jmc mun: the expositor, day 2

8/13/2019 JMC MUN: The Expositor, Day 2

1/11

EXPOSITOR

The

Musings oa Rational

CynicAnushka Kaushik predicts

a complete failure of the

Geneva II talks and explains

why theres no viable

solution to the Syrian crisisin the near future.

COVER SORY


2/11

2 HE EXPOSIOR | JANUARY24, 2014

What We Do at MUNs

What the UN thinks wedo

What people think wedo

What our parents thinkwe do

JANUARY 24, 2014 | HE EXPOSIOR 3

In an exclusive interview with the Executive Board o the United Nations General Assembly,Sameeksha Khare talks to them about their committee and more.

he Expositor: Are missile programsindispensable or the security oa nation, in todays world, or isthat basically an argument put toincrease their offensive arsenal?-In an ideal world, there should be norequirement or an extensive missileprogram by countries to protect theirsecurity interests. However, in a realisticworld, in order to maintain the balanceo power between nations, they becomeindispensable. Te pool o power thepossession o such missiles provide isimmense and hence, eyed by countries.

E: How crucial has it become,irrespective o their importance, to

curb the threat these missiles pose?- It obviously is extremely urgent to puta halt to this grave issue. With power,money and greed and the desire toacquire all, the means to achieve theseends have become violent and it becomesa threat to the people and the worldcommunity at large. Hence, a systematicway o approaching a reduction o these

violence ways needs to be brought about.

E: On a lighter note, what are your viewson the proceedings o this simulation othe United Nations General Assembly?It is a huge committee with a greatparticipation rom a lot o school studentsand first time participants, and such cute

kids! Irrespective, a lot o good pointsare coming up rom all corners, withplacards flying around in the air, andit has become difficult or us to lookaround appreciating all. We congratulatethe JMC Model United Nations teamor making such a committee possible.

E: What do you, being theconveners, expect the conclusivestand o the committee to be?We would be happy with whicheverdirection they choose to go in. Teyare an impressive lot o minds andwere sure o a substantive end.

Te Means to Achieve Power, Moneyand Greed Have Become Violent

What our riends thinkwe do

What we atucally do!

PHOO ESSAY BY VANSHAJ MEHA


3/11


I death penalty were to be present, should its commission spare no criminal or should age be a

constraint? Kartik Mainireports rom the UN Human Rights Council.

Te United Nations Human RightsCouncil sought to reach a consensus onthe permissibility o death penalty orjuveniles. A consensus, however, stayedout o reach as the committee saw theemergence o two perceptual blocs -o those against and those in avour.

Debating in disagreement, the delegateo Malaysia reerred to Article 6.5 o theInternational Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights that prohibits capitalpunishment or those under the age o18 years (which is the internationallyrecognized age o majority). Elucidating

on the aorementioned, the delegate oAngola shed light on the behavioural aspecto the discussion saying that juveniles arepsychologically developing, making capitalpunishment or juveniles unjustifiable.Alternatively, the delegate added thatrehabilitation should be stressed on.

Te delegate o Yemen, one o themost recent countries to raise its age omajority to 18, supported death penaltyor juveniles and opposed the delegate oAngola saying that execution o a 17 yearold is permissible as the mental status othe person has developed, thus making

him/her accountable or criminalityas much as an adult. In agreement, thedelegate o Iran pointed out the grossdisparity in the legal mechanisms o theUnited States o America and the UnitedKingdom that permit driving at the ageo 16 but prohibit death penalty. I a

juvenile is developed enough to drive,he is mature enough to be executed.

With the emergence o varied viewpointso delegations tied in two broadperceptual blocs, it remains to be seenwhether a global consensus is reached.

Human Rights CouncilStruggles to Reach Consensuson Death Penalty or Juveniles


As the deliberations continue regardingthe reorms to be brought into the existingrape laws, no one actually cared to think othe accused or the convicted criminal. Apopular logic would say that why shouldwe care to think about a person who actedno less than an animal. But in a countrywhich guarantees human rights to eachand every o its citizen, its important to

even consider the same or the criminals.

