SOCHUM Delegates The Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Affairs Committee, third of the UN General Assembly, is honored to welcome you to Alexmun 2016. We thank you for your participation and enthusiasm for this model and are certain that the overall experience during the preparation and debate will be truly enriching. SOCHUM concerns problems mainly related to human rights and their fair exercise around the world. The General Assembly was created en 1950 and is the biggest agency for decision making of the UN. After the publication of the Universal Human Rights Declaration in 1948, the third assembly was founded under the name Social, Humanitarian and Cultural affairs committee. Even when resolutions coming from the general assembly are not binding, they are of crucial importance in the maintenance of world peace. Since its institution, SOCHUM s objective has been to safeguard and uphold the appliance of human rights all over the world. It also deals with social and sustainable development, the monitoring of drug traffic and crime prevention, as well as the erradication of discrimination and racism, the empowerment of women in society and other social affairs. Given that international conflicts in their majority are social, SOCHUM has become one of the biggest and most influential entities of the United Nations and has received a very wide jurisdiction. Nevertheless, it has not the authority to inforce any measures; it only has the capacity to suggest a course of action. The topic of debate during Alexmun 2016 will be the expansion of jihadism in the Middle East. What we expect from all of you is a resolution, which will entertain and promote a non-violent spread and practice of religion. We would like for all of you to keep in mind the intention of this committee at all times and not detour. The reaches of SOCHUM do not involve in a categorical manner political, military nor administrative affairs. The Chair is at your disposition at all times to answer any doubts that may come across before or during the model. Our e-mail addresses are linked below: Paulina Vasquez Colmenares (President) paulina.vasquez@bab.edu.mx Daniela Carranza Saenz (Moderator) daniela.carranza@bab.edu.mx Mariana Reznik (Conference officer) mariana.reznik@bab.edu.mx Valerial Ambrosi valeria.ambrosi@bab.edu.mx Aitana Incháustegui aitana.inchaustegui@bab.edu.mx
Historical Background Jihadism is a term that was coined in the early stages of the ongoing century and has been used by the international community to denote Islamic extremism and terrorism. In recent years, mujahideen and Salafi guerrilla warfare have affected global security in a substantial matter, for this particular reason, this topic is of special importance in the endorsement of world peace. The sudden revivalism of this ideology has been stimulated by political events in the last century such as the peripheral conflicts of the cold war in Muslim nations. We hope you will analyze exhaustively these situations from varied points of view. We do not wish to antagonize anyone, so we would like to make an energetic remark discerning the two terms jihadism and jihad. Jihad is the term referring to the religious duty of Muslims to maintain the religion, and is not to be misused during the debate. 1970s: The Revolutionaries Modern history begins with several groups fighting to overthrow the regimes in the Arab world and implement Islamic states in their place. It is said that Al-Farida Al- Ghaiba (The Neglected Duty) was an important booklet that guided them; its author, Egyptian Mohammed Abdul Salam Faraj stated that the sense of violent struggle had been neglected in favor of the inner struggle against the baser instincts. He also stated that the fight against near enemies, local Muslim regimes, was more important tan the fight against far enemies, external, Nonmuslim. In 1981, his group assasinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. 1980s: Afghanistan After Sadat s murder, security forces in Egypt started persecuting jihadists, who started to flee the country. Afghanistan was seen as the perfect destiny as there was a jihadist battlefield taking form after the Soviet invasión in 1979. Because of the continued fight between capitalist US and communist USSR, the US was encouraging young muslims to go fight the communists. Motivation also came from a fatwa (religious rulings) issued by Abdullah Assam, a Jodanian-Palestinian cleric. Assam stated that jihad in Afghanistan, or any other Muslim land which found itself attacked, was an individual duty that every Muslim with the possibilities had to fulfill. The mujahideen were the rebels who fought the Soviet government and they were economically sustained by the US. 1990s: Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda means the base in arabic. The group was founded by Osama Bin Laden and the name came from an article his mentor, Assam, wrote for a jihadist article. His ideas were the start of what is called global jihadism. It was suggested as a base for the thousands of foreigner fighters that had traveled to Afghanistan.
