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th
4
SPD
United Nations GA 4th Special, Political, and Decolonization
topics:
 West Bank & Gaza Strip Conflict
 Sexual Violence in the Congo
Chaired by the Honorable
Natalie Anzivino, Devin Lahtinen, and Ivana Jeremic
S i n c e
HBHS
April 25th, 2015
1 9 7 8
Novice
hbhsmun.webs.com
Huntington Beach High School Model United Nations
General Assembly – 4th SPD
April 25th, 2015
Welcome to United Nations GA 4th SPD!
Hello delegates and welcome to Novice 37! Hi my name is Natalie
Anzivino and I will be one of your chairs for 4th SPD. I am a Senior here at HBHS
and I have been an MUN participant since freshman year. This year I am on
Senior Staff as the program’s Website Coordinator and Director of Technology. I
have played Field Hockey for 4 years as well as participating in Soccer and Track
and Field earlier in my High School career. I am also involved in clubs such as
National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and American Sign
Language Honor Society. Outside of school, I have been a Girl Scout for 13
years and I am a recipient of the Gold Award and I love to wakeboard. I am so
excited to hear about your solutions for these topics and I look forward to
meeting you in committee!
Welcome to the 37th annual HBHS Novice MUN Conference! My name is
Devin Lahtinen and I will be one of your esteemed chairs for 4th SPD. A little
about myself – I am a Senior at HBHS, I have been a part of Varsity Soccer for
three years, I have been a part of MUN for 4 years, and I am also involved in AP/
Honors classes. While I am not at school I am heavily involved with volunteering
for the Special Olympics and Lionsheart, playing piano, as well as club soccer. I
look forward to having you all in my committee and I wish the best of luck to you
delegates!
Hello delegates! My name is Ivana Jeremic and I will be one of your cochairs for this year’s Novice Conference. I am a sophomore at Huntington Beach
High School and it is my second year in the Modeled United Nations program.
Aside from school and MUN, I am on the Huntington Beach Varsity Swim Team,
and have been competing for both the school and club. I love learning about new
cultures and perspectives on world issues so I am very excited for this
conference. I am looking forward to meeting you all and listening to all the new
solutions you come up with for these prevalent issues in committee.
Position Papers must be submitted to your Dais’s central email no later than 11:59 PM on
April 19th, 2015 to be considered for a Research Award. Research Awards will be presented
during committee; please be sure to follow the HBHSMUN Position Paper format available on
our website. Your Dais’s central email is: 4thspd.novice37@gmail.com
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General Assembly – 4th SPD
April 25th, 2015
I. West Bank & Gaza Strip Conflict
Topic Background
of the area. The Middle East Report noted,
“On September 19, 2007, Israel declared
that Gaza had become a ‘hostile territory.’
With support from Egypt under President
Husni Mubarak, Israel tightened its
blockade of the Gaza Strip.[6]” Further
action occurred in 2008 and 2014 when
significant military attacks were launched in
the Gaza Strip to siege rocket attacks
across the border.[7] Israel’s military actions
on the Gaza strip strengthened Hama
popularity for both Palestinians and the
international community.
Peace talks haven’t progressed
significantly since a peace agreement
between Egypt and Israel in 1979 which
was later followed by the intifada uprising
restarting the urge for negotiations of peace.
The population of what is now Israel is 96%
Muslim and Christian but these refugees are
unable to return to their homes and are
vulnerable to discrimination. As a result
Palestinians are subject to Israel’s
persistence of occupation of land in the
West bank and rule of the Gaza leading to
thousands of Palestinian men, women, and
children being held in Israeli prisons.[8]
The long term conflict regarding the
West Bank and Gaza Strip territories within
the Israel-Palestine Conflict has become an
increasing issue and tensions regarding a
settlement still exist today. Since 1948
Palestinians and their Arab neighbors have
persisted conflict over land considered holy
by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Following
World War II, pressure increased regarding
international recognition of a Jewish state
leading Israel to declare its independence in
1948, a result of the UN vote to partition
Palestine.[1]
As a result of Jewish outrage and
Israeli independence, five Arab armies
attacked Israel leading to the West Bank to
be operated by Jordan and the Gaza Strip
to be controlled by Egypt-however it left
Israel in control of the rest of Palestine. [2]
This was significant in marking the
beginning of the conflict over the Middle
East territories. A few years later the Six
Day War broke out resulting in Israel’s
takeover of the West Bank and Gaza Strip
which was inhabited by Palestinian
Arabs.[3] The results of the Six Day War
were detrimental because not only had
Israel overtaken all of Palestine, but
Palestinian
refugees
numbered
to
approximately 750,000.[4]
Since the war Israel’s settlements in
the West bank have been significant in
foreign and security policy and maintaining
military occupation. Nearly 500,000 people
were settled in the West Bank under Israeli
supervision and it has been deemed to be
illegal under international legislation.[5]
However in 2005, Israel ceased nearly 40
years of military tenancy when they
evacuated its inhabitants from the Gaza
Strip. This led to the Hama occupation of
the Gaza in 2007 causing a response from
Israel to further enforce its economic barrier
United Nations Involvement
The United Nations has continuously
tried to resolve the issues between
Palestine and Israel since 1947. On
November 29, 1947 the first resolution,
A/RES/181, was passed by the General
Assembly to establish the Palestinian
government and lay out a plan for
independence so that Palestinians can
claim their land and rights[9]. The UN also
created OCHA or the Office for the
Coordination of Human Affairs OPt in 2002.
