The University of Notre Dame Model United Nations

Conference

2017 SOCHUM COMMITTEE BACKGROUND GUIDE

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to the First Session of NDMUNC!

My name is Laura Qi, and I am your chair for the 2017 UN General Assembly Social,

Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee. I am from Vancouver, BC and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

and a rising sophomore at Notre Dame. Besides being involved in NDMUNC, I play on ND’s

Club Field Hockey team, tutor at St. Adalbert’s, a local elementary school, and work as a Learn

to Skate instructor at Compton Family Ice Arena here on campus. South Bend and Notre Dame

have become a home for me, and I hope you guys enjoy exploring campus as much as I have! In

the future, I hope to work abroad in consulting or finance for NGOs or private firms. Having

done Model UN throughout high school and as an International Economics and French major, I

am very interested in currents events and politics. The humane treatment of prisoners and the

reproductive rights of women are sure to inspire some exciting conversation and debate, and I am

looking forward to exploring these topics in SOCHUM. The breadth of our committee represents

many diverse views, and I hope that we will be able to find some comprehensive solutions

through compromise, collaboration, and debate.

Though it feels a long way away, these months will fly by. I expect that each and every

member of this committee will be prepared with research, write a thoughtful position paper, and

arrive at this conference ready for debate. It is important to note that delegates who do not submit

a position paper will not be eligible for an award. Though the attached background guide may

serve as a starting point, further research will be necessary preparation for debate. By the end of

this conference, I anticipate that our committee will have reached various solutions for these

issues. Hopefully, engaging with these topics will help us expand our knowledge and

understanding of the complexities of these multifaceted issues, as well as gaining a better

understanding of the world as a collaborative community.

Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions or ideas that you may have, and I

look forward to meeting all of you in February!

Sincerely,

Laura Qi

xqi1@nd.edu

Human Rights of Prisoners

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR), one of the foundational

documents from which a multitude of human rights agreements subsequently spawned, states

that all human beings are equal in dignity and rights. Unfortunately, there are situations where

conditions go unchecked by any regulatory authority, taking away the rights of those imprisoned

due to the nature of their crime, POW status, or even a “beneath human” status. UNDHR,

however, guarantees equal treatment, or at least a standard minimum treatment, to all people,

regardless of the nature, situation, and degree of their transgressions.

UNDHR state parties (dark green), non-ratifying signatories (light green), withdrawing states

(orange) and non-signatories (gray).

Despite the fact that international treaties such as the United Nations Convention Against

Torture include a sizable number of state signatories, brutal and inhumane treatment in prisons is

an ongoing phenomenon either proliferated or ignored by both state and nonstate entities.

Prisoners are often provided very little health care and are subjected to poor living conditions, as

well as physically and mentally abused by their captors. Moreover, prisoners in general are

treated (or mistreated) differently on account of race, whereas those requiring unique treatment,

such as the mentally ill, are in turn not provided special resources they require. A clear trend of

human rights violations pervades the prison systems of many signatories and ratifiers of human

rights treaties. These treaties include the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of

Prisoners and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This issue remains one of

the focuses of the GA Third Committee - Social, Cultural and Humanitarian.

Measures can be taken to recommend courses of practical and legislative action

pertaining to the internal prison systems of individual nations. Amnesty International

representatives report vast abuses of human rights in the prisons of several nations and have

consistently called upon these individual nations to reform their practices. These countries

include, but are certainly not limited to, Chad, Cameroon, and North Korea. In addition, certain

controversial instances that have come into the global spotlight in the past decade lie under the

jurisdiction of the international community. For example, the United States in recent years has

been repeatedly accused of human rights violations in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility it

maintains in Cuba and in its military activity in the Middle East, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

Therein lies a subjective distinction in legal dealings between domestic prisoners and foreign

prisoners - relevant historical documents include the Third Geneva Convention, which defines

prisoners of war and outlines their rights as human beings. The legal fate of foreign prisoners

may or may not be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, depending on the outcomes of this

committee.

On this topic, blocs (groups of member states with similar perspectives) tend to form

along cultural lines. Individuals, cultures, and countries that inherently promote discriminatory

practices in general (such as gender, orientation and ethnic inequality) are generally less likely to

adopt the view that prisoners are humans with the same basic rights as non-prisoners. Moreover,

states going through a consistent and effective state of war face have the additional problem of

war prisoners. Many of these prisoners are foreign and sometimes stateless, therefore having an

increased vulnerability to the wrath of their captors.

Important sources to consider include all those cited in this background guide. It is

critical to know not only your own country’s current perspective on the topic of prisoners’ rights,

but also the historical context of international discourse on this topic. Make sure that any policies

and measures advocated during committee are either in accordance with these past documents or

are able to justifiably supersede them.

Questions to Consider

1. How can we delineate the basic human rights of prisoners, drawing upon and reinforced

by past agreements as well as current events?

2. What is the degree to which treatment of prisoners may vary based on the prisoners’

personal attributes, such as in the case of those with preexisting physical and medical

conditions or those of foreign origin?

3. How can we enact a system of accountability by which violations of these rights on the

part of state governments and their prison institutions may be prevented and prosecuted if

necessary?

