[Ecopoeia]

Hi, I used to have an account in your old forum. I'm not sure if I hould re-register here, so apologies if I've posted this in the wrong place or breached protocol.

Anyway, I'm here soliciting feedback on a proposal I've drafted and am hoping to submit to the UN early in June. I've already canvassed the Celdonian Diplomatic Quarter (home of the AntiCapitalist Alliance, Coalition of AntiCapitalist Economies and the International Fair Trade Agreement) and the UN Old Guard for opinions but thought I'd try the IDU as well, given your region's interest in UN affairs.

So, here's the proposal:

Quote: Freedom of Conscience Act

Category: Human Rights; Category: Strong

We, the United Nations, having in past resolutions affirmed our respect for human rights that transcend national borders, do hereby

1) DEFINE a ?prisoner of conscience? as a person who has not used, or encouraged the use of, violence; has not openly supported or recommended hatred for racial, religious or similar reasons to provoke people to discriminate, or to be hostile or violent; is detained or imprisoned because of their political, religious or other beliefs, or their ethnic origin, sex, colour or similar reasons; and accordingly

MANDATE that all member states immediately and unconditionally release any prisoners of conscience they are currently detaining and pledge not to detain such persons in the future

2) DEFINE a ?disappearance? as a person who has been taken into custody by government authorities or by armed political groups, but whose whereabouts and fate is kept secret; and accordingly

MANDATE that any institution or group holding such an individual reveal the fate and whereabouts of the ?disappeared?

3) CONDEMN extrajudicial executions by governments, killings caused by the unnecessary use of lethal force by law enforcement officials and killings of civilians in direct or indiscriminate attacks by governments or armed political groups

4) DEFINE a ?political prisoner? as a person whose imprisonment is politically motivated, specifically that they are or were a member of a forbidden political party, or have been involved in armed struggle against the government, or have been a victim of other kinds of systematic discrimination based on sex, race or other reasons, who is not a member of the national armed forces of a nation that the imprisoning nation is officially at war with; and accordingly

CALL FOR all political prisoners to be charged and tried fairly as soon as possible or be released

5) CONFIRM this institution's opposition to torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments and punishments.

CODA: terms such as ?fair trial? are to be interpreted in the letter and spirit of the previous resolutions that specifically address them.[/quote]
Feel free to comment. Thanks very much for your time.
Eco

[Ecopoeia]

Sorry, I forgot to say that I'm particularly looking for advice on formatting (I'm pretty sure I've been a bit cavalier with my semi-colons), plus any tips on how to conduct the telegramming campaign will be gratefully received.

Thanks again.

[Groot Gouda]

First of all, the old forum is for archive purposes only. No-one has admin access anymore, so here is where it happens. Feel free to register, because as an official diplomat you'll get some more possibilities to post here.

Oh, and as you can see I moved this topic to the UN forum.

Now, on the resolution:
First, start with a pre-amble to explain why this resolution is necessary. Many nations will appreciate it, and a good start helps to "sell" your resolution.

Secondly, the formatting is a bit confusing as it is now. It's not really clear on first view what you want.

Thirdly, this resolution does quite a lot. I think it might be wise to take it one step at a time, and limit this resolution somewhat. That might also increase the chances of getting passed. If you concentrate on the first point, the prisoners or conscience, it might be clearer what you want. The rest is kind of covered by it as well, so no real loss there.

By the way, is "prisoner of conscience" a realworld term? To me, it sounds a bit like someone imprisoned by their own conscience, instead of because of their conscience.

[Ecopoeia]

Groot GoudaMay 22 2005, 05:39 PMNow, on the resolution:
First, start with a pre-amble to explain why this resolution is necessary. Many nations will appreciate it, and a good start helps to "sell" your resolution.

Secondly, the formatting is a bit confusing as it is now. It's not really clear on first view what you want.

Thirdly, this resolution does quite a lot. I think it might be wise to take it one step at a time, and limit this resolution somewhat. That might also increase the chances of getting passed. If you concentrate on the first point, the prisoners or conscience, it might be clearer what you want. The rest is kind of covered by it as well, so no real loss there.

By the way, is "prisoner of conscience" a realworld term? To me, it sounds a bit like someone imprisoned by their own conscience, instead of because of their conscience.[/quote]
Thanks.

Preamble: Interesting, I'll definitely give this some serious thought.

Formatting: I'm not sure of the technical use of semi-colons, commas etc in resolutions. Again, I'll give this some thought.