This specifically deals with the Palestinian
territory and provides humanitarian help due
to the inadequate supply of resources and
necessities that the Palestinian Territory
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General Assembly – 4th SPD
April 25th, 2015
(OPt) lacks[10]. OCHA works hand in hand
with many other NGO’s like Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement to help the
unsanitary conditions and any disaster
stricken areas in Palestine. Just recently on
January 21, 2015, 8.5 million US dollars
were approved by the World Bank to donate
to the Palestinian Authority for health care
services[11]. Since the Gaza conflict is
violent there has been a number of
casualties and increase of infections due to
the contaminated hospitals and clinics that
are filled with dying civilians[12].
According to the 2014 International
Monetary Fund Report on the West Bank
and Gaza conflict, Israel has suspended
peace talks that were proposed in July 2013
leaving the political state of Palestine very
fragile[13]. The peace talk withdrawals left
Palestine highly dependent on donor action
from Israel which also caused the downfall
of an already struggling economy in
Palestine. Additional issues that have risen
from the West Bank and Gaza conflict is the
human rights violation that Israeli forces and
Palestinian soldiers have imposed due to
the increase of war and assault which is
addressed
in
the
UN
resolution
A/HRC/28/80/Add.1[14]. Furthermore, the
World Health Organization (WHO) released
a report on December 10, 2014 stating the
drastic decrease of available health centers
for Palestine citizens that live in East
Jerusalem. The report also expands on how
81.8% of patients that needed medical
treatment were directed to private health
clinics in the West Bank and Gaza because
of the overcrowding in public hospitals[15].
Furthermore, the UN Relief and Works
Agency is an organization that aids over 5
million Palestinian refugees that have been
affected by the West Bank and Gaza
conflict by providing them with humanitarian
help and educating the public in the
conflicted area. They began their operations
in May 1950 when the General Assembly
passed
resolution
302[16].
Overall the UN has rigorously tried to
reduce the amount of casualties and lessen
the conflict in the West Bank and Gaza.
Case Study: Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords between the State
of
Israel
and
Palestine
Liberation
Organization (PLO) began with peace talks
in 1993. These peace negotiations were a
historic turning point in Arab-Israeli relations
and very crucial in the understanding of
both countries policies on the issue. The
Oslo Accords began on September 13,
1993, in Oslo, Norway under complete
secrecy. The proposal between the two
countries was that Israel agreed to
recognize Palestinian autonomy in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip by beginning to
withdraw from the cities of Gaza and
Jericho. This was essentially an exchange
of land for peace. Additionally, the
Palestinians in turn recognized Israel's right
to exist while also renouncing the use of
terrorism and its long-held call for Israel's
destruction.[17] As a result of this triumph,
Yasser Arafat, Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Yasser
Arafat were all awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize for their roles in the Oslo Accord.
The Oslo Accords peace process
was outlined with a two-phase timed
proposal, during a five-year interim period.
Both Israel and Palestine agreed that they
would work together to police the mutual
territories and cooperate to fight against the
imminent terrorism that plagued that region
of Eastern Africa. In the agreement, Israel
would also withdrawal almost all of its
settlements within Gaza and parts of the
West Bank and a new Palestinian Authority
would take over that region. In hopes of
boosting mutual trust that would empower
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General Assembly – 4th SPD
April 25th, 2015
leaders on both sides to negotiate finalstatus agreements, the limited Palestinian
government and State of Israel's withdrawal
of settlements in Gaza and the West Bank.
