Hello,
I'd like to thank the nations of the North Pacific for allowing me to come here and answer any questions you may have concerning the Freedom of Assembly resolution. As you know, there is a parallel debate currently being hosted on the UN Floor, where I'd like to invite you to also share your opinions.
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=501591
Ambassador Katzman of the Confederated City States of Mikitivity has also attached a poll to that particular UN debate, in order to allow Non-UN members to express their views as well. The more nations that vote in that thread based poll as well, the more accurate a comparison of the UN poll to the final vote will be.
Our staff has created a NSWiki stub article which talks about the history of the proposal (who wrote it, when, etc.), which you are also free to view:
http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Freedom_of_Assembly
However, I'm really here to answer your questions. I think perhaps it is best of I start off by explaining in simple terms why my government feels this resolution is worth campaigning for.
Mikitivity was not always a single, centralized government. Today my government is still a loose confederation of cantons ... and the cantons were roughly organized around medieval city-states such as Miervatia City, Nolanburg, St. Claire, etc.
In the 18th century, the most influenical canton in a large portion of the International Democratic Union was Miervatia ... which was naturally the territory controlled by Miervatia City. In order to protect the city from massive floods Miervatia essentially established and controlled another city along the
Risden River, Mezoic. The problem was that the people who lived and worked in Mezoic and the Aslan territory felt as though they had no political say.
In the mid-1700s a man by the name of Paul Viser began advocating for political autonomy for Aslan from Miervatia and formed a group some called a patriotict secret society and what others called a terrorist organization: the
Aslan Faction. At first Aslan Faction was responsible for burning buildings and property, sometimes beating people that supported Miervatian rule, but their actions had a negative impact of strengthing the resolve of the Miervatian leadership of the city and canton. Miervatia came to think of Aslan as being rather barbaric.
In 1749 a blizzard cut a poorly supplied Mezoic off from Miervatia City, and hundreds died. Protests followed, and Viser was arrested the following year on charges of sedation. However, from prison, he and the Aslan Faction managed to sabbotage the flood control system along the Risden River, such that on a day now known as Der Blitzfluss in Mikitivity, massive floods ended up killing hundreds of people and displacing thousands. While these numbers sound small, it should be pointed out that Mikitivity has always had a rather sparse population to begin with.
In any event, the immediate response was a complete occupation of Mezoic by a coalition of police forces from all of the cantons downstream of Aslan along the Risden River ... and the idea "Nitch Wieder" became popular in many cantons, and civil liberties in Aslan and other cantons were slowly taken away by Night Watchs interested in establishing security and peace.
Conflicts and acts of sabotage continued for years, until in 1796 Aslan was established as an independent canton with its own seat of government. And Aslan Faction essentially ceased to exist as a terrorist organization at that point (though today it is rumoured to still be a secret political organization).
In essence, the history of Mikitivity shows that regardless of the political style of a government, that when people don't have the right to organize political opposition parties, that they will resort to extreme and violent means. This resolution is an attempt to reinforce an idea that was briefly mentioned in the Universal Bill of Rights (OOC: and is the First Amendment of the US Constitution), but giving people the simple right to organize into peaceful political parties. This resolution does not promise that these political parties will win elections or rule, it simply grants them the right to exist.
Sincerely,
Cassandra Thonberger
Deputy Ambassador
Confederated City States of Mikitivity
