1. No category

st
1
DISEC
1st Committee—Disarmament and International Security
topics:
 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
 Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free
Zone
Chaired by the Honorable
Kaitlyn Earnest, Eric Beatty, and Curtis Coburn
S i n c e
HBHS
April 25th, 2015
1 9 7 8
Novice
hbhsmun.webs.com
Huntington Beach High School Model United Nations
1st DISEC
April 25th, 2015
Welcome to 1ST Disarmament and International
Security!
Hello delegates my name is Kaitlyn Earnest and I am a sophomore at
Huntington Beach High School and in my second year of MUN. Along with
being involved in our MUN program, I also take part in our school’s
National Honors Society, UNICEF club, and playing field hockey, which
keeps me occupied with volunteering and sports almost everyday. When I
am not busy with school activities, I enjoy running, going to the beach, and
playing with my puppy boxer. I look forward to seeing you delegates in
committee with creative solutions to help solve these topics!
Greetings delegates, my name is Eric Beatty and am delighted to be
one of your chairs for this year’s HBHS Novice conference. I am currently a
junior at Huntington Beach High School, making this my third year of Model
United Nations. Outside of class I usually spend most of my time playing
volleyball, for both our school team as well as for club. DISEC is one of my
favorite committees, and I and greatly looking forward to hearing all of your
innovative solutions regarding these issues. Good luck and see you all in
April!
Hello my name is Curtis Coburn, a junior at Huntington Beach High
School, and this is my third year in the MUN program here at Huntington.
Besides participating in MUN, I play soccer and run track which both take
up most of my days throughout the week. Outside of school and sports I
like to hang out with friends, surf and stay active, all which help me escape
the pressures of my surroundings. I am excited to see you all work hard
and create innovative solutions to help address these issues.
Position Papers must be submitted to your Dais’s central email no later than 11:59 PM on
April 19th, 2015 to be considered for a Research Award. Research Awards will be presented
during committee; please be sure to follow the HBHSMUN Position Paper format available on
our website. Your Dais’s central email is: [email protected]
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I. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
Topic Background
In recent events, the issue
concerning drones continues to spark
controversy that unmanned drones and the
threat they pose are likely to influence war.
With drone warfare, there is no risk of losing
soldiers’ lives, but instead the unmanned
aircrafts allow war to be effortless. In
accordance with recent reports on the easy
access to warfare, the accuracy of drones is
very questionable, and many drones are
responsible for innocent casualties. As of
2010 intelligences summarizes the fact that
UAVs have gone from tools for conducting
recon to absolute aerial bombing devices.iii
So far, over 40 countries have the
technologies to deploy and use unmanned
aircrafts. With the access to this sort of
technology the global community fears the
fact that organizations such as terrorists
may gain the intelligence to use and attack
nations with these weapons. Many
researchers figure that over a span of eight
years there were over 330 airstrikes in
Pakistan alone were estimated to have
killed over 2,500 people. Drone attacks
have become so extensive that they are
becoming a matter of human rights ,which is
being addressed by the UN. As UAVs
become more advanced, the amount of
drone strikes rises eventually leading to the
deaths of thousands. Since the turn of the
century, drone technology has become the
issue and talk of the global community. It
has been brought to the attention of several
governments that UAVs have led to high
amounts of death including massive
amounts of innocent civilians. That is why
there has been recent discussion that
drones infringe on sovereignty and
intentionally violate. The use of drones
leads to issues of transparency between
nations and they unintentionally reassure
countries that drone warfare and attacks are
sensible.iv
Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones
were first created using balloons in the late
1700’s in France. This earliest form of the
unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAV’s, were
developed into vehicles that could record
images to provide reconnaissance. In the
1950’s the United States began undercover
projects to help record information from the
Soviet Union. The issue with unarmed
drones is a developing issue that was
proven successful when the Israeli Air Force
used UAV’s to provide assessments on the
Syrian Air Force. The surveillance captured
by the Israelis allowed there to be enough
information taken to gain the upper hand.