Did anyone o us ever cared to ask a rapist,why did he rape? Once a person commits aheinous crime, we condemn it and leave itup to the system to in route to justice. Butwhat we ail to realize is that a convictedcriminal, afer completing his/her tenurein the prison, returns back to the society.But when he does return, is she reormed?What effect would the punishmenthave on the convict? Will it reorm memorally or make him sicker mentallyand socially? We never care to think o it.

An American journalist, under the pen-name Doon, went up to a ew rapistsand asked them why do they rape? His

question was very simple; why do rapistsrape when we have prostitutes offeringtheir body or ree? Some repliedby saying that rape is ree, whereasprostitutes cost some money. But many,mainly serial rapists replied back sayingthat they rape because it eels good.

So basically, even i this is a case study

rom America, one thing is very clear.Tere are reasons as to why one commitssuch a crime. And reasons can beeconomic or psychological. Hence tomake sure a sae society or women, wemust understand these reasons, try tochange them, and when they come out,how changed are they? No one really cares.

Very ew in the Parliamentary StandingCommittee actually cared to talk aboutthe rape convicts. No one talked aboutthe reorm measures to be taken inorder to bring a change into the convictsmentality. Tey talked about punishment,rom being hanged to chemical castration.Death penalty in the rarest o the rarecases is acceptable, but what effect would

something like chemical castration have?Will it eradicate the mindset that makes aperson rapist? Will it reorm him once he isback? No one really cares to bother about it.

Kakali Ghosh Dastidar o the IndianNational Congress again came up witha therapeutic approach to the wholesituation. She stressed on the act that

all the convicts needs to have therapysession to determine their mind set andmake sure that when we come out othe prison, they have actually reormed.

o establish a sae society, legal methodsare just not enough. Various socio-economical and psychological actsshould also be considered. o preventrapes rom being committed, it isequally important or us to understandwhy a rapist rape and reorms need tobe taken care o as to how to go aboutbring in a change into their mentality.

Why do peoplerape?

Have you ever wondered why do rapists rape and about the psychological mindsetthey carry? Is the judicial system prepared enough to reorm them?Amlan J. Das


4/11


Perspective


Bombarded by a plethora o questions andallegations regarding the implementationo its anti-dumping policies, the delegateo China was clearly the centre o disputethroughout the settlement process.

When questioned about its predatorydumping practices in India, the delegate oChina completely reuted the statement othe press by saying that no question wouldbe entertained i there was no evidence to

support it. He also said that China hadwon all cases filed against it in the WOregarding its anti-dumping practices, andthereore the allegations were useless.

During the blame game held in the name

o dispute settlement, the representativerom European Communities held Chinaresponsible or dumping large amountso stainless steel in the territory or theEuropean Union. She stated that whenChina was questioned on the subject,no inormation was provided. Also, thecost reduction done by China was notbased on air comparison. She mainlydemanded clarification on three grounds:No retaliation to the allegations by China,

transparency regarding inormation andduties alleviated on the imported goods.

Te delegate o China not only reutedthese allegations, but also turned the tableon the EU, saying that they are ones who

have reduced the cost o all commoditiesincluding labour, raw material and uel.In general, the EU reduced the cost oits exports by 44.42% in the past 3 years.As or the transparency regarding itsactions, the delegate o China statedthat they had put out a notice thatcontained every minute detail o thegoods that had been exported to the EU.

Conclusively, we hope that the two

sides arrive at a common consensus,and that this dispute settlementprocess ends up as a constructive oneinstead o being a mere blame game.

Naina Kataria

We Are Not the Ones toBlame. You Are.

Everyone sees. Very less observe. And even ewer stop to capture what they observe. I have tried to capture things that go un-noticed. It made me realise how there can be beauty in everything.

PHOO ESSAY BY VARSHA DAHIYA


5/11


COVER SORY

Anushka Kaushik

Hope in reality is the

worst o all evils because it

prolongs the torments o man-Friedrich Nietzsche

With the Geneva II talks underwayand the high hopes attached tothe success o this supposed peace

dialogue. It might be early to predictbut the author can assert that thereader shall be, in approximately fiveyears, reading the same headlinesmaking the same promises.

I wish not to trivialize thematter by inordinate cynicism

but substantiate my view withpertinent arguments. Te act othe matter remains that the Syriancrisis can and will not be solvedby a series o peace talks. Wefirst ought to look at the context.

