“because of this disrespect, we’re going to be less and less cooperative and involved,” says Stinavage.

Toward the end of the ses-

sion, everyone cracked down to

vote. Sufficient resolutions

passed with grand majority.

Secretary General was returned

safely and the crisis was over.

Dale Dorlin

The Darfur crisis hits the HRC with surprise. Suddenly out of nowhere, the Rights Right Now (RRN) terrorist organization is holding the secretary general for ransom until the UN agrees to send food and supplies to Darfur for their people. Delegates are rushing. Time is running out. If a resolution is not passed within the first session, that could mean death.

In the Darfur region, the Janjaweed militia group is showing much violence to-wards the citizens of Darfur. There is scarce food, safety and other supplies.

There are many different views on the crisis. Matt Mayer from Morocco says, “Morocco, US, Russia and the UK all view the RRN as a like-terrorist group. We don’t accept them but we will act to help not in

favor of the terrorists but in favor of our secretary general.” The 2005 HRC’s ruling defines the RRN as a terrorist group.

There are still some dele-gates trying to divert the com-mittee’s concern. Denmark stood to say, “The security council can handle the Darfur crisis.” Thailand’s delegate, Aaron Decker responded to this comment, “In this instance, we need to get food and security towards Darfur. We have to get through this to save our secre-tary general. At this moment, we don’t have a choice.”

Sudan is directly affected by this matter, as the UN has officially condemned their government for their support for the Janjaweed. Sudan’s delegate Andrew Stinavage says, “In our belief of National Sovereignty, we would like to take care of it on our own.” He has strong feeling of his words not being taken seriously,

Heat Time

University of Michigan Model United Nations

The Daily Planet Saturday, January 12, 2007 Issue 5

Kendsie Hunter

News concerning the crisis in the Republic of the Congo (ROC) flooded SOCHUM. Delegates learned that now 5-10% of those quarantined may have the disease, instead of the original figure of 5%. Upon discovering the nature of the quarantine, angry individuals fought the armed guards at the borders to escape. They were shot and killed. Reports estimate over 200 unconfirmed deaths in the Brazzaville quar-antined area.

After the quarantine,

volunteer medical staff arrived to aid the 70,000 people being held. The World Health Organiza-tion’s (WHO) African headquarters are located in the quarantined area of Brazzaville. These WHO members are as-sisting the volunteer staff. However there are still too few volunteers to completely solve the problem. The Congolese government shut off the fresh water supply to the quarantined area; this has been the government’s only response. This event escalated the chaos and the urgency for SOCHUM to solve the

problem.

The SOCHUM com-mittee completed a reso-lution that seeks the “quickest action possi-ble,” by calling on the WHO to administer treatment and the Secu-rity Council to deploy peacekeeping troops. “The resolution ad-dresses the needs of both the other countries af-fected and my own. Many diverse countries’ ideas have been com-piled and I’m glad the majority of them are happy with it,” said the delegate from the

Continued on page 3

Tensions Escalate in Britain, Germany

Jack Wagner

Tensions are on the rise in the British and German War Cabinets in this World War II setting. While both sides attempt to hinder each others’ movements in Europe and Africa, each nation has its own domestic problems that require im-portant attention in addition to the trans-continental strife.

The British people are in a state of demoralization in response to the war. Severe starvation has struck due to food rations. People have been forming pro-tests in the streets, some of whom are carrying weapons and instigating riots. The British War Cabinet is responding with a slew of new propaganda designed to raise the morale of the British citizens. Prime Minister Winston Churchill deliv-ered a speech “stressing [Britain’s] duty to preserve freedom and democracy from the tyranny of the Nazi forces and the Axis powers.”

Meanwhile, Germany is under-going a crisis in terms of their oil sup-plies. Germany’s oil supplies are deplet-ing, due to Britain’s seizure of Libya and Egypt, which was the main source of Ger-many’s fuel. However, a statement by Führer Adolf Hitler maintains optimism, “The current fuel shortage in Germany is not a setback this glorious nation cannot deal with. With the help of our superior ground troops and technology, our ex-tremely successful Luftwaffe will soon be back in the air for the advancement of the German homeland.”

