Council: The Human Rights Council

Topic: Questioning Genocide Through Historical Cases

Date: March 24th, 2011HRC/Res/A/1

Sponsors: The Russian Federation, The United States of America, The People’s Republic of China, The Republic of Cuba, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The republic of Angola, The United Mexican states, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Co-Sponsors: Uganda, Jordan, Nigeria and South Korea

Reaffirming the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and acknowledging the inherent rights of every individual,

Emphasizing the implications of the International Bill of Rights outlining the fundamental rights of each human being,

Respecting the principles outlined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with emphasis on Article 6(1) stating that “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life”,

Stressing the vital role of international, regional and domestic institutions in upholding Human Rights and the dignity of every person,

Recalling the necessity of holding those in violation of Human Rights accountable and the implementation of just punishment accordingly,

Endorsing the strict implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and affirming the obligation of participating countries to prevent and punish such crimes,

Noting with approval the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction outlined in Article 5 as such:

1. The jurisdiction of the Court shall be limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. The Court has jurisdiction in accordance with this Statute with respect to the following crimes:

a. The crime of genocide; b. Crimes against humanity;

c. War crimes; d. The crime of aggression,

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Referring to the specified parameters of “crimes against humanity” instated by the International Criminal Court in Article 7 which reads:

1. For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:

a. Murder; b. Extermination; c. Enslavement; d. Deportation or forcible transfer of population; e. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; f. Torture; g. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; h. Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; i. Enforced disappearance of persons; j. The crime of apartheid; k. Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health,

Citing the International Criminal Court’s specified jurisdiction in the event of war crimes taking place and noting the present classification of actions deemed as “war crimes” outlined in Article 8, which states:

1. The Court shall have jurisdiction in respect of war crimes in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes. 2. For the purpose of this Statute, “war crimes” means:

a. Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:

i. Willful killing; ii. Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments; iii. Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health; iv. Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;

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v. Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power; vi. Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial; vii. Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement; viii. Taking of hostages,

Confirming the definition of the term genocide as mentioned in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. "Genocide" denotes any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

a. Killing members of the group; b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to

bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;d. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group,

Clarifying that the group victimized in the years between 1975- 1979 consisted of Buddhist Monks, Muslim Cham, Chinese and Vietnamese nationals as well as students, intellectuals, teachers, engineers, medical doctors, scholars literary scholars, people with any connection to the old regime, persons with connection to foreign agencies and are therefore not of specifically racial, ethnic, national or religious nature as such,

The Human Rights Council hereby:

1- Recognizes the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime as blatant violations of International Human Rights law;

2- Believes that cooperation between countries is paramount to address and condemn the horrendous actions undertaken by the Khmer Rouge;

3- Alarms states of the misuse and/or abuse of the term “genocide” in order to conserve the integrity of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;

4- Reiterates that it is of utmost importance to evaluate current case at hand as a crime against humanity in order to ensure accountability of the parties responsible for said atrocities;

5- Seeks the holding of any state liable if it fails to prevent such crimes against humanity of happening;

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6- Reaffirms the principle of individual criminal responsibility stating that it is necessary to prosecute the individuals who misuse their posts as state agents;

7- Welcomes the establishment of an extraordinary court putting the perpetrators of said crime on trial and holding them accountable;

8- Demands the swift implementation of the genocide convention excluding political, cultural and social groups as such ;

9- Requests the setting of punishment procedures entailing the establishment of special courts serving that the punishment must relate only to the crime in question;

10-Calls upon all delegations present to incorporate measures in their domestic laws that are in compliance with international minimum standards for the prevention and punishment of international crimes;

11-Suggests that the court should prosecute and try individuals for war crimes and crimes against humanity and could be authorized to impose prison sentence.

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