With the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, many jihadists left the country, some of them, with new confidence from defeating a superpower wanted to repeat their success in their home countries. In Egypt they targeted tourists, in Libya there were reported clashes and in Algeria, a bloody civil war erupted after Islamists were prevented from taking power after they won the elections. Others wanted to have the experience of jihad again, therefore travelled to Chechnya, Bosnia and Tajikistan to fight non-muslim armies. In 1998 two important groups joined forces to form the "World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders". (Egyptian mujahideen and Salafism from Saudi Arabia). The same year, the group issued a declaration of total war against the United States and its allies, signed by Osama Bin Laden and Egyptian Ayman al-zawahiri. This was the point were the fight against the far enemy officialy started with Al- Qaeda bombing the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. 2000-2005: 9/11 The new century began with one of the most known terrorist attacks: 9/11. On the morning of September 9th, 2001, four planes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda members and crashed into the WTC, killing almost 3,000 people. The US and its allies responded with the invasion of Afghanistan and overthrowing the Taliban regime, which had been giving sanctuary to the terrorist group s leaders. Following the invasion, members that were trained in Afghanistan and forced back home launched a series of attacks across the world: Bali in 2002, Casablanca in 2003, Madrid in 2004, and London and Amman in 2005 to name the most notable ones. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, a new generation of jihadists was born. Abu Musab al-zarqawi, a Jordanian militant, founded an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). This group became known because of its brutal tactics, especially the videotaping of civilian beheadings. 2006-2010: Offshoots Middle East and North Africa became the house of new offshoots Al-Qaeda groups. Iraq: AQI formed a group called the Mujahideen Shura Council, afterwards known as the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) Saudi Arabia and Yemen: al-qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Algeria: the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) created al-qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), declaring allegiance to Bin Laden. Expanded to the south of the Saharan dessert. Somalia: al-shabab promised to connect the Horn of Africa Jihad to the one led by Bin Laden s group and declared allegiance in 2012. 2010s: The Arab Spring Osama Bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011. After the overthrow of leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, Al-Qaeda and its offshoots became marginalized by groups in favor of peaceful change.
The Syrian president Bashar al-assad s response to the uprising in his country, once again attracted the attention of jihadists to fight. In 2013 Abu Bakr al-baghdadi (ISI leader) announced that his group and Syrian al- Nusra Front were going to merge to create the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Bin Laden s successor, Ayman al-zawahiri and al-nusra s leader rejected the move creating a dedly infight. Since, ISIS has gained control of large parts of Syria and capturing the second largest city in Iraq (Mosul), later declaring the creation of a caliphate. Facts and actual situation The expansion of jihadism in the Middle East has been of critical importance in the last few years, especially since the establishment of a caliphate in the territory of Syria and Iraq by an insurgent group, called Islamic State (IS) in June 2014. This group, which seized large portions of territory, is inherently Muslim and has claimed supremacy over all the Islamic people. It has urged for the true believers to demonstrate fidelity to the leader Abu Bakr al-baghdadi and to immigrate to this state. IS is conformed by jihadists who believe in a very acute interpretation of Sunni Islam and has gained great influence among various jihadist groups, including some belonging to the al-qaeda network; it is driven by the Islamic apocalyptic prophecies, trying to impose Allah's magnanimity in the world and defending the Muslim community. IS timeline: 1. Abu Musab al-zarqawi, a year after the US invasion of Iraq, instituted al-qaeda in Iraq (AQI). 2. In 2006, the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) was created as an umbrella organization by AQI. 3. Abu Bakr al-baghdadi became the leader of ISI in 2010, transforming it into a major insurgent force. ISI carried out many attacks in Iraq and later in Syria against President Bashar al-assad. 4. In 2013, Baghdadi merged ISI's forces both in Syria and Iraq creatint the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant", better known as Isis. 5. In the early months of 2014, Isis took control over a large portion of territory in Iraq and declared the establishement of a caliphate which he named "Islamic State". IS controls the area surrounding the Tigis-Eufrates basin as large as 200,000 km 2 The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that over 10 million people live under full IS control The number of IS militants ranges from 20,000 to 32,000, including close to 300 Americans and 4,000 Europeans. A report by the UN Security Council says that over 25,000 people from over half of the world s countries have