The use of UAV’s in the 1980’s by the
Israelis was one of the first successfully
recorded attempts of using drones as a form
of modern warfare.i
With the development of new
technologies, UAVs have become very
important to militaries across the globe.
These remote controlled aircrafts or
programmed drones are used by countries
for numerous reasons, especially for the
purpose of investigation or for missions
requiring direct attacks. As UAVs become
more advanced, their military purposes
change in order to execute important
assaults. As different forms of drones begin
to surface, their reputation and success
rises, leading to the progression of
collecting intelligence and data. There are
five main types of UAVs that are mainly
used in modern day warfare. These UAVs
include target and decoy, reconnaissance,
combat, research and development, and
civil and commercial UAVs, which vary from
providing intelligence to developing further
technology to progress the field of UAV
aircrafts.ii
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With the increase in drone
technology, many countries use drones to
exploit other countries in order to receive
intelligence. As drones become more
advanced in their abilities to execute
different tasks, the question becomes
whether or not they are sensible to use
against other nations. The international
community has seen a sudden increase in
drone attacks and many countries now feel
that they are a direct violation of human
rights and sovereignty.
in order to ensure safety for their people
and a more stable government for Iraq.
While UAVs have been used to combat
missions regarding military operations in the
Middle East, the UN has also implemented
these gather intelligence on peacekeeping
missions in Africa. For instance, UAVs were
sent into the Congo to gather information
about rebel groups such as who sells illegal
weapons to whom, where illicit mines are,
and the exact whereabouts of the rebel
groups.ix In Security Council resolution 1279
further explains the UN’s mission within the
Congo to improve the security within the
region and halt the conflicts that are
harming civilians.x No matter what UAVs are
used for, good or bad, the UN wants to
make sure that civilian safety is the number
one priority. The United Nations Human
Rights Council (UNHRC) created the
resolution of
A/HRC/25/L.32
entitled
“Ensuring use of remotely piloted aircraft or
armed drones in counter terrorism and
military operations in accordance with
international law”. Within this resolution, the
UN attempts to ensure that no military
operations involving drones interfere with
the safety of civilians because all states
possessing drones must take extra
precaution to use them in a safe manner.xi
With the further development of
UAVs, it allows nations to have
advancement in technology that is able to
help them achieve goals they never thought
possible. Although this always-evolving
technology can be beneficial to some
nations, these UAVs can be used for
fighting wars or certain dangerous military
operations that cause further destruction
within that nation. Overall, for any use of
drones, the UN must monitor them under a
close eye to ensure that they can be safely
used while still maintaining a nation’s
security and peace.
United Nations Involvement
Within the duties of the 1st
Disarmament and International Security
Committee (DISEC), it has become a
priority to deal with issues and create
solutions for problems that interfere with
international peace and security, and the
progress of developing UAVs has become a
more prevalent issue that falls under the 1st
DISEC’s
responsibilities. v
As
the
development of UAVs has advanced, issues
regarding a state’s sovereignty and safety
have followed, and the UN has begun to
take
precautions
regarding
the
implementation of drones.
In addition, the General Assembly
adopted A/RES/68/178 entitled “Protection
of human rights and fundamental freedoms
while countering terrorism”. This resolution
is crucial to understanding a human’s
person sovereignty and how it must not be
violated during combatting terrorism.vi Often
times UAVs are used to kill a specific
person, but will sometimes kill up to 28
people before finally reaching their target.vii
This situation was the case for many Iraqi
civilians during drone strikes, thus the
creation of UNMOVIC. UNMOVIC stands for
the United Nations Monitoring, Verification,
and Inspection Commission was created in
1999 to help disarm Iraq of their chemical
weapons. viii Seeing the effects Iraq’s
impractical use of weapons and their impact
on its civilians, the UN created this program
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Case Study: Israel-Palestine
Conflict
Summer Rains in 2006, where over 400
militants were killed, and the infrastructure
of Gaza was severely damaged. xiii
Additionally, in response to the death of an
Israeli in an enemy rocket attack, Israel
launched Operation Hot Winter in 2008,
resulting in over 120 killed and 350
wounded.