Aims: I'm not inclined to reduce the scope, mainly because I'm kind of plugging the gaps in current human rights legislation. The articles are cribbed almost directly from Amnesty International's mission statement (excluding the death penalty ban, which would be a nightmare to get through). Prisoners of conscience, political prisoners and disappearances are all clearly interlinked. That said, torture is something of a tag-on... I'll consider removing the relevant article.

Prisoner of conscience: Yes, this is a real world term, originally coined by Amnesty (I think) and now in general usage.

[Ecopoeia]

OK: preamble added, torture article (and coda) removed. Formatting unchanged as I'm feeling too lazy to completely rework it. If I get a kicking in the UN forum then I'll probably have to reconsider this position.

new draft Freedom of Conscience Act

Category: Human Rights; Strength: Strong

Freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right, yet the governments of many member states in the United Nations frequently persecute those who merely express beliefs or thoughts that are not state-approved.  Punishments include imprisonment (sometimes without trial), ?disappearing? and even death.  We, the United Nations, recognise that there are human rights that transcend national borders and, in recognition of this, do hereby

1) DEFINE a ?prisoner of conscience? as a person who has not used, or encouraged the use of, violence; has not openly supported or recommended hatred for racial, religious or similar reasons to provoke people to discriminate, or to be hostile or violent; is detained or imprisoned because of their political, religious or other beliefs, or their ethnic origin, sex, colour or similar reasons; and accordingly

MANDATE that all member states immediately and unconditionally release any prisoners of conscience they are currently detaining and pledge not to detain such persons in the future

2) DEFINE a ?disappearance? as a person who has been taken into custody by government authorities or by armed political groups, but whose whereabouts and fate is kept secret; and accordingly

MANDATE that any institution or group holding such an individual reveal the fate and whereabouts of the ?disappeared?

3) CONDEMN extrajudicial executions by governments, killings caused by the unnecessary use of lethal force by law enforcement officials and killings of civilians in direct or indiscriminate attacks by governments or armed political groups

4) DEFINE a ?political prisoner? as a person whose imprisonment is politically motivated, specifically that they are or were a member of a forbidden political party, or have been involved in armed struggle against the government, or have been a victim of other kinds of systematic discrimination based on sex, race or other reasons, who is not a member of the national armed forces of a nation that the imprisoning nation is officially at war with; and accordingly

CALL FOR all political prisoners to be charged and tried fairly as soon as possible or be released.[/quote]
Thanks again for the assistance.

[Groot Gouda]

Looks good, though I still find the formatting a bit confusing.

I worried a bit about the 4th clause being too restrictive, disabling nations to arrest people whose politics are centred around hate and violence, but I don't think that they can call upon this resolution.

This proposal has my support.

[Sober Thought]

Yes, when I first read this it sounded like Amnesty International, of which I have been an on-again/off-gain supporter and member for 20 years.

Frankly, Ecopoeia, I think you do a better job than Amnesty except that you exclude specific mention of sexual orientation (obliquely included in "similar reasons").

And for the preamble, how about something like:

"ALTHOUGH freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right;

NEVERTHELESS the governments of some member states in the United Nations persecute those who merely express beliefs or thoughts that are not state-approved;

FURTHERMORE, these punishments include imprisonment (sometimes without trial), ?disappearing? and even death;

THEREFORE, we, the United Nations, recognise that there are human rights that transcend national borders and, in recognition of this, do hereby:"

That's keeping nearly all your words and order, but just adding a little formating and texture.

[Ecopoeia]

Thanks, ST. I'm not the biggest fan of having a lot of lines beginning with CAPITALISED words, but I'll have a look at this again, keeping what you've written in mind.

Good point about sexual orientation. I'll see if I can re-jig the wording to be more specific here.

Finally, some of this may get changed around again, following consultation with other nations who clearly have a better grasp of what's come before in the UN than I have (sigh). Hopefully I'll have this ready some time this month!

Thanks again, help is much appreciated.

[Grosseschnauzer]

Ecopoeia, we also think "sexual orientation" or "sexual affinity" or some other similar phraseology should be included. Since there are adopted UN resolutions on the topic, it is not establishing new ground on that score, but merely extending a new area or context for its protection.

