• Towards the end of tobacco? • Interview with Saffan de Mistura • Cultural friday in Barcelona

The Myanmar crisis shocks C´MUNThe Security Council committe tries to resolve a escalating crisis

At 11:30AM the debate about the possible reform of the Security

Council was suddenly interrupted by a recorded message from the UN Secre-tary-General Ban Ki-moon, informing the delegates about the grave situation currently occurring in Myanmar. He urged the Security Council to start act-ing in accordance with its purpose as the conditions in Myanmar were get-ting very serious with a lot of reported killing and refugees fleeing the country. He also informed the Security Council about the recent assassination of Aung San Suu Kyi during a peaceful demon-stration in the city of Mandalay.

The delegates of the Security Council were highly concerned about the situation and a lively debate with the different standpoints started with Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany and the UK expressing their alarm consid-ering the protection of civilians and called for the international commu-nity to react. The main interest of the

countries was ensuring the security of the civilians of Myanmar, which according to them should be done by taking clear action against the Myanmar government by establishing sanctions on the authorities in order to stop the systematic attacks. India, being a neighbouring country, was highly concerned by the situation but stated that the situation in Myanmar should be observed carefully before any kind of interference. This was in line with the discourse of China, who was clearly prudent to commence any kind of economic sanctions be-fore having more information about the situation, as this would interfere with the internal affairs of Myanmar. Both Gabon and Bosnia & Herzegov-ina referred to earlier conflicts in rela-tion to the situation in Myanmar by pointing out that the Security Coun-cil had failed to react in time before, thus, supported by the voice of South Africa, Bosnia & Herzegovina pointed

out that it was crucial to start acting before it would be too late in order to spare human lives, as there clearly was occurring a violation of Human Rights in the country of Myanmar.

China was asked to open its bor-ders and cooperate to take care of the refugees wanting to cross the border from Myanmar, to which it agreed, and approved to cooperate by stating that it was prepared to take an active part in the issue. Nigeria and Colom-bia lifted the proposal of giving the gov-ernment of Myanmar a time limited ultimatum of 24-48 hours to stop all the attacks on civilians, in order to see how the country would be able to deal with the humanity crisis as not to in-terfere with the domestic sphere. This proposition was, however, rejected by India as the delegation believed that a time limit might drive other groups in the country to cause more problems, which in turn would make it more dif-ficult to stop the conflict. Instead, India

TheClarion the newspaper of C’MUN, the Model United Nations of Barcelona ISSUE THREE

Friday 8 April 2011

Words by Caroline Bach

C´MUN CRISIS 2011 / SCFriday 8 April 2011TheClarion issue three

proposed that UN observers should be sent to the country in order to evaluate and observe the situation, as it stated that the Security Council doesn’t have enough information to take any dras-tic decisions. The observers would have, as proposed, their own time lim-it to within a week present a report to the Security Council about the current situation in the country, after which a new position could be discussed. The lively debate was dominated by the support for the government of Myan-mar by the delegations of its neigh-

bouring countries India and China, and the opposition mainly being heard from the delegations of Bosnia & Her-zegovina and South Africa. The oppos-ing delegations were stressing the po-sition that there clearly was occurring a situation where human rights were being violated and that at least a secu-rity zone was needed in order to pro-tect the civilians. The debating Secu-rity Council was interrupted a second time by the arrival of the official del-egate of Myanmar. The delegate con-fidently stated to the Security Council that the conflict was being dealt with internally and asked the international community to keep the international law of sovereignty in mind and con-sider the conflict an internal issue that the government of Myanmar believed it was more than sufficiently able to deal with without any international involvement. As to the death of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar stated that the loss occurred during a violent and unauthorised demonstration lead by various terrorist organisations which actively work to destabilise and dis-credit the government. When the actual question of UN peacekeeping missions to enter Myanmar came into focus during the discussion, the delegate of Myanmar stated that the government agrees for the peacekeep-ing missions to enter Myanmar under the condition that they agree to work together with and under the supervi-sion of the Myanmar military and only if the neighbouring countries, China and India, agree. It also assured that the aggressors in the conflict were not the military but rather the aggressive terrorists working among the civilians.

