Repeal: Protect War Correspondents [Complete] [Complete]

[mcmasterdonia]

Repeal: Protect War Correspondents

Category: Repeal

Resolution: GA#170

Proposed by: The Dourian Embassy​

Argument: The World Assembly,

Aware of the intent of "Protect War Correspondents"(GA#170),

Deploring however, that GA#170 fails in many regards to afford adequate protections to war correspondents,

Accepting that clause one of GA#170 states that militants are prohibited from interacting with war correspondents "with the intent of stymieing their actions", regardless of what those actions are, and knowing that such prohibitions are overly burdensome to enforce,

Understanding that clause one also states that member states "shall be held accountable" for the behavior of individual militants towards war correspondents, without any regard for the intent or actions of those member states in attempting to limit behavior that violates the resolution,

Noting that clause four states: "Individual member-states may deny war correspondents access to their territory, and as such, war correspondents must adhere to standard immigration policies prior to entering; war correspondents that enter without proper verification are exempt from all protection granted by the provisions of this resolution,"

Believing that nations in a state of belligerence often have differing views on the existence and position of borders between them and that such differences can result in immigration policies that are impossible to properly adhere to, thus limiting the extent of the protections supposedly afforded,

Further believing that a nation can deny access to their territory through immigration policies that discriminate against war correspondents, which seriously reduces GA#170's effectiveness,

Further noting that clause five declares: "War correspondents may aid any belligerent during conflict; by doing so, their protection will be nullified until post-conflict, exclusive of self-defense,"

Regretting that clause five would allow war correspondents to engage in espionage, only losing their protections after gathering the information and aiding a particular side of the conflict successfully,

Deducing that clause six is both vague and poorly worded, using the phrase "compromising the war effort" to describe a situation in which war correspondents would have their "immunity relinquished", and thus be "subject to persecution by the afflicted nation", which is problematic for the following reasons:

* "Compromising the war effort" is a vague catch-all term which can be applied to literally any reporting done by a war correspondent that portrays a nation in a negative manner,

* "Relinquished" describes a process of voluntary action, rather than what should be an involuntary action such as "nullified" which was used in clause five,

* "Persecution" is an entirely inappropriate term for reprisal in a war zone against those who, as the clause was likely intended to outline, use the protections afforded by the resolution to assist another nation in their war efforts,

Concluding, as the original authoring nation did, that the myriad of flaws present in this resolution necessitate its repeal,

Hereby repeals "Protect War Correspondents"(GA#170).

Co-Authored by Venico.

Vote Aye, Nay or Abstain

 

[Lord Nwahs]

Nay

 

[mcmasterdonia]

Counting 0:1:0

 

[Abacathea]

MINISTRY REVIEW​

Normally Douria and the Ministry tend to differ when it comes to their proposals. Often Douria picks very tiny arguments and blows them into something much bigger than they actually are. However, the general WA rule of thumb has always been "the law is what the law says" and in this instance the repeal author highlights some very compelling flaws within the argument.

A lot of the arguments made by the author are valid, although weak, with exception of the final one which we, as a ministry are quite ambivalent about, that said, the author does make one extremely solid argument which is hard to ignore:

Accepting that clause one of GA#170 states that militants are prohibited from interacting with war correspondents "with the intent of stymieing their actions", regardless of what those actions are, and knowing that such prohibitions are overly burdensome to enforce,

Understanding that clause one also states that member states "shall be held accountable" for the behavior of individual militants towards war correspondents, without any regard for the intent or actions of those member states in attempting to limit behavior that violates the resolution

The repeal author makes an excellent point here, the original resolution makes certain requirements of individuals and then holds national governments accountable for the actions of these individuals which is a tremendous burden to place on any government let alone one during war time.

The author thing that really stands in the favor of this author is the target resolutions author did in fact state themselves they believed the act was flawed, something which the repeal author felt relevant, and perhaps wisely so to note in the repeal text.

MINISTERIAL SUGGESTION​

In light of the above, the ministry finds it reasonable to propose a FOR vote for on this proposal.

AS PER USUAL PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A SUGGESTED VOTE ONLY, PLEASE VOTE FOR, AGAINST OR ABSTAIN BELOW AS DESIRED.

 

[Eluvatar]

Aye

 

[Abacathea]

For

 

[Abacathea]

Tally:

2-1-0 for.

 

[mcmasterdonia]

I have voted in favour of this.

 

[Abacathea]

Voting on this resolution has ended.

Thanks to those nations who cast their votes. Your participation is a great help to the region.

This topic has been locked and sent to the Archives for safekeeping. If you would like this topic to be re-opened for further discussion, please contact the WA Delegate, a Global Moderator, or an Administrator for assistance. Thank you.

 

[r3naissanc3r]

Voting on this resolution has ended.

Thanks to those nations who cast their votes. Your participation is a great help to the region.

This topic has been locked and sent to the Archives for safekeeping. If you would like this topic to be re-opened for further discussion, please contact the WA Delegate, a Global Moderator, or an Administrator for assistance. Thank you.