[18]
However these negotiations had
many
setbacks
that
hindered
the
implementation of the goals originally set by
both parties. These setbacks began a
steady process of decline as both sides
accused one another of failing to implement
key aspects of the agreements. The first of
these severe delays was when the
Palestinians accused the Israelis of failing to
stop the expansion of Jewish settlements
within the West Bank Territory and stalling
the withdraw of current settlements that
were in that region. [19] Due to the
imperative skepticism of various militant
groups, Israel accused Arafat and the
Palestinian security forces of not taking the
proper precautions when dealing with these
groups and their plans to sabotage the
peace talks. Another delay in the agreement
process occurred in 1995, when a right-wing
Israeli gunman assassinated Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin at a peace rally in
Israel.[20] The following year, Likud leader
Benjamin
Netanyahu
beat
Rabin’s
successor Shimon Peres at an election poll,
after a series of Hamas bomb attacks on
civilian targets within Israel. As a result of
these hindrances, the agreements broke
down and both parties parted ways. [21]
Sporadic attempts to potentially
reopen talks of negotiation over the past
decade have been in fruition, but have yet
to produce any further progress towards a
final agreement. With no plans of restoring
the short-term peace between the two
parties, it is unclear as to how the two
territories will be divided.[22]
II. Sexual Violence in the Congo
Topic Background
in several areas; however it is able to grow
more easily in unstable regions such as the
Congo. Additionally, there exist a number of
militias and rebel groups in the Congo that
sustain a significant amount of power and
thus allow sexual violence to thrive.
As seen in the DRC, on average 40
women are systematically raped each day
by these groups and women are subject to
these strategies as a tactic of intimidation to
opposing groups and villages.[2] Culprits of
these acts are not only carried out by
groups such as the FDLR (Democratic
Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and
the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) but even
the Congolese Army (FDRC) is reported to
be guilty of such crimes as well.[3] Between
July 2011 and December 2013, the United
In the Democratic Republic of the
Congo 400,000 females from ages 2 to 80
were sexually assaulted through rape and
torture within a timeframe of 12 months.[1]
The relevance of sexual violence in the
Congo is apparent and increasingly harmful
towards men, women, and children. A
common consequence that is often relevant
in the Congo is the subjecting of women to
armed conflict after surviving extensive
torture and rape. Beyond surviving such
acts, women often become rejected by their
families and communities and their being
victims of rape is seen as unethical due to
their exposure. Sexual violence is prominent
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General Assembly – 4th SPD
April 25th, 2015
talk about ‘if’ a woman will be raped, but
‘when’…”[9]
Nations Joint Human Rights Office
(UNJHRO) in Congo reported 187
convictions by military courts for sexual
violence.[4] The Congo’s justice system is a
huge indicator of why sexual violence
persists to be such a significant issue and
courts of the Congo are beset by corruption
and political influence. Certain areas of the
Congo have been more heavily affected by
these issues such as in the region of North
Kivu where cases of sexual violence raised
from 4,689 in 2011 to 7,075 in 2012.[5] The
danger for women in the region has
increased due to fighting between the ADF,
a Ugandan rebel group, and the army as
well as renewed fighting between the army
and the M23 rebels near the capital,
Goma.[6] Several people are fleeing their
homes as a result and several children are
attempting to flee forced recruitment by the
army and rebel groups. The severity of the
fighting and the crisis of the situation at
hand have concluded the Eastern Congo to
be describe as being “the most dangerous
place in the world to be a woman.”[7]
Considering over 36 women who are
raped and beaten each day in the DR
Congo alone, sexual violence is becoming
more prominent and action must be taken
against this issue. Social and political
problems in the Congo derive to be the
source of several of the causes that uphold
the issue of sexual violence. Over the past
decade the government has upheld a policy
of gratifying previous armed group leaders
and war criminals by initiating them into the
military and awarding them officer positions.
