Human Rights Council (HRC) - Links and Documents

Research Guide

To the delegates of the Human rights council:

Herein you will find a basic guide that should direct your research for the topic of the human rights situation in Darfur. Please let this serve as only a guide and a launch base and certainly not as your completed research or let it limit where you should look.

Good luck, enjoy your research, and do not hesitate to contact us at hrc@zagimun.org if you have any questions!

Of course to be discussing anything in the HUMAN RIGHTS council, it is important to understand what human rights are. Some good documents to be familiar with are:

1. http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/A.CONF.157.23.En. Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which came out of the World Conference on Human Rights, 1993.
3. www.ohchr.org has important background information on the Human Rights Council and how and why it was formed that will be of interest and is "good to know" information.

Your country or NGO. Each delegate will want to be familiar with the history of the country or NGO they are representing so that they can understand where their policies and standpoints come from. It is good to know who your country works well with, who they may have hostilities with, and who they often disagree with. For background info on your country try:

1. CIA World Fact book This is a good starting point for information on your country, however you will want to go more in-depth!
2. www.un.org/members/ This is the UN Link to many countries UN Homepage, this should provide you valuable information and also provide links that you may find handy.
3. Most countries and NGO’s have a web page dedicated to them. Do a basic google search and see what turns up! Remember; when searching the internet for information you have be very careful that the site you are looking at is valid.

TOPIC A – Human Rights in Sudan and Neighbouring Regions

For a background on Sudan itself and how the current conflict began here is a list of resources that you should look into.

1. Darfur: A Short History of a Long War by Julie Flint and Alex De Waal. This book is available at just about any bookstore or library, and is invaluable for how it outlines the creation of modern day Sudan and the formation of Darfur. The racial and ethnic tensions that led to the conflict that in turn led to the human rights violations are very clearly illustrated.
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3496731.stm. This is the BBC Q&A on the conflict in Darfur, though it doesn"t go into to much detail it does give an succinct overview.
3. The Darfur Crisis: A Test Case for Humanitarian Intervention (http://64.78.30.169/kaiptc/The%20Darfur%20Crisis.pdf). Please note that this document is dated (2004) and it's focus on the idea of the humanitarian intervention is of no use to us. Please only use the sections of the article that outline the history of Darfur and what led to the conflict.

Finally and arguably most importantly, is learning about the human rights situation in Darfur. Remember that it is important not only to learn the facts, but to see the situation from the eyes of the country or NGO that you are representing.

Below I have linked many websites that will give information on the human rights situation. Many will also call for the changes that they see fit but remember to use the links for facts only, and to depend on documents endorsed by your country or organization.

1. http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/05/darfur8536.htm (background info)
2. http://www.hopefordarfur.org/ (background info)
3. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/30/asia/AS-GEN-China-Britain.php (background info)
4. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23617&Cr=sudan&Cr1= (from the UN News Center, up to date info)
5. http://www.ohchr.org/english/docs/darfurreport.doc (From the HRC, great resource)
6. http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/issue3respect.pdf (From the HRC, great resource
7. http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G07/137/45/PDF/G0713745.pdf?OpenElement (from HRC)
8. http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/G07/131/44/PDF/G0713144.pdf?OpenElement (from HRC)
9. http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G07/128/19/PDF/G0712819.pdf?OpenElement (HRC Report on Human Rights in Darfur)

If you have any trouble finding your countries position on Darfur try looking at what resolutions they have endorsed in the past, and look to their UN pages and country sights. Be creative in your research and try as many different avenues as you can.

TOPIC B - Human Rights and the Elimination of Racial and Religious Discrimination

Racial and religious discrimination have been as old as mankind and has been present in most societies on Earth. It has led to the infringement of people's rights, ranging from freedom of choice or being treated equally to other citizens, to justification for mass murder and genocide. Racial and religious discrimination is a universal problem of all generation. Fortunately mankind has decided to outlaw racial and religious discrimination, but to say that with these legal provisions the problem has ceased to exist, would be ignoring the reality in which millions of people struggle for their existence.

The 1965 International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was a step in the right direction of eliminating racial discrimination and the two decades dedicated to ending racial discrimination have helped to raise awareness. Alas, anno 2007 racial and religious discrimination is still manifested in both traditional as new forms. The challenge that faces the ZAGIMUN Human Rights Council is to understand the underlying causes for racial and religious discrimination and not only to try to combat its manifestations, such as the severe infringement upon the core human rights of individuals.

The UN system provides a number of mechanisms in the fight against discrimination. As part of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) the Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights has been established as a subsidiary body to ECOSOC in 1947. Furthermore, as a Committee monitoring the implementation of the afore mentioned International Convention, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has been set up as a treaty monitoring body, better known as treaty body. Furthermore, direct input to the HRC on these issues is provided by the so-called Special Procedures, which is the name for a group of independent experts holding a mandate to investigate the human rights situation in a specific state (country mandate) or regarding a specific (group of) human right(s). Regarding the topic of Racial and religious discrimination, the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of religion or belief (Ms. Asma Jahangir) and on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (Mr. Doudou Diène) have proven to make valuable contributions to unveiling cases of gross violations of human rights as a direct effect of racial and religious discrimination.

As the history has demonstrated, racial and religious discrimination can take many different forms; it can take the form of psychological terror, stigmatization and as an effect not being granted equal opportunities, often resulting in impoverishment and underdevelopment of the group(s) at hand. However, the discrimination can also escalate and result into arbitrary detention, torture, internal displacement of people, extrajudicial killings or even genocide, sometimes even inflicted upon a group of people by the very state they live in.

A couple definitions to think of while researching:

Racism: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race 2 : racial prejudice or discrimination

Systemic Racism: Organizational policies and practices at the structural level that indirectly target specific communities (whether based on color or religion) with the goal (indirect or direct) of maintaining privilege. Ie. racism in the criminal justice system (police profiling); racism in the educational system (all white authors on a course reading list.)

Systematic Racism: Policies and practices that directly target a community or group based on race or religion to maintain a position of power. Ie. Policies that very clearly favor a specific group

Suggested links:
UNHRC http://www.ohchr.org/english/
UNHCR http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

Some other places to try are:
Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Website + Reports of the relevant Special Rapporteurs, can be more than just the two mentioned (e.g. Web site on S.R. racisme: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/rapporteur/index.htm)
Reports by internationally renowned NGOs, such as Amnesty International, ICRC, Human Rights Watch, etc.
Racism related resolutions of the HRC, but most likely those of its predecessor (CHR).

If you run into any difficulty please feel free to contact your Chairs at hrc@zagimun.org, we are here to help! Also, keep in mind that no government wants to completely acknowledge a problem with racism, ensure to dig deep to find not only the problems that exist but also the solutions that can be found.

Most importantly, remember to have fun with your research, and keep in mind the more time you put in to research the more fun you will have at ZAGIMUN as a well prepared delegate!