The largest strikes conducted during
the Israel-Palestine conflict were part of the
Operation Cast Lead in December of 2008,
otherwise known as the Gaza War. The
intended purpose was to stop Palestinian
rockets from being fired into Israel, and by
the end of the first day, over 400 had
already been killed. Following this, new
Heron TP Eitan UAVs were put in place to
clear remaining forces for ground troops to
advance. Once the ceasefire was called on
January 17th, over 1330 had been killed,
430 of which were children, and left over
5400 injured.xiv
In recent news, Israel has continued
to utilize their arsenal of UAVs in air strikes
such as Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012,
yet in this instance the Human Rights Watch
came to the conclusion that Israel was “in
apparent violation of the laws of war”. xv
Drones are still being used for surveillance
purposes over Gaza to maintain the current
ceasefire.
The use of Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles has been extremely prevalent
within the Israel Palestine Conflict. All UAV
use within this conflict has been utilized by
Israel solely, for Palestine has yet to acquire
the technology necessary in order to
correctly utilize such weapons. The use of
drones for surveillance purposes within this
conflict dates back to 2000, when the Israeli
Air Force deployed multiple non-lethal
drones for the sole purpose of “gathering
intelligence, continuous observation and
joint operations with the security services.”
In 2004, the first reliable sources of armed
UAV strikes committed by the Israeli Air
Force surfaced. These reports include the
October 24th attack on Khan Yunis which
resulted in the death of two armed
Palestinian militants. Later in the same year,
another drone strike near Tel Aviv killed
another Palestinian armed soldier.xii
UAVs adopted a greater presence
within the conflict once Israel formally
adopted the Heron I to replace the Searcher
II, both of which are manufactured by Israeli
Aerospace Industries. The new Heron I led
to many attacks, such as Operation
II. Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone
Topic Background
weapons in the Middle East was controlled
by NPT members.xvi
The NWFZ was seen as an
important establishment for the region in the
Middle East. The nuclear free zone created
by the international community was a huge
step for progress in this area, but although
many countries around the world supported
this resolution, Israel felt compelled to
express its opinions on a peace and
compliance treaty throughout the Middle
East.xvii The reason that Israel felt obliged to
On December 9, 1974 the UN
followed through with the suggestion to
create a nuclear weapons free zone in the
Middle East. The UN resolution that was
created was henceforth violated by Israel in
1995 because they rejected the conditions
of the nuclear weapons free zone or the
MENWFZ. Thereafter, the topic of nuclear
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1st DISEC
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be against this policy throughout the Middle
East is because in 1967-68, it acquired
nuclear warheads and therefore was
against any form of denuclearization which
would inquire losing their nukes. xviii The
present issue affecting the NWFZ in the
Middle East is the matter that Israel is
reluctant to hand over the possession of
their nukes and refuse join the NWFZ. The
problem for Israel is their state, and if they
give over their stockpile on nuclear
weapons, their country may disappear due
to the hatred by other countries. The
nuclear weapons owned by Israel are
allowing the government to have all of its
success because it is the true backing of
Israel’s power.xix
Nuclear proliferation has been an
ever pressing issue within the Middle East
and this is due to all the conflict and desire
to have and own nuclear weapons. Israel is
the main culprit at hand but over the years it
has been recorded that Iraq, Libya and
Syria all were trying to establish nuclear
programs. Moreover, the discovery of Iran’s
uranium research created skepticism about
the free zone of weapons of mass
destruction. Most countries feel the only
way to somehow address this issue is if
Israel sets the example for all other Middle
Eastern nations by supporting this safe
zone. Therefore, Israel should take
measures to begin the process of giving up
its stockpiles to the IAEA and becoming a
part of the NPT. Many nations also agree
that in the past Iran has been very powerful
with their state wide enrichment plants and
they should not be national providers of
nuclear power but supply to the nations in
and around the Middle East. Over the last
ten years Iran has been trying to become
the power house of the Middle East; both
Iran and Israel pose the biggest threat to
becoming and NWFZ.xx
The issue in the Middle East is that
the international community is trying to
attempt to create peace without threat of
deadly weapons, but even with all the hard
work, it is nearly impossible to accomplish
anything due to the fact that countries are
reluctant to get rid of their weapons to
search for peace. Despite numerous
international proposals to combat nuclear
tensions in the Middle East, the nuclear free
zone cannot be completed without the
compliance of all the countries residing in
the Middle East. The issue at hand is much
bigger than it seems, but with absolute
assistance, the NWFZ can be established.