China expressed deep concern about the refugees leaving Myanmar and de-manded stability and guarantees from Myanmar, asking it for help consider-ing the possibility of the people to go back to their country. It also called for stability, support of international relief and the introduction of a peacekeeping mission after a consensus with Myan-mar. South Africa called for the active participation of all countries consider-ing themselves supporting the ideas of democracy and Human Rights, supported by Bosnia & Herzegovina, who stated that the delegations hold the shared responsibility of protecting the civil rights of the people in Myan-mar and that a strong condemnation against the violence occurring in the country should be agreed upon. India, being the most dominant voice in the Security Council, ended the first part of yesterday’s session by suggesting that the peacekeeping missions sent to Myanmar could work together with the government, which should not be blamed for the violence in the country, and that the country instead should be provided economical support by the World Bank. It also urged the government to solve the crisis peace-fully to which Myanmar responded by thanking India for its strong support and agreed with the proposition of re-ceiving economical support from the World Bank in order to strengthen the economical situation in Myanmar. It also agreed upon accepting observers, however persisting by the condition that the observers would be sent by either India or China. The Clarion will be covering today’s continuing discus-sions in the Security Council.

2TheClarion is the daily newspaper for C’MUN 2011 Editor-in-ChiefJuan CallejaLay-out editorBernat ComesReportersCaroline BachMarta LacimaLaura MontCarmen RoblesEduardo SantanaEvelyn TinajeroNeus VidalPhotographerPablo Rodríguez-AguileraCaroline Bach

Opinions expressed in TheClarion are not necessarily those of the news-paper, C’MUN, The United Nations Association of Spain or the United Nations. They are the sole work of the author credited in the byline.

Contributions from delegates are welcomed. Submissions to:j_calle-jagon@hotmail.com

1st day // Candid snapshots

The big queue Inside jobI need a coffee!

C’MUN CRISIS 2011 / HUMAN RIGHTS Friday 8 April 2011issue three TheClarion 3

All of the suden, the crisis has arisen in the Human Rights

Council, the delegates were debating about right to health versus patens when alarm is raised. They were-informed with a video where Vice Secretary-General has appeared to explain the situation.

Rapidly, every delegate has taken a few seconds of reflection to speak about this worrying topic, since it was an issue of importance enough in order to protect the human rights of the citizens.

Afterwards, the representatives of every country have been giving the different opinions. It have been heard phrases like “we believe in the cooperation and in the human rights and also we believe that the protests are a right “ or “there are rights in order that the people express their opinions as the protests, in addition it is necessary to solve the violence”.

After several affirmations the problem has cropped up between the different delegates concerning if the intervention should be mili-tary or not. Countries like Spain, Cameroon or The United States of America have supported the mili-tary intervention in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar arguing that was necessary to protect the hu-man rights. Other countries have rejected this offer because they have thought that it would not bring the peace. They was proposing a con-

sensus like they was doing with the medicines in the previous debate. Also, they have emphasized that it was not a question of a military committee and that the military in-tervention is not the solution. They have stressed the example of Libya.

The first proporsalsAfter the interventions, delegates

have stated emission on the final re-flections. On the one hand, France has summoned urges Myanmar’s au-thorities to immediately cease violent actions aimed at civilian population of the country, calls for the allowance of peaceful demostration to be orga-nized in Myanmar, expresses the will of bordering countries to provide the political refugees from Myanmar with the necessary aid, emphasizes the fact that further violations commit-ted by the governmental forces might result in more serious actions taken by the UNSC. All of this, made in ac-cordance with Chapter 7 of the UN Charter and declares the will of the UN to ensure that the citizens have all their basic needs met. On the oth-er hand, Spain, Argentina, Ecuador, MSF have said that HRC condemns violation of human rights in the ter-ritory of Myanmar and demands for an immediate action and HRC sup-ports the short-term humanitar-ian intervention . They wanted to involve the UNCHR to enforce the refugees’ rights, in particular cooper-

ate with Thailand and China. More-over, claims for the Security Council further investigations in the region regarding the political situation and respect for both Rule of Law and Hu-man Rights. The delegations of Bah-rain, China, Cuba, Qatar, Saudi Ara-bia and Zambia propose an effective humanitarian aid to Myanmar popu-lation, consisting of providing shelter for the refugees and food and medical supplies. However, they will not be available to support directly nor in-directly any military action believing that every country should be free to solve its internal conflict on its own.

