SOCHUM - Sunday

Chaos in the final quarter of an hour at SOCHUM. After the voting down of a third resolution , on torture (having already passed two on humanitarian co-ordination) with ten minutes to go, a final resolution was introduced, with five minutes to introduce and debate it, condemning all torture globally. Earlier in the day, in introductory discussions, Jordan advocated the legalization of torture in the presence of a UN representative, whilst Iran called for the abolishment of all current human rights treaties in favour of creating a new one. Finland, in his earlier definition of torture, made reference to David Hasselhoff, Westlife and high heels - perhaps it is best left to the reader to imagine how these three parties related to one another in the speech.

After being one of the first committees to pass a resolution on Saturday evening, a number of delegates expressed their discontent at it being passed without a single amendment, and characterized it as toothless and non-specific. This of course had ramifications for how the other draft resolutions were treated, with that passed on Sunday morning being heavily amended, and those in the afternoon, including the late introductions, dismissed relatively peremptorily.

DISEC - Sunday Morning

A slow start, warmed up by some tinkling of the ivories from the Indian delegate, culminated in a resolution dealing with small arms being passed today in DISEC. The resolution proposed the creation of a new body, the snappily titled UNARM, and the training of national police forces, whilst seeking to respect national sovereignty and the rule of law. Since the resolution was created via the fusion of two previous draft resolutions, support for it was in the end almost unanimous, with only three nations opposing it. Iraq, for instance, felt that the resolution would represent an obstruction of the legal arms trade it considered crucial for its national security.

The committee was throughout the sessions alleviated by moments of humour. The Russian delegate, condemning a proposed amendment from the Democratic Republic of Congo for being simply verbose and redundant, consciously invoked the words of the King, calling for "a little less conversation, a little more action please." The Chairman also caused a slight intake of breath when a letter appeared on the projector reading "Dear admin, the list of awards for DISEC are..." followed immediately afterwards by him copying in the pre-prepared phrase "Do you really think I forgot to turn off the projector?". A warm, if slightly disappointed chortle rippled across the room.

The following were also recipients in DISEC's light-hearted awards ceremony:

Funniest: New Zealand

Runners up - Russia, Yemen, Iran, Kenya

Best Dressed: Ghana

Runners up - Ethiopia, India, The Chairs.

Enough is Enough

By Alex Webb

It is the morning after the night before at LIMUN, and a quick trawl through the committees finds two distinct groups of people. There are those who, bleary-eyed, tenderly cosset a cup of coffee and take in the other group with a combination of bemusement and confusion, those who still look immaculate, and contrive to orate with an eloquence and perspicacity which fails to belie the events of yesterday evening.

Nonetheless, the issue of quoracy does not seem to be a major one. By ten o'clock, an informal check on seven committees found that they were all quorate on the basis of a simple majority, and only two were inquorate in the case of the need for a two-thirds majority. These figures are of course in comparison with how many delegates are sitting on each committee in total. DISEC, one of the larger committees, still only had 45 of its 86 delegates present, hindering its plan to vote on a draft resolution debated yesterday evening. It is clearly a very good turnout this morning, though, perhaps a reflection of Britain's somewhat stringent late night drinking laws, as much as everyone's self-discipline - a shock for those of you who come from countries where all-night drinking is de rigeur.

Quorum can be used as a potent weapon in the UN. Blocks of nations quite frequently walk out on votes they disagree with or threaten to do so, rendering them inquorate. In the build up to the Korean conflict of the 1950s, President Syngman Rhee arrested a number of the Korean National Assembly, leaving it inquorate and unable to vote on issues such as his introduction of martial law. Let us hope the Crisis Committee is out in full force this morning!

UNHRC- Day One.

At the first committee the slavery problems that the world faces, were discussed by the delegates. The definition of a slavery in order to take emergent measures, tried to define most of the participants, especially after Zambia‘s and Italy‘s proposal. The Bosnian delegate talked about human trafficking that defines what slavery is in our days, in order to avoid the philosophical conversations around the definition of the problem. However, some states such as Cuba and Senegal underlined the reasons that cause this major problem and called the rest of the delegates to think about the different aspects of trafficking. Jordan‘s statement that illegal immigration provokes prostitution and other kinds of slavery added a different point of view. Generally, the delegates did not manage to find a mutual point in order to agree.

By Eteoklis Nikolaou

DISEC - Saturday Afternoon

By Alex Webb

A draft resolution sponsored by six states including Russia, Israel, Yemen and the Cote d'Ivoire was discussed this afternoon. Earlier in the day, a resolution was voted down which, whilst calling for the establishment of working groups to encourage disarmament of small groups, rather hazily encouraged greater “transparency in [the] international trade of small arms”. Curiously, this failed resolution also recommended the providing of incentives for armed groups to “give away” their weapons voluntarily. Hopefully this was not intended to direct arms to less fortunate militant groups.

The draft resolution tabled later in the afternoon, which amongst its signatories also counted Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Liberia and Lebanon (whose presence caused some merriment) as well as three others, sought to encourage member states to fight against terrorism, whilst recommending an increase in the remit of the Office of Disarmament (ODA). It suggested the fostering of financial aid for those in need of it in, and an augmentation of trade controls. The signatories and sponsors each expressed individually their support for the motion, with India, a signatory, commending the presence of both “a carrot and a stick”. New Zealand, a non-signatory, was also eager to point out the strength of the resolution.

Despite Kuwait's reservations about a failure to incorporate the terms of other treaties, there was otherwise a remarkable consensus across the Middle East in support of the draft resolution, with Israel aligning itself with other nations in the region. Other nations did express doubt about the motivations behind the resolution, with Indonesia in particular lambasting Russia for encouraging restrictions on small arms whilst benefiting economically from the trade in other defence munitions. Voting will conclude on the draft resolution tomorrow morning.

World Trade Organization (WTO) Saturday Session

By Alex Webb

Two working papers have been discussed today at the WTO, both promoting the formation of new INGOs. The Egyptian delegate proposed a plan whose key tenet was the creation of new regional trade bodies, intended to encourage intra-regional trade, whilst Vietnam and India advocated a consultative body comprising neutral experts. This latter paper proved contentious, with a number of delegates posing questions about the nature of neutrality, and Ghana and Brazil expressing their favour for experts to hail from member states. In opposition to the Egyptian delegate's working paper, the Canadian delegate failed to ingratiate himself with the chairs, declaring that “This working paper is a little bit like Dutch girls: they look nice from afar, but once you get into them...”. The assistant director is a Dutchwoman.

It was agreed at the beginning of the last session of the day that a merging of the two working papers would be discussed.

UN Environmental program (UNED) 1st committee

By Eteoklis Nikolaou

The necessity of taking measures against climate change was underlined by the delegates. The vast majority of the delegates agreed that the existing measures are insufficient. As the Russian Federation's delegate claimed, it is our responsibility to act, adding that Russia is the ‘champion’ among countries fighting against climate change. A different perspective was expressed by the Belgian delegate, who suggested that the existing resolution system should be reformed and a new general body should be created. Furthermore, he added that the European Union is the only international organization which has acted and we expect more organizations to follow this example. A similar opinion was presented by the Italian delegate, who agreed with Belgium and noted that it is time to create international rules, as there is not an international organization which can take as yet take the necessary measures. The lack of limitations and the improvement of the existing institutions were underlined by the US and the UK delegates, who sought to oppose the suggestion made by the Russian and the North Korean delegates for the creation of an international environmental court. By the end of the committee there had been no clear decision whether a new international court should be created or not .