences hosted by Yale University and the University of Connecticut, among others, and served on the secretariat of our high school conference. This is my first year participating in Hofstra Model UN. Apart from Model UN, I am an active member of other clubs here at Hofstra, including the anthropology club and the crew team. My main non-academic interests involve running and listening to music. I am very excited to be serving as Chair for DISEC, as these types of issues are some of my favorite to discuss. For this conference, we will be examining space disarmament and global maritime piracy for these are pressing issues that the international community is facing today. I hope that these topics prove to be challenging and stimulating for you. I encourage you to utilize the background guide as a starting point for your research, and then to delve deeper into these topics. If you have any questions at all about the committee please do not hesitate to email me. I am very excited to meet all of you and I hope that you have a great conference! Sincerely, Nora Heidel Chair, Disarmament and International Security Committee [email protected] 2 Introduction to the Disarmament and International Security Committee The First Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations, also known as the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), deals with “disarmament, global challenges and threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime.”1 According to Chapter 4, Article 11 of the Charter of the United Nations, the primary purpose and aim of the General Assembly is to: Consider the general principles of co-operation in the maintenance of international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments, and may make recommendations with regard to such principles to the Members or to the Security Council or to both.2 With this as the General Assembly’s charge, DISEC thus considers all matters of disarmament and international security under the purview of the committee. To achieve its ultimate goals of reducing the level of armaments around the globe and promoting cooperative approaches to international security, the committee works closely with the United Nations Disarmament Commission and the Conference on Disarmament. It is my hope that this HUMUNC committee will engage the important tasks of DISEC and be diligent in finding ways to foster constructive discussion and successful passing effective resolutions on two important topics of international security: global maritime piracy and space disarmament. It is clear that global maritime piracy is an important issue that needs attending to immediately. The world has seen a rapid surge in piracy since 2006, especially from pirates operating off the coast of Somalia. Because Somalia is what some would label a “failed state,” the Somali government currently does not have the strength to control its 3 own territorial waters. As a result, some Somali citizens, who have very few other economic opportunities, have turned to the business of piracy. These pirates are known to hijack and capture foreign vessels and even take hostages for ransom. The international community has taken a variety of actions to address this issue. For example, the European Union launched Operation Atalanta, which coordinates the navies of ten different European nation navies to patrol the Somali waters. NATO commenced Operation Ocean Shield whose aims include aiding sovereign states in developing and enhancing their efforts in battling piracy. The UN itself has in the past attempted to address some of the root causes of state failure and piracy. There have also been a multitude of UN Security Council resolutions on the problem of piracy. These efforts, however, have not stopped the problem and there is much the international community – and this committee – must do to help end rampant piracy. Space disarmament, the second issue of the committee, is also a significant problem facing the international community today. Though gaining knowledge about space is vital, the international community has made clear that weapons do not have a place in space. For example, the Outer Space Treaty came into force in 1967, and banned weapons of mass destruction in space as well as established rules on how to responsibility use and explore outer space. As technology has progressed, however, it has become clear that agreements like the Outer Space Treaty need to be updated to, for example, prevent other types of weapons being introduced into space. Although there have been many working papers and efforts to construct new treaties, none have been successful. This committee must find a way to protect the wishes of the international community by ensuring the continued demilitarized nature of space. 4 Topic A: Global Maritime Piracy Introduction In recent years, maritime piracy has become an issue for the international community. There are currently four global piracy hotspots: the Gulf of Aden near Somalia; the Gulf of Guinea near Nigeria and the Niger River delta; the Malacca Straight between Indonesia and Malaysia; and between India and Sri Lanka. Piracy emanating from Somalia has become particularly problematic and is, “by far the greatest global piracy threat.”3 A particularly dramatic attack in 2008 drew the attention of the international community. Somali pirates captured a French yacht and, after a ransom was paid and the hostages were freed, French commandos attacked the pirates.4 Six pirates were captured and eventually sentenced by a French court for their crimes.5 Since this episode, the international community has stepped efforts to combat maritime piracy. Still, the problem has not abated. In 2009, the Maersk Alabama, a U.S. cargo ship, was hijacked and eventually freed by U.S. military forces. In 2010, the Samho Dream, a South Korean supertanker carrying oil from Iraq to the US and the largest vessel taken by pirates to date, was hijacked 600 miles off the coast of Somalia. The ship and its crew of 24 was held hostage for 217 days before being released after a ransom of $9 million was paid.6 In early 2011, pirates off the coast of Oman hijacked a yacht carrying four Americans. The American hostages were killed as they were about to be rescued by US Special Forces. Two pirates were killed during the altercation and fifteen were detained.7 The increasing frequency and boldness of piracy attacks in recent years demonstrates the growing capabilities of modern pirates. It is clear the 5 international community must do more to combat piracy by implementing more effective security measures as well as address the root causes of piracy in failed states such as Somalia. Customary international law has long applied to piracy. Seen as enemies of all states, pirates have traditionally been considered outlaws who are subject to the jurisdiction of any state under this system of unwritten customary law.8 The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, however, codified much of this customary law in 1982. According to Article 101, piracy consists of any of the following acts: (a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state; (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft; (c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).9 With this wide-ranging definition of piracy, the international community has established a system to combat the problem of piracy. However, given the recent up surge in piracy especially off the coast of Somalia, it is clear that the international community must do more to keep the oceans free of piracy. 6 History of the Issue Maritime piracy has been a problem faced by nations for more than 2000 years. Beginning in ancient Greece, individuals labeled as “sea robbers” were deemed a threat to trading routes. People who were considered “Vikings”, which itself means “Scandinavian sea-raider,” were infamous for attacking shipping vessels whose settlements were located on the coast. Worldwide pirate actions were at their peak from 1620-1720, also known as the Golden Age of Piracy.10 This era produced many well known pirates, such as Jack Rackham, also know as Calico Jack, who created and flew the black and white “jolly roger” pirate flag.11 Maybe the most well known pirate during this time period was the ill-famed Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard, who primarily used fear and intimidation to plunder vessels.12 In the late 1700s and early 1800s, European Imperial navies made a large effort to eliminate piracy worldwide.
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