Till Weyers, the chair of this coun-cil, has adressed the draft resolution to us. United Kingdom of Great Brit-ain and Northern Ireland, Mexico and France and another countries like Uganda, Argentina or Cameroon, re-specting the authority the authority Myanmar´s government, condemns violence towards civil population, ex-presses the will bordering countries to provide the political refugees, de-clares the UN to ensure that the citi-zens have all their basic needs access to water, food and medical care. Be-sides, it specifies that each country should contribute with aids accord-ing to its possibilities, recognizes only humanitarian intervention, exclud-ing any kind of military intervention and stresses that it is in the UNSC competences to take into account Myanmar´s situation.

Debating about a military intervention

Words by Carmen Robles

Two blocks working for the no violence in Myanmar

AoC4 Friday 8 April 2011TheClarion issue three

The Alliance of Civilizations starts the sessions with a

guest speaker from the Spanish Government

Women, migration and con-fessional symbols. These are some of the issues that the del-egates of the Alliance of Civili-zations will talk about. Repre-sentatives from many countries of the world have gathered to talk about some crucial social aspects like the need for equal rights and opportunities for women when migrating, gender violence justified by cultural traditions or religious symbols in public places. The first ses-sion started yesterday with the conference of the Desk Officer of the Alliance of Civilizations from the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Mr.Juan Se-bastián Mateos. The speech

led to a debate where the ac-tuality took the floor. Delegates talked with the guest speaker about the burqa ban in France and the Arab revolutions, al-though those issues were not in the agenda. Contradictions between democratic countries which support non-democratic

activities and euro-centrism were the main topics of the unexpected debate. Therefore, the discussion started after lunch but topics on the agenda were not completely followed either because of the conse-quences of Myanmar crisis. The sessions continue today.

Religion and gender equality around the world

What are the main goals of the Al-liance of Civilizations? And the main problems found to reach these objectives?The Alliance works for building bridges between different cul-tures. I would say that our main goal is to make people put them-selves in the place of the others no to just understand the others.

We have a framework to do that which is the Universal Declara-tion of Human Rights. Sometimes we have economic and political problems to develop our activities. There are some politicians that use cultural division to increase their power. Governmental im-pulse and motivation is good but that might mean not having an independent voice. The Alliance of Civilizations is a young organi-sation but we work a lot on cul-tural and religious understanding.Nowadays, are different cultures getting a better understanding of each other?I think the most important thing is that the intercultural dialogue is in the centre of the political and social discussion and that is very good news. Migration, for example, is being discussed and

in the end we are all migrants.In the conference you mentioned that the Alliance has no influence on the Security Council or other institutions where important deci-sions are taken. Therefore, what is the real influence of the Alliance?The most important thing is the Global Experts which consists basically in the creation of a data of experts. They give their opin-ion and write articles which are sent to the international media. We also work on specific proj-ects like putting in touch stu-dents from different universities.Did you enjoy the debate with the delegates?It was great. Young people are absolutely necessary and we have seen that in the Arab revo-lutions. Young people are critic and we need that for democracy.

“There are some politicians that use cultural division to increase their power”Sebastián Mateos, Desk Officer of the Alliance of Civilizations from the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

Words by Neus Vidal

5Friday 8 April 2010TheClarionECONOMIC & FINANCIAL

“Taxes are not the solution; it is the architecture of the economic

system what have to be changed”. This statement of the Chinese del-egation could resume the general current of opinion of the Econom-ic and Financial Committee in its first session. Not as radical as the China’s intention, the majority of countries have expounded their ideas about the implementation of some specific taxes in the inter-national arena. Since the Millen-nium Development Goals expira-tion dates are getting closer, the eradication of poverty, a global partnership for development and to ensure an environmental sus-tainability have become into cru-cial hotspots internationally. Global community is aware that, for the first time in history, the less favoured nations are suf-fering the worst consequences of an economic collapse originated by the developed countries, since it has been spread all around the world. Thus, the discussion about the implementation and control of each one of the proposed inter-national taxes has been strongly influenced by this fact, facing the ones who bet for the immedi-ate execution and the ones who would not accept all the new taxa-tion systems in the way they are

