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By: CHAE YOUN CHO, INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BEIJING
Although the number of ongoing armed conflicts has steadily declined since the end of the Cold War, war victims are not a thing of the past, and repercussions from wars linger. Despite this declining trend of the armed conflicts worldwide, the number of civilian fatalities has increased, with few effective solutions implemented. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), civilian casualty rates have experienced a dramatic increase from 5% at the turn of the century to 15% for the First World War, 65% for the Second World War, and the shocking 90% in the wars during the 1990s. While these numbers are staggering, the reported casualties only include the number of deaths directly connected to the violence and do not take into account other acts of violence such as sexual exploitation, rape, and servitude. Of these casualties, UNICEF estimates that 500,000 children under five died as victims of armed conflicts in 1992. Children accounted for forty percent of the civilian fatality rates in Chechnya, illustrating the brutal repercussions of the armed conflicts. While some civilian victims are accidental, conflicts involving deliberate attacks on civilians (especially children) are increasing. The 9/11 attacks in 2001 is but one example of politically or militarily motivated attacks on non-combatants. The heinous destruction in countries involved in armed conflicts is also alarming. The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) reported that, “Homes were demolished, and according to reports, residents have been offered neither alternative housing nor any form of compensation. These difficulties are mainly linked to obstructed access to food, education, housing, and health services. The continued insecurity both in the area of origin as well as in those to which the displaced persons have fled, is an additional source of concern.”
Various laws and treaties have been signed to compensate civilian victims of armed conflict or their surviving heirs, starting from the Geneva Convention in 1949. One of the essential rules of international humanitarian law states, “Captured combatants and civilians who find themselves under the authority of the adverse party are entitled to respect for their lives, their dignity, their personal rights and their political, religious, and other convictions. They must be protected against all acts of violence or reprisal. They are entitled to exchange news with their families and receive aid. They must enjoy basic judicial guarantees.” Other treaties that have been signed between nations to seek reconciliations include the Treaty of Portsmouth, the Treaty of Versailles, and the Potsdam Proclamation. While such regulations are detailed regarding the post-war reparations, compensations, and territory allocations, few have been successful in guaranteeing rights for civilian victims, prisoners of war (POW), and hostages. On October 6, 2008, civil war victims in Kathmandu, Nepal started a rally, demanding relief for families displaced by the long-term armed conflict. Instead of any lack of aid, it was the government’s measures to help dislocated families from the civil war that have been quite ineffective in the reunion of families. Several complications with relief programs and government aid have limited the availability and distribution of relief funds.
The 6th General Assembly in the 2008 THIMUN-Singapore conference will tackle the issue head-on as they discuss compensations to civilian victims and present various effective ways to help them out. The delegate of Cuba, Veronica Chung, from Jerudong International School stated that a major problem with past attempts at relieving war victims is “their lack of long-term ideas. Not only are the measures unstable, but they also tend to focus on one aspect of the aid. They also neglect progressive steps to improve the war area, which can mess up the aid process.” The Deputy Chair of General Assembly 6, JeeMin Son, from the International School of Ho Chi Minh City, commented about what the chairs were looking for in the resolutions “They need to rethink the term ‘compensation.’ Many people refer only to financial and shelter aid as compensations for civilian victims, but they are very general. Security and psychological relief are also important considerations.”
Armed conflict, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is “a dispute involving the use of armed force between two or more parties.” While aims to end such conflicts themselves may be difficult and sometimes impossible, attempts to compensate civilian victims of these conflicts can be quite practical when appropriate measures are taken. Acts of violence towards civilians are particularly heinous because of their arbitrary nature and the senseless results. Most of the delegates in this conference will not become soldiers; however, they will be citizens of their respective countries, and could therefore be victims themselves. As such, it is important that we never forget the civilian victims of war.
Although the number of ongoing armed conflicts has steadily declined since the end of the Cold War, war victims are not a thing of the past, and repercussions from wars linger. Despite this declining trend of the armed conflicts worldwide, the number of civilian fatalities has increased, with few effective solutions implemented. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), civilian casualty rates have experienced a dramatic increase from 5% at the turn of the century to 15% for the First World War, 65% for the Second World War, and the shocking 90% in the wars during the 1990s. While these numbers are staggering, the reported casualties only include the number of deaths directly connected to the violence and do not take into account other acts of violence such as sexual exploitation, rape, and servitude. Of these casualties, UNICEF estimates that 500,000 children under five died as victims of armed conflicts in 1992. Children accounted for forty percent of the civilian fatality rates in Chechnya, illustrating the brutal repercussions of the armed conflicts. While some civilian victims are accidental, conflicts involving deliberate attacks on civilians (especially children) are increasing. The 9/11 attacks in 2001 is but one example of politically or militarily motivated attacks on non-combatants. The heinous destruction in countries involved in armed conflicts is also alarming. The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) reported that, “Homes were demolished, and according to reports, residents have been offered neither alternative housing nor any form of compensation. These difficulties are mainly linked to obstructed access to food, education, housing, and health services. The continued insecurity both in the area of origin as well as in those to which the displaced persons have fled, is an additional source of concern.”
Various laws and treaties have been signed to compensate civilian victims of armed conflict or their surviving heirs, starting from the Geneva Convention in 1949. One of the essential rules of international humanitarian law states, “Captured combatants and civilians who find themselves under the authority of the adverse party are entitled to respect for their lives, their dignity, their personal rights and their political, religious, and other convictions. They must be protected against all acts of violence or reprisal. They are entitled to exchange news with their families and receive aid. They must enjoy basic judicial guarantees.” Other treaties that have been signed between nations to seek reconciliations include the Treaty of Portsmouth, the Treaty of Versailles, and the Potsdam Proclamation. While such regulations are detailed regarding the post-war reparations, compensations, and territory allocations, few have been successful in guaranteeing rights for civilian victims, prisoners of war (POW), and hostages. On October 6, 2008, civil war victims in Kathmandu, Nepal started a rally, demanding relief for families displaced by the long-term armed conflict. Instead of any lack of aid, it was the government’s measures to help dislocated families from the civil war that have been quite ineffective in the reunion of families. Several complications with relief programs and government aid have limited the availability and distribution of relief funds.
The 6th General Assembly in the 2008 THIMUN-Singapore conference will tackle the issue head-on as they discuss compensations to civilian victims and present various effective ways to help them out. The delegate of Cuba, Veronica Chung, from Jerudong International School stated that a major problem with past attempts at relieving war victims is “their lack of long-term ideas. Not only are the measures unstable, but they also tend to focus on one aspect of the aid. They also neglect progressive steps to improve the war area, which can mess up the aid process.” The Deputy Chair of General Assembly 6, JeeMin Son, from the International School of Ho Chi Minh City, commented about what the chairs were looking for in the resolutions “They need to rethink the term ‘compensation.’ Many people refer only to financial and shelter aid as compensations for civilian victims, but they are very general. Security and psychological relief are also important considerations.”
Armed conflict, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is “a dispute involving the use of armed force between two or more parties.” While aims to end such conflicts themselves may be difficult and sometimes impossible, attempts to compensate civilian victims of these conflicts can be quite practical when appropriate measures are taken. Acts of violence towards civilians are particularly heinous because of their arbitrary nature and the senseless results. Most of the delegates in this conference will not become soldiers; however, they will be citizens of their respective countries, and could therefore be victims themselves. As such, it is important that we never forget the civilian victims of war.
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