[8] Survivors of rape and sexual violence
suffer from psychological and mental
trauma and the government has done little
to nothing to support them. Women have no
access to necessary counseling and
medical care and communities frown upon
them leaving several women left behind. A
leader in the area of the Eastern Congo
expressed that rape and sexual violence
had become so prevalent that, “people don’t
United Nations Involvement
The United Nations is actively trying
to relieve the sexual violence throughout the
Congo by using many organizations and
campaigns. In 1999, resolution 1279 was
passed by the UN Security Council. It
created MONUC or the Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo which
worked to stabilize the exploitation of
citizens in the Congo. Over the years the
United Nations allowed MONUC to use
peacekeepers in high risk areas throughout
the sector where sexual violence was most
prevalent [10]. Soon after MONUC changed
its name to the United Nations Organization
Stabilization Mission in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) which
expanded their power in the DRC and gave
them more rights within the UN. As the
sexual violence rate continued to grow in
2011 the UN passed Resolution 1991 which
ordered all of the rebel groups to stop all
forms of manipulation, cruelty and violation
of human rights in the DRC[11]. The
Security Council furthered their power and
adopted resolution 2053 which called for a
better surveillance in the Congo where rape
and exploitation was common.
In April of 2008 the UN Action
against Sexual Violence in Conflict made a
strategic plan to restore security and an
idea to combat the sexual exploitation in the
DRC. The Comprehensive Strategy on
Combating Sexual Violence in DRC wanted
to prevent the threats of rape by creating a
stronger criminal justice policy that would
deal with any kind of exploitation and
manipulation [12]. In March 2011 the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
released a report that mentions the
necessities sexually abused victims need
for recovery and the implementation of
MONUSCO in the high risk areas. Likewise,
the United Nations Joint Human Rights
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General Assembly – 4th SPD
April 25th, 2015
Office (UNHJRO) works to eliminate the
sexual violence in the Congo; it was created
in February 2008 and consists of two
branches that have the same objectives,
MONUSCO and OHCHR/DRC[13]. These
offices work together and enforce any
restrictions and resolutions that are
implemented in the DRC that help reduce
the prevalence of sexual violence[14].
On October 9, 2013 the
General Assembly passed resolution
A/HRC/RES/24/27 which further enforces
human rights in the DRC and also expands
on the role the OHCHR has in the conflicted
area[15]. Along with having strict security in
the DRC, UN Peacekeepers were also sent
in by MONUSCO to secure the high risk
areas where most of the sexual violence
was occurring[16]. On January 29, 2015 the
security
council
passed
resolution
S/RES/2198 that renewed the sanctions
that were placed on DRC regime to ensure
the safety and security of the territory[17].
With many resolutions and organizations
the UN strenuously works to eliminate the
sexual violence in the DRC.
an epidemic that continues to affect
hundreds of thousands of people within
Africa every year. This epidemic has
plagued the DRC since it gained
independence from Belgium in 1960 until
the present day.
In order to gain a better
understanding of rape as a weapon of terror
and war in the DRC, it is imperative to
understand how it all began. After finally
achieving independence from Belgium, the
people of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo failed to rebuild their government
and societal structure. Furthermore, the
country was struck with even more turmoil
and chaos once the Rwandan Genocide
reached its borders in 1994. When the
genocide finally reached a conclusion,
Rwandan Hutu militias (Interahamwe) fled
to the Congo because of the word that the
Tutsi’s took over control of the Rwandan
Government. After hearing that these militia
groups were relocated themselves in the
Congo, the Rwandan Patriotic Army entered
the DRC in hopes of extinguishing the Hutu
militias.[19] In spite of their hatred towards
the Tutsi, the Hutu Militias would often result
to rape and sexual abuse of women of the
Tutsi descent. [20]The exact number of
women raped was never studied, there are
various testimonies from survivors that
confirm that the rape within the region of
Africa was very prevalent and that tens of
thousands of women were individually
raped, gang-raped, raped with objects such
as sharpened sticks or gun barrels, or even
sexually mutilated. After these militias
attacked their homes and destroyed all their
belongings, rape was an inevitable part of
their revenge. Their theory was that by
having sex with the Tutsi women, the Hutu
men could pleasure themselves as well as
Case Study: DR Congo
According to the International
Criminal Court (ICC), rape is considered a
crime against humanity and is impermissible
under international law. The Democratic
Republic of the Congo has been
appropriately acknowledged as the “rape
capital of the world”. [18] For years now,
rape has been seen as a weapon of war all
throughout sub-Saharan Africa. These
people, who live within countries that are
trapped by an always-adherent conflict and
targeted by nomadic militias, feel helpless.