drawn up. Taking into account the exception of the United Kingdom, most of the European countries and the USA make part of the first group of nations, making the de-veloping countries to gather into a large and new important school of thought. Despite of it, and as it is said, China would be lead-ing this new revolution in order to face the new challenges of the near future. Its delegate, in his very active performances, has not stopped demanding the enough autonomy into the potential new international scene to confront the possible risks that could be faced, “The key is not getting help but to be able to help ourselves”, he said. Morocco’s delegate went further suggesting the idea of the taxes on financial transactions should be-come into the principal aid to the developing countries since the fi-nancial world has been the cause of the current worsening. Further-more, all revenues would be redi-rected to selected NGO’s in order to avoid corruption, another cru-cial point of the day. While the Eu-ropean countries are agreed about taxes on financial transactions represent the only solution at this time, the UE insinuates the con-venience of the creation of a spe-cific group of observers to find the

deficits the taxation system might have. As it is known, the Com-mittee have been dealing with the currency speculation so long, so the entity and status of the body who managed it would be another future topic of discussion, as Ja-pan proposed.

Environment & Effectiveness On the other hand, economic

powers such as France or Ger-many declared their success by implementing taxes on aviation, urging to the rest of the Commit-tee to act in the same way. The environmental issues has been gaining importance lately so mea-sures like this are highly appreci-ate in the Assembly so there have barely been argues about it. Nev-ertheless, the controversy comes up at the time of speaking of ef-fectiveness, matter that the UK firmly questions. Are this revolu-tionary taxes made up for reach short-term needs? Will they last enough to be considered as a suc-cess? How could these taxes affect to the global economy? Nobody in the Committee wants to just paper over the cracks since the interna-tional community is also aware about we are running out of time. It is time to decisions. It is time of progress and equality.

Taxation for Fighting Poverty

Words by Eduardo Santana

Taxes on financial transactions or transport are discussed in order to reach the Millennium Development Goals

COURT OF JUSTICE6 Friday 8 April 2011TheClarion issue three

Economy or environment? The Arctic, an enormous and one

of the cleanest areas of the world is being damaged by the global warn-ing. Its importance lies in the huge amount of resources that can be found deep in it.

The North Pole and the North-west Passage are two of the most polemic issues. Referring to this sea route, it was clear that Rus-sia would defend its military posi-tion and, of course, wants to keep on its exploitation of the Arctic’s resources. On the other hand, Canada considers the Northern passage as one of its properties, so the dispute was clearly expected.

According to the United Na-tions Convention, “every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 natural miles, measured from baselines. But, we must clarify that, in spite of this article, the part of sea belonging to each state is two hundred nauti-cal miles from the baselines”. This was one of the main points dur-ing the yesterday discussion, as each country understood that this question was treated for the first of this articles or the other one.

What is important to highlight are the two clear positions that have taken place. First of all, we have the

EU – and, with, the International Seabed Authority – which defends the internationality of the waters, and see this question as an equi-librium fact –as the Russian fed-eration, in EU’s opinion, shouldn’t have access to all the resources. In the opposite position, Norway and Denmark put the emphasis in the fact that we should not confuse the economic question with the ter-ritorial one, as while Canada sees economic interests in the Russian interests when actually, the land is its. One of the most powerful na-tions in the world, the United States, centres its opinions in whether they will have economic benefits in the area. Consequently, the position of this country could vary during the coming negotiations.

The Arctic’s militarisationBut we cannot forget, apart

from the economic and environ-mental aspects, the military one. Russia and the NATO have execut-ed military interventions the area in order to “prevent those conflicts that could take place as a result of the environmental problems”. The indigenous people living in the zone may be affected by the global changes and the decisions taken by other states, so their life style may be modified. It is for this rea-

son that Greenpeace emphasizes that it’s not worthy to prevent the conflicts if we have not protected the population’s rights before. Af-ter long negotiations, the question is still opened.

As it was said before, the Arc-tic is one of the cleanest areas of the world, as the pollution in this zone has not been very harmful yet. However, the latest passages opened by the melting ice, like the previously mentioned Northern Passage, are being used by all kind of ships that would damage the waters. As it is said in the United Nations Convention, “no one can ignore the fact that exploiting the Arctic will undoubtedly have con-sequences on the environment”; this is why Canada, as its delega-tion pointed out, wants to regulate the Northern Passage, as it passes around the country and its govern-ment wants the passage’s users to respect some rules in terms of pol-lution or drugs’ traffic.