[Ecopoeia]

Last (?) draft:

Quote: Freedom of Conscience Act

Category: Human Rights; Strength: Strong

Freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right, yet the governments of many member states in the United Nations frequently persecute those who merely express beliefs or thoughts that are not state-approved.  We, the United Nations, recognise that there are human rights that transcend national borders and, accordingly, do hereby

1) DEFINE a ?prisoner of conscience? as a person who is detained or imprisoned, not for use of, or encouragement to use, violence; not for openly supporting or recommending hatred for racial, religious, sexual or similar reasons to provoke people to discriminate, or to be hostile or violent; but for their political, religious or other beliefs, or their ethnic origin, sex, colour or similar reasons; and accordingly

MANDATE that all member states immediately and unconditionally release any prisoners of conscience they are currently detaining and

PROHIBIT member states from detaining prisoners of conscience in the future

2) DEFINE a ?disappearance? as a person who has been taken into custody by government authorities or by armed political groups, but whose whereabouts and fate is kept secret; and accordingly

MANDATE that any institution or group holding such an individual reveal the fate and whereabouts of the ?disappeared?

3) CONDEMN extrajudicial executions by governments, killings caused by the unnecessary use of lethal force by law enforcement officials and killings of civilians in direct or indiscriminate attacks by governments or armed political groups[/quote]

I think the political prisoners article does strike me as redundant and, having thought about it, I'd like the resolution to be as simple and focused as possible. I've made a couple of tweaks based on comments by _Myopia_ and IDU members. Apologies to Sober Thought for not taking on their recommendations concerning the formatting of the preamble - just a matter of aesthetics, I guess!

Speak now*, or forever hold your peace!

*Ecopoeian definition of 'now' is notoriously non-immediate

[Ecopoeia]

UN forum proposal discussion thread

[Ecopoeia]

This has finally been submitted - please endorse! The proposal can be found by searching using 'freedom' or 'conscience'.

Quote: Description: We, the United Nations, recognise that freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right that transcends national borders and note with regret that the governments of some member states persecute and commit acts of violence against those who merely express beliefs or thoughts that are not state-approved.

Accordingly, we hereby

1) DEFINE a ?prisoner of conscience? as a person who is detained or imprisoned, not for use of, nor encouragement to use, violence; not for openly supporting nor recommending hatred for racial, religious, sexual or similar reasons to provoke people to discriminate, or to be hostile or violent; but for their political, religious or other beliefs, or their ethnic origin, sex, colour or similarly unjustifiable reasons; and accordingly

INSIST that all member states immediately and unconditionally release any prisoners of conscience they are currently detaining and

PROHIBIT member states from detaining prisoners of conscience in the future;

2) DEFINE a ?disappearance? as an instance when a person has been taken into custody by government authorities or by an armed political group, when this person?s whereabouts and wellbeing are kept secret; and accordingly

INSIST that any institution or group holding such an individual to reveal the whereabouts and condition of the ?disappeared? person;

3) CONDEMN extrajudicial executions by governments, killings caused by the unnecessary use of lethal force by law enforcement officials and killings of civilians in direct or indiscriminate attacks by governments or armed political groups.[/quote]
Thanks!

[Mikitivity]

I'll telegram Scoopy and ask that our UN Delegate endorses your proposal, though my intelligence reports dating back to yesterday have shown that there has been no international activiting in Scoopy for the past 12-days.

[Ecopoeia]

Thanks.

This seems to be arecurring problem - that's three potential endorsements I may not gain because of inactivity (Anarchism and Aperin being the others). Groan.

[Mikitivity]

EcopoeiaJul 20 2005, 08:19 AM Thanks.

This seems to be arecurring problem - that's three potential endorsements I may not gain because of inactivity (Anarchism and Aperin being the others). Groan. [/quote]
It if helps, I'm delaying my own proposal til August so that Groot Gouda or a new IDU delegate can be around.

For now, I'd recommend you telegram all of the endorsements of the next resolution in queue.

[Sober Thought]

Grr!

It seems to defeat the purpose when the Acting UN Delegate is away too. I have to say I find it hard now to log in more often than once every few days, but 12 (now 14 is a bit excessive). I hope things are okay for Scoopy in RL.

Assuming Scoopy has not fallen ill or something equally drastic, do we need a longer line of succession so we don't miss good resolutions in the future? Who will audition for the role of Alexander "I'm in control here" Haig?

[Ecopoeia]

Submitted again. The proposal can be found by clicking the following link:

Clicky

Alternatively, you can search the proposals list using the word 'conscience'.

Please endorse!

[Groot Gouda]

Approved

[Ecopoeia]

Thanks!