Germany and Britain both must

overcome these setbacks before they can

advance in their military campaigns.

Whether or not they will defeat these bar-

riers, however, remains to be seen.

SOCHUM Solves Crisis

The arrest of the infamous “Feras”

during the fourth HRC session

Page 2 Issue 5

University of Michigan Model United Nations The Daily Planet

Progress Stalled in WHO

Sonja Mertens

Despite the promising start WHO made at the beginning of this conference, their effective-ness as a committee has de-clined. Debate has become much less informative, as points are being repeated and dele-gates seem to feel that they must make blatantly obvious statements.

Discussion continued about the crisis presented to the committee, namely that of a plague spreading around the world. Delegates debated on the crisis introduced last eve-ning, but most of the points presented seemed to have al-ready been covered in a pend-ing resolution. During this morning’s informal debates, many delegates urged voting on this resolution. After a long while, the delegates finally moved to vote, and the resolu-tion passed almost unani-mously, with only three absten-tions. Two delegates voted no with rights, but only because of grammatical errors in the reso-lution.

Once the resolution passed, the committee made very little progress for the rest of the ses-sion. A few resolutions were introduced, but the debate fo-cused mainly on whether or not to continue discussion on crisis. Many delegates felt that the resolution would be enough to contain the epidemic, and that the crisis should be tabled. Other delegates felt that, in light of new information, dis-cussion of the crisis must con-tinue.

WHO delegates must work through the personal con-flicts between delegates, as well

NATO Fails to Understand its Purpose

as the differing perspec-tives on what the commit-tee should do next. How-ever, given some coopera-tion between the WHO member countries, the fu-ture holds much potential for success.

How Far Will We Go For Our Attorney General?

Sarah Awad

NATO has finally got on track with one successfully passed resolution dealing with Afghani-stan’s social issues. According to the delegate from Slovakia, “The purpose of Resolution 3.1 is to have an economic program, help education, and promote an Af-ghan national identity.” This resolution passed with an over-whelming majority of eighteen votes for, zero against, and two substantial.

Currently delegates are observ-ing two working papers, both dealing with Afghanistan’s eco-nomic situation. Unfortunately, as Horia Dijmarescu of Hungary pointed out, since NATO’s pur-pose is to deal with martial situa-

tions, “[… it] does not have the authority or jurisdiction to in-volve itself in or analyze the economic situation [of a coun-try]. It’s not pertinent to NATO.”

Despite this, economic solu-tions are quickly forming. The UK representative is leading a group toward an industrially-based economic system. “Our goal is to industrialize Afghani-stan as soon as possible,” said Shawn Driggers, “We want them to have [the] economic policy of [a] democracy.” The sponsors believe that the best way to achieve this is to focus on the sale of natural gases to improve Afghanistan’s econ-omy. According to Driggers, “[…] 5 trillion cubic feet of

Lauren Frisch

Recently, a crisis has hit the Human Rights Council. A human rights organization kidnapped the secretary general, independent from any country. According to dele-gates, the kidnappers proclaim that if HRC does not decide on a resolu-tion regarding genocide in Sudan before 12:30 pm, the secretary gen-eral would be killed.

One would think that this would prompt the committee to pass a resolution quickly. Unfortu-nately, this was not the case. As usual in the HRC, the delegates enjoyed a morning of arguing over grammatical items in their multiple resolutions. Resolution 1 deals with the short-term effects of genocide in Sudan. Despite that this resolution was well done, some delegates still felt the need to be stubborn, stick-ing with their own ideas. Other delegates intended to introduce a new working paper about 20 min-utes before lunch.

Prakash Nallani, the com-mittee’s representative from Lithuania, stated, “The dele-gates should just pass the short-term resolution.” The resolu-tion can be considered a tem-porary solution that protects Sudan until they can develop a long-term solution.

Chloe Lewis from China points out that arguing over minor, insignificant details pertaining to grammar along with trying to wait for a new resolution to be presented is a waste of time. Lewis feels that the first resolution should be passed immediately, and other resolutions may be passed later in time.