Summing up, the Arctic ques-tion will be opened in the Inter-national Court of Justice during the next days because, for sure, polemic will involve any decision, as the position of the countries is clearly differentiated and every country has different kind of inter-ests in the Arctic’s theme.

The future of the Arctic, main point of the International Court of JusticeWords by Marta Lacima

Withnessing a heated debate on countries´ rights upon Antartic territory

WHO 7Friday 8 April 2011issue three TheClarion

The World Health Organization Council first session started

with a very engaged speech made by the WHO Tobacco Free Initia-tive Program Manager, Armando de Peruga. Some deeply moving vid-eos where displayed during Mr. de Peruga’s speech in the aim of rais-ing public awareness on the topic of tobacco and its influence on social and economic issues. The Manager of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative Program highlighted the problems directly linked to the health of to-bacco consumers where smoking habits lead to inexorable devastat-ing consequences for both, direct and indirect smokers. The role played by Tobacco industries on the worldwide tobacco market was also mentioned during this opening speech while delegates of each UN member-State where strongly invit-ed to consider each one of these is-sues -including illicit tobacco-trade activities, internal taxation or even free smoking policies in some coun-

tries- during the negotiations and before coming up with a final deci-sion.

Mr. de Peruga’s speech was described as “inspiring” by some delegates and received a few com-mentaries coming from delegates of Brazil, Japan, Spain and some others. Brazil’s delegate raised the question of illicit tobacco traffic (which strongly affects this country as well as other South-American ar-eas) as an important issue to be tak-en into account on the debate. The Japanese delegate came up with Japan’s current situation -which has been catalogued as one of the worst catastrophes on the history of this country – and suggested that, as far as the Japanese government runs 50% of the country’s tobacco industry, there should be excep-tions in tobacco restrictions on specific cases as the Japanese one where tobacco industry can play an important role in the development of its economy and the reconstruc-

tion of the country. After a first informal session dif-

ferent positions on the tobacco is-sue where exposed. The European Union coalition proposed to work on policies leading to protect and support free smoking places as well as to work on the implementa-tion of universal tobacco taxes. On the other hand, the group formed by USA, Russian Federation, In-donesia, Japan, Bosnia-Herzegov-ina, and others, mentioned that they respect consumers freedom in choosing to smoke or not to do so, they believe in a system where taxes should not be systemati-cally raised, instead they intend to invest 5% of the already existing tobacco tax incoming on public awareness programs.

It is clear that a passionate de-bate on tobacco regulations has been opened; the struggle for a healthier worldwide system seems to be hard, let’s see what happens during future sessions.

Towards the end of tobacco?

Words by Evelyn Tinajero

Struggling for a healthier worldwide system

UNESCOFriday 8 April 2011TheClarion issue three8

The UNESCO found the first big controversy in yesterday’s

morning session. After some gen-eral revision of the topic when most countries expressed their willingness to protect animals, they encountered what will surely be one of the most hard subjects to compromise on: the religious slaughter. While UK felt strong-

ly on the necessity of adapting these practices to avoid unnec-essary animal suffering, Nigeria rejected the idea of interfering in religious traditions at all. “You can’t expect to impose chang-es in religions just like that, it goes against religious freedom”, were Nigerian delegate’s words. Kazakhstan representative felt

Promising UNESCO’s discussion over religious slaughter

The United Kingdom has lead-ed Thursday’s discussion in

the UNESCO: Especially partici-pative, it has also presented four motions for moderated caucus, two of which have passed. Irem Uzluer, member of the UK del-egation, gives us the keys of her country’s position and goals.What is your country’s position re-garding conflict between tradition and animal welfare?It is important to distinguish be-tween those cruel practices which are carried out solely as an en-tertaining and those which come from religious practices. As much as bullfighting or coq-fighting might be traditional, we need clear legislation to avoid that kind of animal suffering. Regarding reli-gious slaughter, we need to find a way of protecting animals whilst

preserving religious freedom, we need to rationalize some practices.You have started a discussion pre-cisely over that topic which has created much controversy, what are UK ultimate goals regarding this subject?The ancient practices in Mus-lim and Jewish tradition regard-ing animal slaughter, which are fairly extended, imply a lot of suf-fering. We wish, through compro-mise with religious authorities, to eliminate the permissiveness that most countries have with these practices, and make stunning compulsory for all animal killing.Do you think you will be able to come to an agreement to adopt measures in that direction?In this morning discussions we have seen some countries with a very strict opinion on the sub-

ject of religion, such as Nigeria, which believe UNESCO should not interfere at all in religious mat-ters. It is going to be very hard to compromise with those countries at any level, but our job is to try.