United Nations Involvement
Since the beginning of the creation
of nuclear weapons, the United Nations has
kept a close eye on their production due to
the great danger they possess towards
nations. One of the most successful treaties
adopted by the General Assembly is the
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968
because of the 190 countries that have
ratified it. The Non-Proliferation Treaty
seeks to avert the use of nuclear technology
because it could help lead to a more
cooperative global community and achieve
further disarmament goals. This treaty still
plays a major factor for UN member states
today, seeing that the last review of the
treaty was held in May 2010 to discuss the
next actions and precautions to be taken
regarding nuclear advancement. xxi Besides
this treaty, the Comprehensive NuclearTest-Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans nuclear
explosions in any part of the world. While
Iran and Israel have signed this treaty, it is
crucial for them to ratify it to make it legally
necessary for the nation to comply with its
regulations. The main purpose of this treaty
is to not only ban all nuclear explosions, but
also prevent nuclear technology from
harming humans and the environment.xxii
In addition, the first actions taken by
the UN were in 1960s when it created
Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs),
which helped put a halt to the creation of
nuclear weapons in designated areas.
Specifically, these NWFZs are defined by
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the UN as a treaty that prohibits the
development or deployment of any nuclear
weapons in the given area.xxiii
In regards to the Middle East, the
UN has wanted to implement these zones in
to the potential hazards of nuclear free
weapons, which has mainly been caused by
civil unrest due to the Arab Spring. The 1st
DISEC adopted resolution A/RES/65/42,
titled the “Establishment of a NuclearWeapon-Free-Zone in the Region of the
Middle East”. This resolution urges unwilling
nations of the Middle East to consider the
implementation of the zones, especially Iran
who is opposed to their establishment. xxiv
Furthermore, 1st DISEC also adopted
A/RES/65/88, which discusses the possible
risks of nuclear proliferation in the Middle
East. The main point of this resolution was
to convince Israel to join the NPT, seeing
that Israel’s ongoing conflicts with Palestine
makes it unsafe for them to possess or
further develop any nuclear weaponry. xxv
Another UN affiliated organization working
to supervise the safe use of nuclear
technology in the Middle East is the IAEA,
or the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Recently the IAEA held meetings with Iran
to discuss the further implementation of the
Framework for Cooperation; this is to
ensure that they are giving credible
information and that the IAEA would be able
to notice any misconduct with their nuclear
technology.xxvi
While there can be some positive
effects of nuclear technology such as
energy or sterilization processes, it must be
closely monitored by the UN and all of the
nations who are interested in partaking of
this new production of nuclear activities.
Especially within the Middle East,
precautions must be taken seriously due to
some of the rising issues with Iran and
Israel’s nuclear development programs.
In 1999, the UN Disarmament
Commission
set
guidelines
of
the
establishment of Nuclear Weapon Free
Zones. They concluded that each region
would specifically mold their own zone to
meet the needs of each country, but overall
support the NPT and CTBT in the complete
nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. xxvii
Almost all of these guidelines set by the
commission were based off of the first few
NWFZ treaties, especially the Treaty of
Tlatelolco.
In 1967, the Treaty of Tlatelolco led
to the creation of the very first NWFZ within
Latin America. This treaty was proposed by
both Brazil and Argentina, which was
surprising because both had the ability to
begin their own nuclear weapon programs.
Due to early struggles on an international
basis, the treaty was first implemented
regionally, so that each country would
willfully join the agreement and become part
of the non-proliferation effort. This was due
to the strong attraction nuclear power still
had on many countries during this era, and
many were not ready to fully commit
themselves to non-proliferation at the time.
Within two years, however, every country
within the Latin American region had
become signatories and had ratified the
treaty. xxviii Delegates should consider the
success of this treaty and the way it was
implemented for future solutions regarding
the Middle East.
