International Court of Justice Accusations against Stalin regarding the Great Purge and the establishment of the Gulags Director: Alvaro Ricós Moderator: Carlos Colchero INTRODUCTION The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was founded in 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in 1946. The Court’s duty is to advise on legal questions referred to it by other UN organs or agencies (The Court ICG, n.d.). The Court is composed of 15 judges who are elected by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. The Court is located in the Netherlands, and is therefore the only UN organ that is not located in New York. There are two types of cases involving the ICJ, either legal disputes called Contentious Cases, or advisory opinions on legal questions, which is the case in the upcoming trial. Other UN organs request trials to discuss and determine the legality of specific situations, so the most suitable states are chosen in order to provide the most informed verdict as possible. Furthermore, written and oral proceedings usually take place in order to inform the court of the case and then withdraw a public advisory decision. (The Court ICG, n.d.). First off, once the proceedings begin, the member States are required to file and exchange pleadings signaling their position and a detailed statement of laws or facts leading them to such position during what’s known as the written phase. After that, the State representatives are required to do oral proceedings addressing the court and thus looking forward to reaching a verdict. It is after the oral proceedings the Court deliberates on their advisory opinion before indicating their final decision at a public sitting. In advisory proceedings the decision or suggested sanctions are fully advisory, and it is the organization’s responsibility (that which presented the case to the court) to apply the corresponding sanctions. (How the Court, n.d.). The case has helped solve many serious manners in the little years it has been active since 1945, either as contentious or advisory proceedings. One of the most notable cases was the advisory opinion to determine the territorial status of South West Africa, where the newly formed General Assembly requested advice on how the dissolution of the League of Nations affected the status of the relatively “young” South West African territory, advicing no changes should be made. (International Status of, 1950). Furthermore, another notable advisory case was when the General Assembly asked the Court which states could be part of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as some states believed only some could take part in the latter; the final verdict was for all parties to participate in such convention no matter of their position on the topic. (Reservations to the, 1950). 1 As the ICJ is settled to determine injustices and assure the fulfillment of the SDGs imposed by the UN, it is now concerned on the events of Stalin's regime in the Soviet Union. The political leader of the Soviet Union since Lenin’s death, Joseph Stalin has been a controversial figure ever since his death. In general terms, Joseph Stalin led a strict political plan to bust Soviet Russia’s economy and industrialize an otherwise primitive country. In his efforts to achieve this goal, some accuse Stalin and believe he enforced radical measures, especially after installing prisoner camps and performing executions to ensure the continuity of his political plan. The opinions vary on whether the previously mentioned Gulags were inhumane or not, as they proved to be extremely effective in industrializing Soviet Russia, making it this court’s duty to determine Stalin’s innocence or guiltiness on the manner and take corresponding actions if required. The ICJ is concerned with the Sustainability of the UN and the world. For this reason, it is coupled with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN, with the main purpose of achieving peace in the world and justice for the inhumane actions of institutions or individuals. The topic pursued is related to goal 10, reduced inequalities, as it is the responsibility of the ICJ to assure justice for those privated of their human rights inside the labor camps and to establish rules to avoid the repetition of such cruel actions. In addition to goal 17, it is of great importance to focus on goal 10, reduced inequalities, as there are claims Stalin’s regime performed discriminatory condemnations, and it is this court’s responsibility to avoid similar discriminatory actions as those of WWII and previous armed conflicts. (Sustainable Development Goals, n.d.). The relevance of the issue is clear, as the ICJ must assure the actions pursued by the Soviet Union are correctly condemned and rules and sanctions are established to avoid the violation of human rights. The main focus of the judges must be the human losses and violation of rights against the citizens of not only Soviet Russia, but all countries affected nearby. The topic is of great relevance, especially considering the time at which the issue is developing, as several armed conflicts and ideology wars are taking place and it is the UN’s and ICJ’s responsibility to avoid racial segregation similar to that of WWII or another global scale armed conflict. In relation to racial segregation, the Court must not only determine if the casualties are justified, but if the prisoners of the Gulags are guilty of the crimes they were accused of or if discrimination is taking place, similar to german concentration camps. HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM 2 In order to understand what led Stalin to his outrageous decisions, it is necessary to understand the historical context of the situation. Before the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia was characterized by inequalities, and a complete lack of a socioeconomic middle class. As a result of this, many ideas started rising against the current monarchy, which was led by the Romanovs, a dynasty that lasted more than 300 years. These ideas, the most important being the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, became popular among the proletariat, finally deciding to take action against absolutism (Communism: Karl Marx, n.d.). The working class began to form socialist parties, which were later known as the Petrograd Soviets. The newly formed Soviets started their campaign against Romanovs, which led to the February Revolution. The result of the revolution was the end of the Romanov Dynasty, leading to the establishment of a dual power between a provisional government and the Soviets. However, the share of powers became obsolete, as the Soviets had a stronger acceptance and started to grow in popularity throughout Russia. Furthermore, the Soviets accused the Provisional government of seeking a capitalist approach, and, for this reason, the soviets continued fighting for the lower working class, which ultimately led to the creation of the Bolsheviks, an anti-provisional government political party. (Hoffman, 2017). Once the Bolsheviks achieved success over the Provisional Government, new factions who accused the Bolsheviks of commiting crimes and political suppression began growing such as the Socialist Revolutionaries or the Mensheviks, which led to the Russian Revolution. During this ideology fueled conflict, the remaining factions fought to determine the political future of the country as being either socialist or capitalist, as well as extremist or balanced. The fighting factions were the Red Army, which was led by the Bolsheviks; and the White Army, led by the remaining leaders of the first provisional government. After more than five years and approximately 7 million deaths the Red Army achieved success over their opponents, leaving Lenin in charge (Mullen, 2020) With Vladimir Lenin as the leader of the Bolshevik party and the founder of the political, economical and social ideology known as Leninism, the Soviet Union finally finally became stable and found a reasonable resolution to post WWI conflicts. Still, Lenin was unable to bring his plans to a long lasting conclusion as he suffered a stroke in 1922, leading to a power vacuum and discussion over the future leader of the URSS. Joseph Stalin was a prime candidate for Vladimir Lenin’s position. He had been an 3 important part of the party ever since it took control in 1917 as a Provisional Government, gaining Lenin’s trust to the point of being selected Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Stalin used his authority to grow alliances and political support, until every member of the party was controlled by him. After Lenin’s death, Stalin used his political superiority to turn the party against his opposition, thus reaching the presidency through manipulation and political oppression of all sorts. (Mullen, 2019). Once Stalin began his political campaign, he had the difficult task of ensuring equality and prosperity for all, which seemed impossible at the time. The main obstacle to implementing a communist political model in the URSS was the ongoing ideology war between capitalism and communism, trying to prove which ideology could prevail. The Bolsheviks supported Communism and populism, so it was Stalin’s duty to protect communist interests in Russia and expand his ideology to ensure its survival. In the effort to protect his political party’s ideology, at least 750,000 people were killed, primarily in the period known as The Great Purge, which lasted from 1936 to 1938. The Great Purge receives its name due to the numerous executions that occured in the hands of Stalin’s regime, which justified its actions signaling any executed individual as a threat to Soviet Russia and its stability.