“We wish to eliminate the permissiveness that most coun-tries have with religious practices that are cruel to animals”

Words by Laura Mont

much the same, and defended that any change in these practic-es should come from the respec-tive religious authorities. Other countries, such as Norway were clear in signalling that neither religion nor tradition should be an excuse for animal suffering, gaining the angry responses of Egypt and India, pioneer coun-tries in animal protection but strong defenders of traditional and religious values. When the caucus was about to finish, The World Society for Protection of Animals reminded that there are ways of respecting one’s religious beliefs and preserve animal wel-fare, such as adopting vegetari-anism. UNESCO sessions have just started and they have al-ready addressed the heart of the subject. It will be tough, it will be tiring and it will be arduous,

Trying to preserve animal welfare while respecting religious beliefs.

9 INTERVIEW Friday 8 April 2011issue three TheClarion

“Animal rights have been always related to the development and modernity of a country”

In which way does ADDA work for animal rights in Spain?

What kind of changes have you noticed during the time that you have been working on this issue?Unlike other international asso-ciations that focus their efforts on specific themes of animals, ADDA covers all issues affecting ani-mal welfare and rights. We try to balance this complexity through swift reactions and strategies that should be undertaken with ur-gency, and with other long-term campaigns.

We can ensure that in the last 15 years Spain has noticed a great advance due to ADDA’s 34-years experience, making it the oldest association in Spain. The most notable changes are related to the introduction of regulations that did not exist. Another important factor has been that citizens have become more sensitive and re-sponsive regarding animal-related issues. It is arguably that there has been a rapid progress in a short-term. Catalonia is the most

outstanding community defending animals. Even so, there are still many unresolved issues.What is the role that ADDA plays internationally? How do you car-ry out the campaign for Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare?Since its foundation, ADDA has always been closely related to im-portant associations. It is one of the founding institutions of the WSPA. In collaboration with it, ADDA has been working to ban bullfights. The case of Catalonia is an example where bullfight is banned. The campaign for the adoption of the Universal Decla-ration of Animal Welfare by the United Nations is in the process of gathering signatures. There are already many countries and orga-nizations that firmly support this idea.Are there countries that could be used as models? In which way are they doing an exemplary job?Animal rights have been always related to the development and modernity of a country. Unfor-tunately, Spain is backward. As models, we can take into account the United Kingdom (the first na-tion in the world which had a democratic parliament), Austria, Germany, other northern Euro-pean countries and the U.S. It is noteworthy that none of them al-low bullfights or similar cruel and bloody shows.Sometimes direct violence against animals in bullfights and cockfights is justified for being part of a tradition or culture. What would you propose in reply to the discussion between the re-spect for animals and keeping up the traditions?

In the 21st century and with reference to bullfights and other cruel popular celebrations related

to animals there is no place to de-bate. Torturing a living being with feelings and brain capacity cannot be justified in a modern society. Those who currently defend this barbarity or their economic in-terests are an increasingly small group of supporters. Spanish youth and the majority of Span-ish people reject the cruelty to animals and surveys ratify it every day.In 1991 bullfights were already banned in the Canary Islands and a partial banning was recently passed in Catalonia. How do you think this question is going to de-velop?

Bullfights were banned in the Canary Islands years ago, but this question went unnoticed because bullfights were not celebrated since ages. However, the abolition in Catalonia has an internation-al significance. The bullfighting fans reacted, although they knew that not only had the majority of the population lost interest in this spectacle, but they were also against. Every day there are more protests against bullfighting and they will not take long to vanish or be banned.What are the aims of ADDA for the future?

The main task is to inform cit-izens about the respect animals deserve in order to increase the collective consciousness of ani-mal defense and welfare. This includes continuing working so that the suffering of animals does not become part of an en-tertainment show and a respon-sibility and protection level de-served by them emerges in the society. And also we have to lobby political parties for being sensitive and making adequate legislative framework.

Interview with Carmen Mendez, president of ADDA (Asociación Defensa Derechos Animal)

Words by Caroline Bach

“The UN is ready to continue its support to the Afghan people for many years to come”

Which are the objectives of the UN mission in Afghanistan?