The committee voted on their resolutions before lunch. As the time pressure on the committee increased, they were able to work together and pass Resolution 1, saving the secretary general.

natural gas are currently capped by the Soviet Union. If we can retrieve it, then Af-ghanistan can profit $50 billion a year.” 95% of the profit would be given to the Afghani government and 5% to NATO for operation and management costs.

Portugal, along with Luxem-

burg, Iceland, and Italy, has

presented a second, and quite

vague, working paper focusing

on the destruction of opium in

Afghanistan as well as aiding

agricultural development.

However, its sponsors are

quickly losing support as

doubts and lack of faith in-

crease.

Republic of the Congo.

Hopefully, these steps will bring a solution to the crisis in the ROC.

When asked how the dele-gate from the ROC felt about the help of the inter-national community, she graciously said “We are extremely grateful to all the countries who are working so hard and quickly to save our citizens from this unfor-tunate outbreak.”

SOCHUM Solves

Crisis , Continued

Page 3 Issue 5

University of Michigan Model United Nations The Daily Planet

Hasty, Hasty, Hasty

James Choca

A scientist’s theft of chemicals that could be po-tentially used in chemical weapons has become the new topic of discussion in DISEC. An UN official an-nounced that scientist Alan Crenshaw stole three vials, which contained different viruses. Crenshaw’s brief-case containing the two re-maining vials is still miss-ing. DISEC is concerned about the possible use of the missing chemicals for war-fare, and hopes to contain or find them to prevent any mal-intentioned use.

The delegates immedi-ately began responding to the emergency. Within an hour, two separate resolu-

Views on WHO

Nuclear War Stalled

Zach Yancer

The Security Council resumed its de-liberations of the crisis in Kashmir this morning. The Council began working to quickly pass an effective resolution, one which called for an immediate cease fire in Kashmir, an expedient withdrawal of all Indian forces from Pakistan, and post-resolution negotiations.

Shortly following the passing of this resolution, which received bilateral sup-port from India and Pakistan, the Paki-stani government released a statement affirming president Musharraf’s control. Although Pakistani’s rogue General Abassi maintains control of his troops, and approximately sixty Indian prisoners, Musharraf assured the Council that he will be taking military action to destroy Abassi and his division.

However, stipulations were demanded; these include UN peacekeepers and a promise of no economic sanctions. Dur-ing discussion, the Pakistani delegate stressed his inability to promise the safe return of either Indian prisoners or the plane’s original black box, citing the potential inaccuracy of air strikes. Both the Security Council and India accepted these terms.

With that in mind, the Council acted

again in an unusual show of quick con-

sensus. At twelve noon today the Secu-

rity Council passed Resolution 4A. The

primary stipulations of this resolution

include expanding the UN Military Ob-

servers Group in India and Pakistan’s

mandate, to include an additional 1,000

peacekeepers. It further reinforces all

operative clauses in Resolution 3-B, most

notably operative clause two. Finally, in

hopes of establishing a long term peace,

the Council established a demilitarized

zone on both sides of the Line of Con-

trol. The Security Council decided not to

draft specific distances, leaving it instead

to the governments of India and Pakistan.

Unfortunately left with no choice except

to wait for India and Pakistan’s reply, the

Council adjourned today in hopes of

discussing the genocide in Darfur later

this afternoon.

tions had already been drawn up, and the members were already disputing which of the two resolutions to pass. Although the crisis was an emergency and should have been handled quickly, there is a certain thoroughness that should be observed by all delegates when attempting to solve an international problem. “I question [the resolutions] effectiveness” said the Chi-nese delegate. Despite the apparent challenge of having only a limited amount of information, there are senti-ments that the only solution addressed in either resolu-tion is border control. Addi-tionally, neither resolution deals with the possible crea-tion or sale of weapons de-

rived from these chemicals.

Furthermore, the two solu-tions look remarkably simi-lar, and yet, have somehow managed to split the commit-tee into two competing groups. The delegate repre-senting the UK asserted that “they’re exactly the same,” and that he’s, “not sure why the body has split itself in half.” Both sides began to attack each other, and one delegate even suggested that the committee should “question [another dele-gate’s] intelligence.” This separation has prevented the group from accomplishing its goal of passing a resolution quickly.