Musings oa RationalCynic


In early 2013, representatives rom theUnited States o America and RussianFederation called or both sides i.e.the Syrian government and the Syrianopposition, largely represented by theSyrian National Coalition to discusstheir respective viewpoints to reducethe staggering level o killings acrossthe nation o Syria. An attack involvingchemical weapons in August 2013 outsidethe borders o Damascus urther gave animpetus to resolve the crisis as the USAassumed moral authority to saeguardthe world once again. Resolution 2118adopted by the Security Council, inaddition to demanding the removal oSyrias chemical stock-pile, stated in theseventeenth operative clause that theSecurity Council calls or the convening,as soon as possible, o an international

conerence on Syria to implement theGeneva Communiqu, and calls uponall Syrian parties to engage seriouslyand constructively at the GenevaConerence on Syria, and underscoresthat they should be ully representativeo the Syrian people and committedto the implementation o the GenevaCommuniqu and to the achievement ostability and reconciliation . Te GenevaII peace talks thus are a culminationo international action accompanied

by the ostensible need o Westernnations to prevent urther bloodshed.Despite all the mechanisms in place,the crisis is poised to remain as it is.

Firstly, over the course o the uprising, theopposition has ailed to adopt a unitedstand against the Syrian government.From the Free Syrian Army (FSA), thearmed opposition mainly consistingo deected Syrian Armed Forcessoldiers, representing the oppositionto the National Coalition or SyrianRevolutionary and Opposition Forces,currently the largest opposition orce,there has neither been a consistentnor a competent enough resistance.

Secondly, in addition to the lack o aconsolidated opposition, the internal

rie within the Syrian National Coalitionwill affect any chance o a compromise.Following the chance o Iran beingpresent in the Geneva II talks, theopposition was divided on attending thepeace talks. Te National Co-ordinationCommittee, or example reused toattend the talks which may hampera wide-ranging solution given theirstatus as an official opposition alliance.

Tirdly, one o the primary objectives o

the peace talks is see n as the establishmento a transitional government. Tis standsas the main demand o the oppositionand while it may prove to be a solution,there exist innumerable obstacles. Forinstance, it is ludicrous to think that theSyrian government will willingly agreeor a system where the governance is evenpartially shared by another set o actors.Further, it is difficult to imagine that eitherside would compromise on the intricatedetails that may require a compromisegiven the nature o an interim government.Given the ailure o governments in ArabSpring states such as Egypt, the viability osuch an option also remains questionable.

Perhaps the most undamental dilemmain reaching any sort o compromisehowever would be the staunch

opposition the Syrian government hasto removing Bashar Al-Assad as thehead o government. Given the stronginsistence o the opposition on the same,it is almost impossible that any settlementcould be reached in the near uture.

We may be optimists or cynics. We mayhave aith or alse hopes. We may valuebelie over reality. Tats a choice we make.


6/11

10 HE EXPOSIOR | JANUARY24,

The JMCMUN Chronicles


In an exclusive interview with the Executive Board o the United Nations General Assembly,Sameeksha Khare talks to them about their committee and more.

he Expositor: Are missile programsindispensable or the security oa nation, in todays world, or isthat basically an argument put toincrease their offensive arsenal?-In an ideal world, there should be norequirement or an extensive missileprogram by countries to protect theirsecurity interests. However, in a realistic

world, in order to maintain the balanceo power between nations, they becomeindispensable. Te pool o power thepossession o such missiles provide isimmense and hence, eyed by countries.

E: How crucial has it become,irrespective o their importance, to

curb the threat these missiles pose?- It obviously is extremely urgent to puta halt to this grave issue. With power,money and greed and the desire toacquire all, the means to achieve theseends have become violent and it becomesa threat to the people and the worldcommunity at large. Hence, a systematicway o approaching a reduction o these

violence ways needs to be brought about.

E: On a lighter note, what are your viewson the proceedings o this simulation othe United Nations General Assembly?It is a huge committee with a greatparticipation rom a lot o school studentsand first time participants, and such cute

kids! Irrespective, a lot o good pointsare coming up rom all corners, withplacards flying around in the air, andit has become difficult or us to lookaround appreciating all. We congratulatethe JMC Model United Nations teamor making such a committee possible.