UNAMA, which was established in 2002 by the Security Council, leads the international civilian effort to support the Government of Afghani-stan in laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development. Currently, among other areas, the Mission is mandated to support the Government’s development and gov-ernance priorities through the Na-tional Solidarity Programmes; provide political outreach and good offices, if asked by the Government in its peace and reconciliation efforts; support, if requested by the Government in future elections; to coordinate and facilitate the delivery of humanitar-ian assistance; and to continue its monitoring and coordination efforts to protect civilians and support wider human rights, in particular the rights of women and children.How many troops does the UN have in that country?

The UN does not have any troops in Afghanistan, as it is not a tradi-tional peacekeeping mission. UNAMA is, in fact, a special political mission directed and supported by the Depart-ment of Peacekeeping Operations.NATO has the International Securi-ty Assistance Force (ISAF) working in Afghanistan. What are the differ-

ences between the two missions? Do they complement each other or do they have conflicting interests?

UNAMA is a special political mis-sion established at the request of the Government of Afghanistan to assist it and the people of Afghanistan is lay-ing the foundations for sustainable peace and development. The UN, en-gaged in Afghanistan for the past 50 years, today supports the Government through UNAMA, its political mission, as well as 31 agencies, funds, and pro-grammes.

ISAF, on the other hand, also in support of the Afghan Government, is a military force led by NATO, that is mandated by the UN Security Coun-cil, to conduct operations in Afghani-stan, to reduce the capability and the will of the insurgency and support the Afghan security forces to provide a se-cure environment for population and development of Afghanistan. Although separate, both missions support the Afghan Government to lay the founda-tions for peace and development in the country.Are the objectives being accom-plished?

Although the country and the UN faces many challenges, UNAMA has been renewed every year by the Secu-rity Council. Progress is being made, but the process will take time. The UN is ready to continue its support to the Afghan people for many years to come.Which difficulties has the UN found in Afghanistan?

The UN faces multiple challenges because of the insecure environment and the tough conditions that it oper-ates under in Afghanistan. The UN, especially peacekeeping operations do not operate in countries which are easy. We have to continually adapt our ways of working to ensure we can deliver the help and support that the Afghan people deserve. Is now Afghanistan a safer country?

The Afghan National Security Forc-es are growing and becoming much stronger as they prepare to take over security responsibilities and lead and conduct operations against the insur-gency.

Today, seven million children go to school. Millions of people voted in two pivotal elections in the last two years. The role of women is much stronger in Afghan society: despite threats from the insurgency, Afghan women came out in large numbers from across the country to vote in the recent presiden-tial and parliamentary elections; out of the 2,513 candidates that ran for the parliamentary elections, 397 were women and 69 got elected as MPs.

Certainly, progress has been made in Afghanistan in the past decade, but there are challenges ahead and the Government is working hard to try and meet these challenges. The UN will be there to support this long-term process.Next 2014, Security competences will be transferred from interna-tional to Afghan forces. What will happen after that moment?

President Karzai expressed his am-bition at the Kabul Conference to see Afghan Forces to take the lead in con-ducting security operations by the end of 2014. To meet this, NATO is work-ing with the Government to create the security conditions and to build the apacity of Afghan forces so that the Government can take over this secu-rity responsibility.

This is a carefully planned opera-tion and will take place over the next three years. The Government of Af-ghanistan will increasingly be taking control of its own security allowing Afghanistan to stand on its own. The international community will continue to be engaged in Afghanistan and sup-port the development that still needs to take place to improve the lives of Af-ghans across the country.

Interview with Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). (Unfortunately, Mr De Mistura has not been able to attend C’MUN 2011, due to to the situation in Afghanistan but has answered these quesions for The Clarion).

By Neus Vidal & Marta Lacima

INTERVIEWFriday 8 April 2011TheClarion issue three8

Special visits you can make to-day after C’MUN sessions. This

year we have four options: “La Pe-drera”, Museu National d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), Barcelona Football Club Museum, and “La sagrada Familia”

La Pedrera“La Pedrera” is a beautiful build-ing placed in the centre of Barce-lona. It was designed by Gaudí, one of Barcelona’s main architects of the beginning of the 20th centu-ry. He was also the architect who designed the Temple of Sagrada Familia. “La Pedrera” has an out-standing undulating façade that evokes incredible stone waves and you will find a forest of sculptural chimneys on the roof.

