Scotmun 2020 13Th – 15Th March Committee Study Guide: UN Human Rights Council
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ScotMUN 2020 th th 13 – 15 March Committee Study Guide: UN Human Rights Council Table of Contents WELCOME LETTER FROM THE CHAIRS 3 INTRODUCTION TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 4 THE QUESTION OF CHINA’S RE-EDUCATION CAMPS 5 COMBATTING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN POST-CONFLICT SOCIETIES 14 2 Welcome Letter from the Chairs Dearest delegates, We are very pleased to welcome you to the Human Rights Council at ScotMun 2020 here in Edinburgh. I’m Jonas, the Director of this fine committee. I study Management at the London School of Economics and am currently in my final year. After having launched my MUN addiction in high school already, I attended a grand total of 28 conferences, with this being my 7th time chairing. This will be my first time chairing the UNHRC, so I’m excited to see how it will go and what you, dear ,delegates, will be doing with the topics! MUN takes up a disturbing amount of my time, but when I’m not working on a conference, you can usually find me either coding, trying to organise events with chocolate fountains, or playing Civilization. I’m Fiona, Co chair to this committee. I am currently doing my masters in Fine Art and History of Art at the University of Edinburgh, so I look forward to showing you what this city has to offer. Having started MUN in high school at the early age of 14, I have thoroughly enjoyed all 11 of my conferences in which my roles have varied, with the highlight being chairing a 400 delegate Human Rights committee At EAMUN which took place at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi. Growing up in multiple countries has allowed me to understand varying points of view and cultural beliefs. I believe MUN has the ability to spark the change that is needed to better the world. When I am not in conference I will most likely be covered in paint at the studio. I look forward to hearing your creative solutions to the challenging issues we have chosen to discuss. Hi everyone! My name is Kiril, and I am chairing the Human Rights Council at the 2020 edition of ScotMUN along with the two other fabulous individuals. I grew up in Russia and Germany, having finished secondary school at the Russian Embassy in Berlin. Now I study Economics in my bachelor's final semester at the University of Mannheim. Here I have commenced my MUN journey in 2017 and am presently serving my term as Vice-President of our society. Besides my passions for economics and debating, I am an avid traveller, having visited almost 60 countries throughout my life and enjoy the arts, reading as well as the small things in life. I look forward to an electrifying debate, intriguing conversations on the sidelines of the conference room and hopefully quality memes. See you in March! For this year, we selected the topics of “The Question of China’s Re-Education Camps” and “Combatting Violence against Women in armed Conflict” due to their unparalleled geopolitical relevance. We felt that it was the duty of the UN’s Human Rights Council to address these issues, which we perceived to be in need of resolution as soon as possible. With the recent troubles in Hong Kong, it is important to not lose sight of other regional issues that may otherwise be drowned out between more popular media headlines. This is why we chose to discuss the issue of the Xinjiang re-education camps. Further, the violent treatment of women in armed conflict is a topic that is broad in scope, but enormous in relevance. We should not ignore this particular civilian group that so often bears most of a conflict’s burden. 3 Introduction to The Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a body within the United Nations responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights around the world. Further, the UNHRC seeks to address and prevent human rights violations. Its purpose is simply to discuss any and all issues pertaining to human rights that require attention and then subsequently make recommendations on them. The UNHRC was established in 2006 as a replacement for the UN Commission on Human Rights. It meets at the UN offices in Geneva, where its 47 member states are elected for terms of three years by the General Assembly. During this process, the UNGA takes into consideration the promotion and protection in those countries as well as the pledges they made. Countries cannot be a member of the UNHRC for two consecutive terms. Members of the UNHRC are elected as part of regional groups, with each group having a dedicated number of seats: - Africa (13 seats) - Asia-Pacific (13 seats) - Latin America and Caribbean (8 seats) - Eastern Europe (7 seats) - Western Europe, North America, and others (6 seats) The work of the UNHRC is largely advisory in nature. It uses mechanisms such as the Advisory Committee (the council’s “think tank”), the Universal Periodic Review, and the Complaint Procedure (a procedure that allows individuals and organisations to bring human rights violations to the council’s attention). Thus, it makes frequent use of independent experts, special rapporteurs, and other working groups to monitor and understand situations, in order to then make accurate recommendations based on their data. Overall, the UNHRC’s founding resolution states that it “shall be responsible for promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind in a fair and equal manner” and it “should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon”. Delegates should keep this in mind when bringing forth their resolutions. 4 Topic A: The question of China's Re-Education Camps Topic Background Introduction China's Re-education camps are predominantly located in the province of Xinjiang. Officially called Vocational Education and Training Centers by the government of the People's Republic of China, some in the international community has named them internment camps operated by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government, for the purpose of teaching Uyghur Muslims since 2017 as part of a "people's war on terror" announced in 2014. The camps were established under General Secretary Xi Jinping administration and led by hard-line party secretary Chen Quanguo. These camps are reportedly operated outside the legal system; many Uyghurs have reportedly been interned without trial and no charges have been levied against them. Local authorities are reportedly holding hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and Muslims from other ethnic minorities in these camps, for the stated purpose of combating extremism and terrorism as well as to promote Sinicization Sinicization is defined as bringing people who are not of Chinese descent under the influence of Chinese culture. It is a process where societies that are traditionally non-Chinese are put under the influence of the Han Chinese communities, by adapting to their culture, customs, and way of life. Xinjiang province is located in the North West of China. As of 2018, it was estimated that the Chinese authorities may have detained hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million, of Uyghurs,Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Hui Muslims and other ethnic Turkic Muslims, Christians as well as some foreign citizens such as Kazakhstanis, who are kept in these secretive internment camps throughout the region. In May 2018, Randall Schriver of the United States Department of Defence claimed that "at least a million but likely closer to three million citizens" were imprisoned in detention centers in a strong condemnation of the "concentration camps". In August 2018, a United Nations human rights panel said that it had 5 received many credible reports that 1 million ethnic Uyghurs in China have been held in "re-education camps". There have also been multiple reports from media, politicians and researchers comparing the camps to the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In November 2019 a major set of leaked documents reveal new information about China's oppression of Muslims in Xinjiang, they have since been translated and published, by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The documents include explicit directives to arrest Uighurs with foreign citizenship and to track Uighurs living abroad. They suggest that China's embassies and consulates are involved in the global pursuit. Chinese ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming said the measures had safeguarded local people and there had not been a single terrorist attack in Xinjiang in the past three years. "The region now enjoys social stability and unity among ethnic groups. People there are living a happy life with a much stronger sense of fulfilment and security”. The punishment-and-reward system helps determine whether inmates are allowed contact with family and when they are released. They are only considered for release once four Communist Party committees have seen evidence they have been transformed. The leaked documents also reveal how the Chinese government uses mass surveillance and a predictive-policing programme that analyses personal data. One document shows how the system flagged 1.8m people simply because they had a data sharing app called Zapya on their phone. The authorities then ordered the investigation of 40,557 of them "one by one". The document says "if it is not possible to eliminate suspicion" they should be sent for "concentrated training". The documents continue and state "In total disregard of the facts, some people in the West have been fiercely slandering and smearing China over Xinjiang in an attempt to create an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs, disrupt China's counter-terrorism efforts in Xinjiang and thwart China's steady development.