E: What do you, being the

conveners, expect the conclusivestand o the committee to be?We would be happy with whicheverdirection they choose to go in. Teyare an impressive lot o minds andwere sure o a substantive end.

Te Means to Achieve Power, Moneyand Greed Have Become Violent

PHOO ESSAY BY ANKI KUMAR SRIVASAV

t moment when you realise that every moment youed something good to happen. Every sin you stopped

rsel rom committing. And every sacrifice you madebeen worth it or this moment. Te moment you seeection. Actually, it is just G. S. Chaitanya smiling at

you! #orbit

ACP Pradyuman. He is excellence o detective work.His overall skills are unmatched. And he is the ladiesman. Meet Abhinav Verma. He is the successor to

ACP. Here: Abhinav uses the inamous Right HandRule to catch Chinas lie.

Meet Geetika Nagpal. She is hitting on the EB.#DeputySecretaryGeneralBlues

Te Desi Exorcist. Here, we witness Ayushi eotiapossessed. Te witness were rendered unconscious,traumatised. It was the timely appearance o the

great priests o JMCs Food Staff perorming Samosa-exorstism that saved e veryones lie.

Afer yesterdays mishap ormally dubbed as the GreatChaitanya Outbreak, G. S. Chaitanya was spottedhappy go lucky today. Sources say it was Sasha who wasresponsible or Chaitanyas calm demeanour With thecasualty o yesterdays disaster, people world wide only wish

or Chaitanya to never get angry again.


7/11


Amlan J. Das talks to LK Adwani rom BJP and JS Mallik rom Congress.

Q. (o LK Adwani) Your take on theArmed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA)? What do BJP think o itand about the various sexual assaultsrelated cases on Army personals?L K. Adwani: One thing is very clear,AFSPA should not be abolished. Ithas been one thing that is keeping theintegrity intact in Jammu and Kashmirand in the North Eastern region. Specialpower is needed by the Armed orces,because they deend the country.Hence as what many Congress leadersdemand, AFSPA should not be abolished.

But what we demand is amendmentinto the law to tackle sexual assault

related cases. All army personalsaccused o sexual assault related casesshould be tried with civilian laws. Whathappened in Manipur should not berepeated. We are very clear about this.

Q. (o JS Mallik) A lot has been talkedabout the two finger test and other testsdone to determine sexual assault. Manyavour the abolishment o such tests.What alternative test do you suggest? J S Mallik: wo finger test is defiantlya violation o the womens integrity.What we suggest is SAFE kits. Tese arekits are extensively used in the westerncountries. However, one kit costs around$1500 and hence it is quite expensive.

But I am sure we can get subsidy onthem and make them mandatory.Polygraph tests also an alternative.

Q. You have been talking a lotabout chemical castration? Howdo you think it would be effective?J S Mallik: Chemical castration is verymuch prevalent in some countries likeAghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Whatit does is create a ear amongst othersto not commit such crimes. I believechemical castration should be introducedin India, at least or the rarest o therare cases. Tis will at least create a ear.

Chemical Castration Should beIntroduced in India: JS Mallik


How many you remember TangjamManorama? Te lady rom Manipurwho as allegedly gang raped by IndianArmy back in 2004. She was possiblya rebel and a member o the PeoplesLiberation Army o Manipur andwas picked up rom her home by theIndian paramilitary unit, 17th AssamRifles on July 10, 2004 and the nextday her bullet-ridden corpse wasound in a field. Te autopsy reportlater revealed semen marks on herbody suggesting a possible rape.

Tis was possibly the first instancewhen the Armed Forces (SpecialPowers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) came intothe limelight or sexual assault relatedcases. So many Army related rape casesall o a sudden came into the limelight,particularly in Jammu and Kashmirand Manipur, two states whichcontinue to remain under th e AFSPA.

A long drawn demand then startedor the amendment o CriminalLaw pertaining to AFSPA and Rape.