La Sagrada FamiliaAntoni Gaudí was the designer of this enormous and magnifi-cent building, started to grow up in 1882 and is scheduled for completion in 2026. Visited by millions of people every year. the building is in the centre of Barcelona, and over the years it has become one of the most universal signs of identity of the city and the country. Near you will find another great art nou-veau or modernista, landmark: the “Hospital de Sant Pau”, by Domènech i Montaner.

MNAC: Museu Nacional d’Art de CatalunyaThe MNAC is the Catalonian Mu-seum of Art. It contains paint-ings and sculptures from the Middle Ages to Picasso and Dalí, and some outstanding works of each period. Besides, it is con-sidered the best collection of Ro-manesque art in the world.

The building where the Mu-seum is located is the Palau Nacional, an emblematic build-ing of the 1929 International Exhibition. It is situated on the Montjuïc Mountain, a privileged

site from where you can enjoy a magnificent and unique view of the city of Barcelona.

In front of the MNAC you can find the Barcelona’s biggest or-namental fountain that offers a spectacular display of music, water acrobatics and lights on Friday and Saturday.

(19 h-19.30 h/20 h-20.30 h).

Barcelona Football Club Muse-umIf you are a fan of the Barcelona Football Club, this is your oppor-tunity to visit the Museum and the stadium of the team. The Camp Nou is the stadium with the larg-est capacity in Europe (100.000 viewers.

C’MUN Cultural Friday!C’MUN offers you the chance to choose your own cultural experience

11SIDE EVENTS Friday 8 April 2011issue three TheClarion

Organized by: with the support of:

12 Friday 8 April 2011TheClarion issue three Reactions on the HRC resolution on Myanmar

The lowest moment in the Human Rights CouncilWords by Amnesty International and Hunan Rigths Watch

Joint statement Human Rights Watch/Amnesty International

This joint statement pretends to be an open protest and a claim in the defense of human rights, after the disastrous resolution adopted yesterday at the Hu-man Rights Council regarding the situation in Myanmar. Am-nesty International and Human Rights Watch, signatories of this statement, want to express their strong disagreement with the resolution. We consider it one of the lowest moments not only at the Human Rights Council, but

also at the whole United Nations System history.It seems atrocious that a body created to defend human rights all over the world doesn’t make a single mention to them in a criti-cal situation with, reportedly, 3.000 deaths and near 10.000 refugees. There’s no single men-tion either to the Responsibility to Protect principle when it is ev-ident the military government is murdering their own citizens in the name of the perpetuation of its dictatorial regime. We also de-plore there’s a call to the respect

of the authority of Myanmar’s government. If an illegitimate dictatorship system, respon-sible of systematic violations of human rights during 20 years, the latest including the death of Aung San Suu Kiy, winner of the last legal elections held in Myanmar, deserves any respect, it is time to conclude the Human Rights Council has no legitimacy itself to talk in the name of hu-man rights. What is the use of the Human Rights Council if it cannot guarantee human rights protection?

Words by Raül Jiménez, Secretary-General of C´MUN

I don’t need to tell you that the United Nations has a special

stake, and a special responsibil-ity, in promoting respect for hu-man rights worldwide. But equal-ly –and less happily– I don’t need to tell you that the UN has often failed to live up to that respon-sibility. Yesterday, the Human Rights Council failed dramatically in serving that purpose. I’m afraid many people are close to give up on any hope that the UN or any Government could really function as an effective human rights de-fender after a resolution like the

one that was approved yesterday.As you know, on 2005 the UN formally endorsed a crucial doc-trine. The doctrine of the Re-sponsibility to Protect, which means, in essence, that respect for national sovereignty can no longer be used as an excuse for inaction in the face of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. We learnt a sad lesson with the tragedy of Darfur, and we cer-tainly made a huge step forward with the situation with Lybia. Myanmar should have been a

new great opportunity to dem-onstrate we must not wait to take action when a government is attacking their own citizens. We must put an end to impuni-ty and continue the progresses made in holding people account-able for the world’s worst crimes. Justice cannot be sacrificed in the interests of peace, because justice is a fundamental compo-nent of peace. I urge the Human Rights Council to keep working towards the defense of peace. The Myanmese population is in need of justice.

The HRC has failed in their promotion of human rights