With over four million dead, tens of
thousands of women raped and sexually
abused, researchers and doctors have
referred to this violence as an epidemic. It is
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General Assembly – 4th SPD
April 25th, 2015
by the militia soldiers that, “they were let live
so that they may live a life of sadness”.[22]
With no one and nowhere to go, these
women were lost with no hopes of regaining
the lives they once had. In a way, the Hutu
people did accomplish their goals and
ultimately hindered the growth and
expansion of the Tutsi population, but as a
result the Hutu’s prolonged this everlasting
sociocultural fight.
ensuring that the possible future Tutsi
population would cease to exist.[21] The
militia soldiers would sexually mutilate these
women so that their productive organs
would be too bad of state to be able to
reproduce an offspring. According to
witnesses, most of the women that were
raped were immediately killed afterwards.
Any women that were allowed to let
live after they were brutally raped, were told
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General Assembly – 4th SPD
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Questions to Consider
West Bank & Gaza Bank Conflict:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What can you do to help the refugees suffering as a result of this conflict?
How has your country been involved in this topic?
What is your country’s policy in regards to foreign conflicts?
Is your country affiliated with any organizations that aid the certain conflict?
Has your country been affected by the conflict? If so, how?
How do you plan on ceasing the conflict without infringing upon sovereignty?
Sexual Violence in the Congo:
1. What are the different types of sexual violence and how are they different depending on
each region?
2. What has the DRC done in the past in order to help their people recuperate after they
have been sexually abused?
3. Does your country have sexual violence? What has your country done in order combat
sexual violence in your country or other countries?
4. What are the causes of sexual violence and what can be done to prevent them?
5. How can you combat the issue of the treatment of women after being sexually
assaulted?
6. What kind of NGOs can help towards this cause
West Bank & Gaza Conflict
[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14628835
[2] http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/
[3] http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Palestine-West-Bank-and-Gaza-Strip.html
[4] http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/
[5] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14628835
[6] http://www.merip.org/primer-palestine-israel-arab-israeli-conflict-new
[7] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14628835
[8] http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/
[9] http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/BA123CDED3EA84A5852560E50077C2DC
[10] http://www.ochaopt.org/content.aspx?id=1010055
[11]http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/01/21/healthcare-services-sectorreforms-palestinian-territories
[12] http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48720#.VQYPaY7F8lM
[13] http://www.imf.org/external/country/WBG/RR/2014/063014.pdf
[14]http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session28/Pages/ListReports.as
px
[15]http://www.emro.who.int/palestine-press-releases/2014/who-report-barriers-to-health-forpalestinians-under-occupation-december-2014.html
[16] http://www.unrwausa.org/about
[17] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oslo/negotiations/
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General Assembly – 4th SPD
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[18] http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/13/oslo-accords-explained.html
[19] https://history.state.gov/milestones/1993-2000/oslo
[20] http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1991to_now_oslo_accords.php
[21] http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/middleeast/a/What-Were-The-Oslo-Accords.htm
[22] http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/13/oslo-accords-explained.html
Sexual Violence in the Congo
[1] law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6393&context=expresso
[2] https://www.amnesty.org/.../act770342004en.pdf
[3] http://www.warchild.org.uk/issues/sexual-violence-in-congo
[4] http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/10/dr-congo-summit-should-support-justice-rape-victims
[5] http://www.unhcr.org/51f79a649.html
[6] http://www.unhcr.org/51f79a649.html
[7] http://worldrelief.org/page.aspx?pid=2633
[8]http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/10/democratic-republic-congo-ending-impunity-sexualviolence
[9] http://worldrelief.org/page.aspx?pid=2633
[10]http://www.betterworldcampaign.org/un-peacekeeping/missions/democratic-republic-ofcongo.html
[11] http://monusco.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=10817&language=en-US
[12]http://monusco.unmissions.org/Portals/MONUC/ACTIVITIES/Sexual%20Violence/KeyDocu
ments/Comprehensive%20Strategy%20Executive%20Summary.pdf
[13] http://www.monusco.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=10766&language=en-US
[14] http://www.un.org/press/en/2012/ga11317.doc.htm
[15] http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/CD/DRC_Reparations_Report_en.pdf
[16] http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/
[17]http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_res_2198.pdf
[18]http://study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/Ch09_Legal%20Definitions%20of%20Rape.pdf
[19] http://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/Rwanda.htm
[20]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/04/un-3600-raped-drc-four-year-period20144923542487129.htmlhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/exclusive-as-thedemocratic-republic-of-congo-suffers-another-day-of-bloodshed-its-soldiers-talk-withastonishing-candour-of-their-own-brutality-9506990.html
[21] https://clg.portalxm.com/library/keytext.cfm?keytext_id=202
[22] https://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims
[23]http://study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/Ch09_Legal%20Definitions%20of%20Rape.pdf
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