Moksha Atluri

With updates about the increasing state of crisis, the WHO is experiencing high levels of frustration. As a committee, some delegates are lingering on irrelevant or minor details. Others wish to move into voting proce-dure. Throughout the con-ference, many WHO dele-gates have shown remark-able innovation and pro-gress, especially in their reaction to crisis. Last night, the delegates quickly put together a resolution that worked to solve most as-pects of the crisis. How-ever, this morning, the key emotion in the room seems to be irritability. One dele-gate, who wished to remain anonymous, stated, “Some delegates seem to be object-

ing certain ideas just to be controversial or sound im-portant.”

Maggie Kelly, the dele-gate from Germany, stated, “The WHO this year has some specific strong dele-gates, but there are also those delegates who have not spoken at all.” This lack of participation, it seems, has also led to a certain lack of interest. The delegate from Sudan, Rae Sweet, commented that, “The crisis cannot really be resolved and we have done all we can possibly do. Other dele-gates currently do not under-stand this and continue to be adamant about staying on this subject.” Some dele-gates suggested discussing immunization after tabling the crisis.

Nevertheless, officials and reports continue to update and present new material on the crisis. The plague is in-fecting many people around the world and is creating a global catastrophe. Instead of wasting time arguing over whether or not to move on, it might be wiser of the com-mittee to actually focus and continue to work produc-tively on solving the crisis.

Page 4 Issue 5

Stolen Virus Samples Lead to International Dispute

Ratan Chana

Earlier today, the DISEC committee faced a sudden crisis while in the mid-dle of deliberation upon small arms trade. A UN official informed the committee that Dr. Alan Crenshaw purloined three vials of deadly viruses from the CDC, including strains of Ebola and Smallpox, causing an international bio-logical warfare threat. Soon after authorities discovered

him, Dr. Crenshaw offered ad-mission and responsibility for the theft and is presently under custody.

DISEC promptly drafted two resolutions, B1 and B2, dealing with the biological threat. The United States, Is-rael, United Kingdom, and Aus-tralia defended resolution B1, which detailed setting up an international intelligence com-mittee to investigate the viral crisis. This committee would

be transparent in nature, open to any country that could make use of such intelligence to help solve the threat at hand. Many delegates also deliberated over the idea of turning the issue over to the Security Council.

According to the delegate from Israel, “Today’s deliberation stemmed from the issues of international intelli-gence sharing/transparency and the proportionality of re-sponses from involved nations

and intelligence agencies.” Keeping in mind that two vials of deadly content are still missing, DISEC had best move on this important issue before it gets out hand. Al-though the DISEC committee came close to voting proce-dure towards the session’s end, they have yet to decide what should be done to resolve this catastrophe.

Not Yet…Still…

Clara Yoon

In the last report on SPECPOL, this reporter ex-pressed the hope that this next article could report on voting procedure.

Unfortunately, some SPECPOL delegates refuse to let go of minor details and have prolonged debate over inconsequential particulars. The delegates were still dis-cussing the exact same issue and wasted yet more time dis-cussing whether or not to table resolutions. When the chair ruled tabling the resolution out of order, delegates squandered more time with an appeal to overturn the chair’s decision.

One delegate mo-tioned to close the Speakers List and this reporter practi-cally fell off her chair in joy. However, the chair announced, with some regret, that the mo-tion failed. Instantly, any ex-citement that had been gener-ated in the room as a result of

the motion seemed to have evaporated. The room reverted to its earlier atmosphere of apathy, and many seemed weary of hearing the same tired comments. One particu-lar delegate who would like to remain anonymous com-mented, “They’re just going around in circles!”

A reminder by the chair that the committee still has one more topic to discuss went unheeded as the stubborn went up to speak and once again enjoy the sounds of their own voices. Perhaps unbe-knownst to them, other dele-gates do not enjoy wasting so much time. Indeed, many seem to feel that certain coun-try’s arguments have been on “replay” for this entire confer-ence.

This reporter pities the other delegates and direc-tors for having to put up with such broken records and hopes (without much faith) that SPECPOL can finally move on.

University of Michigan Model United Nations The Daily Planet

A UN reform committee member defends his resolution

Tensions Rise as the chair delivers the final verdict in War Crimes Tribunal