Being that the Treaty of Tlatelolco
created the first NWFZ, it set numerous
precedents for similar treaties to follow. This
includes the outlawing of all actions taken
with nuclear weaponry, such as testing,
developing, transportation, and stockpiling.
However, member states are still allowed to
use nuclear technology for peaceful
purposes, for nuclear energy is extremely
beneficial. Furthermore, each member state
must comply with all IAEA safeguards within
their country. xxix All of these legislations
have also been used and enforced within
Case Study: Treaty of
Tlatelolco
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the other NWFZ treaties, which act over four
different zones around the world.
Questions to Consider
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles:
1. Does your country currently have a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program? If not, are there
plans on developing one in the near future?
2. Has your country been directly or indirectly affected by UAV use in any way?
3. Is there currently any legislation within your own country that specifically pertains to
UAVs?
4. What are some possible nonmilitary uses of UAVs that all countries might benefit from?
5. Does your country support the military or nonmilitary use of UAVs?
6. What are your country’s views on the use of lethal military UAVs?
7. What are possible international legislations that can be put in place to ensure peace
within the sphere of UAV use?
Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone:
1. Is your country for or against the Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone? If so what
measures have they taken to influence compliance?
2. Does or has your country ever owned nuclear weapons?
3. Is your country a signatory of the NPT?
4. Has your country ever destroyed or turned in stockpiles to the IAEA?
5. What is your country's policy towards Israel’s stockpiling of WMDs?
6. Does your country agree or disagree with the ability of using nuclear energy and the
enrichment of uranium for energy purposes?
i
http://www.draganfly.com/news/2009/03/04/a-short-history-of-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-uavs/
http://www.theuav.com/
iii
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/resources/fact-sheets/critical-issues/6737-drones
ii
iv
http://www.globalresearch.ca/drone-strikes-very-much-a-human-rights-issue/32281
v
http://www.un.org/en/ga/first/
http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/68/178
vi
vii
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/01/american-drones-killed-civilians-bombing-cambodiavietnam-war-died-911.html
viii
http://www.medea.be/en/themes/international-organizations-and-diplomacy/un-sc-resolution1284-unmovic-iraq/
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ix
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/world/africa/unarmed-drones-aid-un-peacekeepers-inafrica.html?_r=0
x
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N99/368/17/PDF/N9936817.pdf?OpenElement
xi
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/HRC/25/L.32
xii
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/11/gaza-life-death-under-israel-drones20131125124214350423.html
xiii
https://dronewarsuk.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/israel-and-the-drone-wars.pdf
xiv
https://dronewarsuk.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/israel-and-the-drone-wars.pdf
xv
http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/2012-story-of-the-year-Operation-Pillar-ofDefense
xvi
http://fas.org/programs/ssp/nukes/ArmsControl_NEW/nonproliferation/NFZ/NP-NFZME.html
xvii
http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/mewmdfz
xviii
http://www.pressenza.com/2010/05/a-middle-east-nuclear-weapon-free-zone-the-background/
xix
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2014/12/12/a-middle-east-nuclearweapons-free-zone-would-be-suicide-for-israel
xx
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/13/a-nuclear-free-zone-in-the-middle-east/
xxi
http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/NPT.shtml
xxii
http://www.ctbto.org/the-treaty/article-xiv-conferences/2011-conference-on-facilitating-theentry-into-force-of-the-comprehensive-nuclear-test-ban-treatyunited-nations-new-yorkusa/afc11-information-for-media-and-press/what-is-the-ctbt/
xxiii
http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/NWFZ.shtml
xxiv
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmamentfora/1com/1com10/res/L1.pdf
xxv
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmamentfora/1com/1com10/gares/A%20RES%2065%2088.pdf
xxvi
http://www.iaea.org/safeguards/
xxvii
http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/NWFZ.shtml
xxviii
http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/tlatelolco
xxix
https://www.iaea.org/publications/documents/treaties/treaty-prohibition-nuclear-weapons-latinamerica-tlatelolco-treaty
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