Mazapan School Model UN Simulation Background Guide Legal Committee Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 1 Dear Delegates, Greetings! My name is Abigail Reyes and currently a senior at Mazapan school and my co-chair is Ciria Vallecillo currently a sophomore; we are looking forward to this year conference. It’s a pleasure for us, to have you as delegates as the legal committee. We are are thrilled to get to know each one of you on this MUN simulation 2019! We encourage you all to participate as much as possible in order to have a memorable debate. It is now your duty to investigate and land on logical resolutions that create a legal framework for automated weapon systems and the use of mass surveillance as means of intelligent gatherings and the limits of personal freedom. We advise you to read the following guide to have a clear idea of this year conference. We hope you enjoy this to the fullest and good luck! Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 2 Table of Contents Legal Committee 0 Introduction 4 Mission Statement 4 Overview of Topics 5 Creating a legal framework on the use of automated weapon systems (unmanned military drones) 5 Analyzing the use of mass surveillance as a means of intelligence gathering and the limits on personal freedom 6 Topic A: Creating a legal framework on the use of automated weapon systems (unmanned military drones) 7 Introduction 7 Importance 9 History of the Issue 10 Bloc Positions 11 Sources 12 Topic B: Analyzing the use of mass surveillance as a means of intelligence gathering and the limits on personal freedom 13 Introduction 13 Importance 14 History of the Issue 15 Bloc Positions 16 Sources 17 When Writing a Position Paper… 19 Bibliography 20 Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 3 Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 4 Introduction UNLV The United Nations Legal Committee is part of the United Nations General Assembly and works as the sixth and final committee, ergo, it has universal membership and all member States that do not have an observer status may take action in it. While the General Assembly diversifies on a varied amalgam of topics regarding law, the Legal Committee’s objective is to “encourage the progressive development of international law and its codification”, thus, it reserves the right to address any issue regarding international legal frameworks, legal language within documents, as well as international terrorism. Just as the other five committees that comprise the General Assembly, the Legal Committee seeks the creation of new treaties for its subsequent adoption, signature, ratification, and accession. Mission Statement Your committee chairs have decided that as delegates of the Legal Committee you need to follow certain requirements such as: coming up with logical and reasonable solutions for the respective issues. Keep in mind that this an MUN simulation and you are representing a country, not an individual opinion.Your resolutions need to be relevant to the conference’s theme, which is to “break barriers”. Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 5 Overview of Topics Creating a legal framework on the use of automated weapon systems (unmanned military drones) Unmanned military drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), are advanced military weaponry that fall in the category of robot drones and aircrafts. They are controlled either by a pilot or work through autonomous control following a pre-programmed mission codification. Their uses include: aerial striking through the carrying and dropping of bombs and aerial surveillance of both national and international territory. UAVs create a constant conflict among nations, for there does not exist a legal framework that effectively addresses when and how should they be used. In the case of military attacks, UAVs provide a secure way for the offending nation to perform aerial strikes upon the other nation’s land without the risk of losing one of their men in the case of the presence of anti-aircraft warfare. Many times the aircraft releases its attacks upon unsuspecting civilians. This effective and unsuspecting aircraft represents a threat to international peace. However, drones and UAVs propose many ways for social development in remote places of the globe and offers the possibility for suffering communities to finally receive aid. Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 6 Analyzing the use of mass surveillance as a means of intelligence gathering and the limits on personal freedom Personal freedom is defined as “going and coming, equality before the courts, security of private property, freedom of opinion and its expression, and freedom of conscience subject to the rights of others and of the public.” Privacy is a fundamental human right granted by the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Violation of privacy has become one of the most important human rights issues in the modern age. The evolution of technology and the capacity it has earned to inspect and spread, information of individuals has created an issue surrounding mass surveillance. Therefore the object of this committee is to come to a consensus about the intelligence gathering and limits of personal freedom. Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 7 Topic A: Creating a legal framework on the use of automated weapon systems (unmanned military drones) Introduction In a world where it is of uttermost importance to preserve international relationships and worldwide peace for the sake of human progress, the presence of advanced military weaponry such as UAVs/ robot drones for military and surveillance purposes proposes a threat for international and homeland security alike. Countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Israel, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan are the most notable countries. For what is known that these eight nations have been involved in operations incorporating the use of drones. The Damadola 2006 airstrike, the Miranshah 2008 airstrike, the Makin 2009 airstrike and Datta Khel 2011 airstrike, all performed by the CIA against Pakistan, are perhaps the most notable drone airstrikes leaving a total of 157 deaths in the middle east. However, it is estimated that between 2,515- 4,026 people have been killed in total in Pakistan alone, with 424-969 being civilians. The number of deaths in Yemen oscillate around 1,315-1,702 and in Afghanistan it goes around 3,429-4,728 civilians. These airstrikes sparked the public debate over the existence of drones and opened up discussion in the United Nations regarding the usage of the aircrafts. However the U.S. is not alone in the drone airstrikes, as it has been recognized that the U..K. back in 2015 dropped an airstrike on Syria and has been dropping on Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia. Israel in May 2018 dropped tear gas at protesters in Gaza from drones, while the government of Azerbaijan dropped airstrikes in Armenia. Meanwhile, China has surpassed the U.S. in terms of drone development and the Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 8 nations do not seem to intend to stop in the near future, while Israel is becoming key in the drone market as technology companies are known to be selling to foreign governments. Nonetheless, while drones and UAVs do propose a threat, the promises they present for social development and foreign help provide a good argument to support the use of the aircrafts. Christopher Fabian, the principal advisor of innovation at UNICEF, admitted: “The promise of drones is really tremendous”, for drones can carry supplies to regions unreachable due to damaged infrastructure, drones can overfly zones where natural disasters have occurred in order to gather image and data to detect the affected regions, and finally drones can extend WiFi signals to refugee camps and schools that do not have access to the internet. These benefits would open doors for communities in remote parts of the globe that would now be able to receive aid thanks to the available technology of drones. However, Fabian recognizes the possible threats the technology proposes and was quick to explain that “hardware itself does not violates human rights. It is the people behind the hardware, [we ​ need to] make sure that any technology we bring in or work on falls within the framing of rights-based documents”. Considering the possible and existing threats, the infinite possibilities and promises, and the fact that drones are a very much new technology, the dialogue for drone and UAVs regulations is open for any nation and organization to speak up and offer possible solutions that would contribute to a brighter future. Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 9 Importance It is of great significance to address the problem as effectively and as quickly as possible, for even though the drone and UAVs problematic is fairly recent, society has already been able to catch a glimpse of the damages this unregulated advanced weaponry may cause to our world. Not addressing this problem effectively would lead to a sure-fire catastrophe between occidental and oriental nations, as well as oriental versus oriental nations, as the drone airstrikes would get increasingly recurrent, leading to a great amount of casualties, many of which would be civilian casualties. Not addressing the problem right now would lead to the drone market currently being dominated by the U.S., China and Israel to extend to the point of creating overpowered weapons which could cause mass destruction, just as it happened with nuclear armament decades ago. However, completely preventing the effective development of drones would be a waste of the potential this technology has to help communities. Finally, in the worst case scenario, as in any problem that involves international military force, the lack of a solution would lead to a global war. Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 10 History of the Issue 1849- Austria sends first unmanned aerial vehicle to attack venice, with 200 incendiary balloons Early 1900s- Dayton-Wright Airplane Company invents first pilotless aerial torpedo that would explode at a given time 1935- First remote-piloted vehicle is invented 1951-1955- First jet engine remote-piloted drones become adopted by European and U.S.