Regarding the 2004 Manipur incident,a commission o inquiry was set upby the Manipur government in 2004,and submitted its report in Nov 2004.However, the Guwahati High courtalso looked into the matter and ruledthat since the Assam Rifles had beendeployed under the Armed Forces(Special Powers) Act, 1958, the stategovernment did not have jurisdictionover them, and the case should be dealtwith by the central government. Andthis has been happening ever since,the quest or justice in Army relatedrape cases continue. Many demandswere raised by many Human RightsActivist groups and women activists.

Te standing committee that iscurrently deliberating reorms relatedto rape laws needs to keep in mindAFSPA and issues related to it. Its avery sensitive issue, but unortunatelyvery less attention is being paid toit. It was only D Raja, who was quitevocal about the AFSPA. No one reallypaid attention to the trauma o the

rape victims in the Army controlledregions, who still await justice whilemany others live in a constant earand trauma. People back in Assam livein a constant ear, even though theydont know about the Act, they knowone thing or a act that nothing canbe done against these Army people.

Hence, it is or the Government toormulate laws that saeguard therights o women in these areas and theyassure them saety and justice whenrequired. Te standing committeehas been considerate enough to raiseconcerns regarding the saety andsovereignty o women. Just that amore concrete decision is expectedrom the committee regarding armyand elected representatives. Tecountry looks up to its leaders andarmy a lot, hence a new legal ramework strengthening rape laws and

women saety is definitely expected.

Amlan J. Das

Lets Not Have Another TangjamManorama


8/11


Te urgency to discuss the need to limit andprohibit the prolieration o ballistic missilestook up the committees interest. Teargument o concentrating the limitationson developing or developed countries uelledthe debate. Te delegate o DemocraticPeoples Republic o Korea theatricallynarrated the case o the United States ohypocritical America, and mentioned thecountry having set up about 150 military

bases in different countries, more than halo which contain ballistic missiles. Tispoint was agreed with by many present, witha loud voice being raised in avour o thedeveloping countries. Te large numbers omissiles that developed countries possessshould first be taken care o, rather thanpaying attention to the deployment systemsthat the developing countries are comingup with to maintain their security program.

Hence, the onus lies on the developedcountries to start taking requisite actionsor the prohibition o such a prolieration.

Te delegate o India vehemently denouncedthe discriminatory nature o the concept oballistic missile credits introduced by theUnited States, ollowing the precedenceo many other biased agreements like theNon-Prolieration reaty and the Missile

echnology Control Regime. Te delegateo the Syrian Arab Republic talked aboutthe discrepancies o the ballistic missilecredit system that only concerns itselwith the quantitative increase o ballisticmissiles and not their qualitative increase.Countries with advanced technology attheir disposal can come up with better andadvanced ballistic missiles as compared toother countries. Tis helps us come abreast

with the current state o hazard that prevailsin this sector by the developed countriesand how treaties in a way support them.

For the solutions to this problem, theinvolvement o non-state actors that runthe ballistics black market was taken intoconsideration. Tere should be a strictvigilance and security to prevent missilesrom getting into the hands o terrorist

organizations. Tere are problems o theterrorist organizations getting their handson missiles that are set up by the USA invarious countries as the security o thesesystems is not accounted or. What islef to be seen is the conclusive stand thecommittee comes to afer a heated sessiono allegations flying north and south.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee Saga

PHOO ESSAY BY USHAR PASRIJA

Sameeksha Khare reports the proceedings o the second day o the New Delhi summit o theUnited Nations General Assembly.

Te United States o Hypocritical America:Delegate o DPRK


While discussing the sensitive issue o rape in the Parliamentary Standing Committee,some parliamentarians seemed to be swayed by emo-tions and opinions, while others aimed to be practical, as expressed through their words and actions.


9/11


Q1) In addition to humanitarian

aid, what solutions can your countrypropose or the reugee crisis in Syria?

France: Security Councilsanctions against Syria arethe best option available.Russian Federation: Te onlycomprehensive solution is thelong term one, which is peace andstability in Syria. As o now, theSyrian government already has toomuch on their hands and thereore:

United Nationsneeds to send humanitarian aid

Western nations needto change their nature o aid romlethal weapons to humanitarian aidCanada: Te reugee crisis needsattention both inside Syriawhich is dealing with IDPs andneighbouring states which havetaken reugees in. Apart romhumanitarian aid, reugees righto return, possible plans o socialinclusion in the host countries andplans o action thereore need to

be drawn up by the host nations.