Helpful Sources

United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-

human-rights/

United Nations Convention Against Torture: http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html

UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners:

https://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/UN_Standard_Minimum_Rules_for_the_Treatment

_of_Prisoners.pdf

International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights:http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx

Third Geneva Convention: https://ihl-

databases.icrc.org/ihl/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e63bb/6fef854a3517b75ac125641e004a9

e68

Reproductive Rights of Women

The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

(CEDAW) was adopted in 1979, and ensures the human rights of all women, regardless of social,

economic, religious, or cultural heritage. Though there has been extensive debate and adoption of

law in individual countries, CEDAW is the only human rights treaty that upholds the

reproductive rights of women in the context of their own culture and heritage.1 The UN

recognizes the integral roles women take in shaping society domestically and intellectually.

Ultimately, CEDAW retains a woman’s right to control her own health and body, including the

rights of her children. Today, we see these freedoms threatened by political and religious

movements around the world.

2The availability and access to birth control has been a widely debated issue since the

affirmation of CEDAW. Only a handful of nations, mainly developed nations such as the US,

Canada, and the EU nations show that contraception is available to 70% or more of women.

Even though these nations provide birth control, access to it requires a prescription, to which

many teens and impoverished women are not privileged. Additionally, many employer-based

insurance companies do not cover birth control, leaving women to face payments they cannot

afford.3 In other nations, birth control, oral contraceptives in particular, are allowed only on a

serious medical basis, and the road to proving such a claim is difficult—nearly impossible for

women without resources. Many countries that have outlawed birth control have done so on

political order or by religious mandate and law. The greatest debates against allowing birth

                                                                                                               1 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/ 2http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_maternal_health_contraceptive_prevalence_2000_2010.png 3 http://www.reproductiverights.org/press-room/huffington-post-fight-womens-reproductive-rights-winning-losing-abortion-war-Roe

control are found in nations that do not practice the separation of church and state. Furthermore,

in many nations, not just the ones that outlaw contraceptives, women are frequently punished for

seeking out birth control. By CEDAW and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights

(UNDHR), women cannot be persecuted for their individual beliefs relating to reproductive

rights, and certainly cannot be treated with violence.

 

Another major issue concerning women’s reproductive rights is maternal health, and with

this, abortion. In the United States of America, one of the most liberal nations with abortion

internationally, 87% of counties do not offer an abortion provider.4 These figures are from 2012,

and with the rise of stricter state legislation from Indiana, Mississippi, and Texas in recent years,

this percentage has only gone up. Unfortunately, what is seen in the United States, and is

reciprocated internationally, is that women who are unable to procure safe and medically sound

abortions from legitimate and legal providers turn to illegal means, and sometimes turn to

                                                                                                               4 http://www.reproductiverights.org/press-room/huffington-post-fight-womens-reproductive-rights-winning-losing-abortion-war-Roe

dangerous forms of self-induced abortion.5 Unsafe abortions cause around 25-50% of maternal

deaths.6 In nations where women face persistent poverty and disease runs rampant, abortion is a

safer option for both mother and child. Improving maternal health is a Millennium Development

Goal for the UN. Around 140 million women worldwide who are married or in union say that

they would like to delay or avoid pregnancy, but lack the proper family planning resources.7

Pregnant women also face problems with prenatal nutrition and care. This issue also indicates

that pregnant women are not able to detect problems with their pregnancies, such as fetal defects

that can pose a risk to both the child and the mother. Furthermore, complications with pregnancy

and childbirth are a leading cause of death among teens worldwide.

Women’s rights to family planning, including contraception and abortion are protected by

both CEDAW and UNDHR. Cultural and religious traditions and beliefs play a large role in

many nations that deny these rights to women. However, the systematic oppression of women

can be combated through activism, education, and most fundamentally, acknowledgement of the

issue. Politics and government do not prioritize the issue of women’s health, perpetuating the

                                                                                                               5 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3775591?seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents 6 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2939201?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents 7 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Goal_5_fs.pdf

oppression of women.8 As noted by Nancy Northup, President and CEO of Center for

Reproductive Rights, “women’s fundamental human rights should never be treated as political

spoils to be won or lost.”9 (image)10

Questions to Consider

1. How can technology impact society’s views towards abortion? What might these

technological advancements do to help/hinder the argument for or against abortion?

2. How, if at all, can world superpowers influence developing nations rights for women?

3. What can international bodies, such as the UN, do to provide women reproductive rights?

How can these bodies empower women to recognize their rights?

4. Do countries that abide by cultural and/or religious laws have an obligation to abide by

these same standards?

Helpful Sources

Center for Reproductive Rights: www.reproductiverights.org

Amnesty International: http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/women-s-

health-sexual-and-reproductive-rights

National Women’s Law Center: http://nwlc.org/issue/health-care-reproductive-rights/

Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

UN Millennium Development Goals: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml

Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/

World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/topics/womens_health/en/

                                                                                                               8 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2939201?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents 9 http://www.reproductiverights.org/press-room/huffington-post-fight-womens-reproductive-rights-winning-losing-abortion-war-Roe 10  http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/cf_images/20070519/CIR991.gif  

Women’s Rights Human Rights: International Perspectives editors Julie Peters and Andrea

Wolpert: https://archive.org/details/womensrightshuma00pete