also joined the Islamic State, creating an unprecedented threat. IS has relied on private donors avid in the fight against Syrian President Assad, to get money for weapons and attacks. However the US Treasury has estimated that in 2014 alone, the group earned over $200 million dollars from the illegal sale of crude oil, kidnapping ransom payments, extortion, robberies and looting. IS has been responsible for the destruction of numerous cultural heritage sites, including the most important temple in the town of Palmyra in Syria, as they consider any nationalistic sites an items to pose a threat to Islam Guide Questions 1. How does the expansion of Jihadism in the Middle East affect your country s security? 2. Has your country had a significant impact in the development of this issue? If yes, how? 3. What measures has your country s government to ensure the maintenance of peace relating to the expansion of Jihadism? 4. What is your country s stance in the enforcement of religious law and to what point should the state be permissive of punishments, which violate the Human Rights Act? 5. What should be done in regard to education? 6. From a cultural and humanitarian point of view, how are the refugees in the Jihadi war zones affected and how can the UN contribute to their wellbeing? 7. In what ways could your country cooperate globally in the treatment of the violent spread of Islamic religion? Previous UN actions Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 2 December 2008 [on the report of the First Committee (A/63/392)] 63/84: The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 2 December 2008. 63/38: Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 2 December 2008, 63/60: Measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 11 December 2008, 63/129: Measures to eliminate international terrorism Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2008. 63/185: Protection of human rights and fundamental freedomswhile countering terrorism Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 5 December 2008, 63/114: Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference
Sharia: (Arabic: شريعة ), is the basic Islamic legal system derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. Jihad: is an Islamic term referring to the religious duty of Muslims to maintain the religion. In Arabic, the word jihād is a noun meaning "to strive, to apply oneself, to struggle, to persevere". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid, Jihad is often translated as "Holy War" Sunni Islam: is a denomination of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad's first Caliph was his father-in-law Abu Bakr. Sunni Islam primarily contrasts with Shia Islam, Sunni Islam is by far the largest denomination of Islam. As of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted 87-90% of the world's Muslim population, Sunni Islam is the world's largest religious body. Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as "orthodox Islam" 8) Bibliography "Understanding Jihad (History, Goals, and Tactics) - Discover the Networks." Accessed October 6, 2015. http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewsubcategory.asp?id=63. Paul Maley, Australian Fighters Leading Syrian Terror Groups, The Australian, 18 February, 2014, accessed October 5th, 2015, http://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/next-gen-jihad-middle-east Anonymous Syria Jihadist Group ISIS Retreating After Warning, BBC News, 28 February, 2014, accessed on October 5th 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middleeast-26390351 ANONYMUS. SOCHUM. (accesed october 2nd 2015 ) Avilable on the World Wide Web: http://www.un.org/en/ga/third/ Thomas Hegghammer, Syria s Foreign Fighters, foreignpolicy.com, 9 December, 2013, accessed October 5th 2015, http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/12/09/syriasforeign-fighters/ "'Jihad': Idea and History." OpenDemocracy. Accessed October 6, 2015. https://www.opendemocracy.net/faith-europe_islam/jihad_4579.jsp. BBC. What is Islamic State?.Published on Octeber 8th, 2015. Accessed October 12, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29052144 SOCHUM. The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. Accessed October 12, 2015. http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=a/res/63/84