Q2) o what extent is a transitional

government viable in Syria?

France: A transitional governmentwould work until and unless theresno external intervention by eitherSyrian government or Syrian rebelswhich would give enough time to theGeneva talks to become successulRussian Federation: Its not viabledue to the ollowing reasons:

It is not a bilateralconflict between the governmentand the rebels, but a lot morenon state groups are involved A United Nationsbody would not hold legitimacyand would not be recognizedas the government by Syrians Chaos willbe created as Assad is strongmilitarily and will resist (systemo a transitional government)

Q3) o what extent does

the disunity in the Syrian

opposition hamper peace talks?

France: Te strie within theopposition can be dealt with, later.However, right now, the mostimportant act is overthrowingthe Assad government.

Pakistan: It hampers peace talks to alarge extent as there is no leader in theorganization who can speak on behalo the entire opposition movementand sign the peace agreement. Syrian

opposition is a diverse mix o exiledpolitical groups, grass-root activistsorganizing protests inside Syria andamend groups waging a guerrillawar on the government orces

*Te delegation o RussianFederation and Canada werenot available or comment.


Anushka Kaushik asks some tough questions to delegations

o the Security Council to get responses on the Syrian crisis


10/11

18 HE EXPOSIOR | JANUARY24, 2014 JANUARY 24, 2014 | HE EXPOSIOR 19

Canada: Te delegationo Canada ocused on the role o Iran in theSyrian crisis and the supposed sectariandivide that the nations intervention hascreated. Further, Canada emphasisedon the targeted violence against Syrianopposition actions by other nationsthat have only worsened the situation.Although the role o neighbouring nationswas not discussed at length, a nuancedapproach to this aspect could have widened

the scope o issues the Council addressed

Russian Federation:In addition to reuting allegations thatthe Russian Federation was supplyingarms and ammunition to the Syriangovernment, the delegation o Russiasought to differentiate between the

lethal and non-lethal weaponry usedby rebel actions. Tis matter otechnicality could have provided astructure to the Council discussions asto the specific weaponry used/ supplied.

Finland: Call it amedia bias but the speech made by thedelegation rom Finland emphasised onthe need to provide reedom o speech andexpression to journalists and reporters.

Notwithstanding the act that such an issuehas never been discussed in the SecurityCouncil, its ocus on the larger aspects ohuman rights violations could have beencentral to debate on the Syrian crisis.

Guatemala: TeGuatemalan delegation elaborated on the

violations by the Syrian government othe Organization or the Prohibition oChemical Weapons (OPCW). Althoughthe use o chemical weapons was dis cussedin Council courtesy the delegation oogo, the ramework o this particularmechanism had the potential to initiatedebate on security innumerable issues.

Argentina: Te primaryocus o Argentinas speech was on the

use o the United Nations SupervisionMission in Syria (UNSMIS) to establishConfidence Building Measures (CBMs).Strengthening existing mechanisms o theUN could be a potential short-term solutionthat the Security Council looked to adopt.

5 Speeches Tat Could Have Changed theCouncils DirectionAnushka Kaushik lists five delegations whose speeches had the potential to widen the scope o discussionand perhaps render the sessions more solution-centric

...And the Chance Came Finally!

PHOO ESSAY BY YAHARH BUDDHIRAJA

Whilst delegates look or opportunities to get recognised but theres always someone in the Committee who ends up cribbing about noteen given a air chance. Following is a compilation when a delegate afer a long phase o desperateness finally got a chance to express.


11/11

Pallav Kumar SinghHead of International Press

Editors-in-ChieAayushi Takur Sinha

Sarah Zia

Editor o Photography

ejinder Pal Singh

Creative HeadAnushree Malik

JournalistsAkriti ParacerAmlan J. Das

Anushka KaushikA.R.RakshitaKartik MainiNaina Kataria

Sameeksha Khare

PhotographersAnkit Kumar Srivastava

ushar PasrijaYatharth Buddhiraja

Varsha Dahiya

Vanshaj Mehta

Te International Press

jmc mun: the expositor, day 2

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