NationStates Jolt Archive

The Democratic Republic of CatholicBlueGuy humbly requests for all UN Regional Delegates to approve for the purposes of quorum the UN proposal “Rescinding the Death Penalty.” Even if your nation does not support the actual text of the resolution, CatholicBlueGuy would still like the opportunity for an up-or-down vote by the entire body, and appreciates your help in this matter. The resolution is currently on page 12 of the proposals. The voting ends on Sunday, 8 May, 2005. Thank you in advance!

--
The government of the Democratic Republic of CatholicBlueGuy

first of all:
http://img112.echo.cx/img112/9274/mossproposal8ky.jpg
copy/paste it in here. we arnt about to go searching through the cue. secondly
http://img112.echo.cx/img112/1306/natsovcard7yg.jpg
most would agree this is a national issue, not a UN one. whilst we dont have the death penalty, we also believe it is a nation's choice to have it or not.

Please post a copy here.

http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/41364/page=UN_proposal/start=55

Rescinding the Death Penalty
A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.

Category: Human Rights
Strength: Strong
Proposed by: CatholicBlueGuy

Description: Noting with deep concern that the death penalty has proven to be inherently racist and classist due to the fact that there is a greater chance of a convicted criminal being placed on death row if she or he is an ethnic/national minority, poor, or both,

Alarmed that the death penalty has recently been introduced or reintroduced in many nation states belonging to the UN,

Recalling UN Resolution #21, which states that “all nations, irrespective of their mode of government must, according to the fundamental principles under which the UN was set up, must allow their citizens the right to fair trial, or face eviction from this institution”,

Deeply disturbed that many nations have been found to have executed a convicted criminal who was later found to be either completely innocent or convicted without a proper or prepared attorney, on faulty or incomplete evidence, or on circumstantial evidence and the testimonies of co-defendants,

Recalling UN Resolution #25, which states that “In all actions concerning minors, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the minor shall be a primary consideration”,

Aware that minors have been tried as adults and been sentenced to the death penalty,

Noting that putting a minor to death is an action of a court of law that is hardly in the minor’s best interest,

Recalling Article 5 of The Universal Bill of Rights (UN Resolution #26), which states that “All human beings must not be subjected to torture or to cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment”,

Affirming that the death penalty is said “cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment,” as minors and mentally retarded victims have been executed in several UN member states,

Emphasizing that the death penalty has not been found to be a deterrent to violent crime (and, in fact, the opposite is the case),

Keeping in mind that the death penalty costs more than life in prison,

Reaffirming that the death penalty risks killing innocent people,

Recognizing that the death penalty is the greatest denial of civil liberties,


1. Declares accordingly that the death penalty will be made illegal in all UN member states for any reason whatsoever;

2. Applauds the nations which have already banned the use of the death penalty within their borders;

3. Solemnly affirms that any member state who refuses to comply with this resolution will have their membership in the United Nations revoked;

4. Calls upon all nations to place a trade embargo on any nation who endorses and/or uses the death penalty, regardless of their membership in the UN;

5. Requests that all member states voluntarily send reports on their progress in combating crime within their own borders, especially violent crimes.

Approvals: 19 (Stir It Up, Ourtown, Flagellumpa, Pulled Pork, Republic of Freedonia, Gaiah, Pilantras, Penton Rise, Lucasoria, Alpha Centauri, YOONI, Salf, Drevsan, Shydon, Timberlacia, Minor Sealand, Ancients Tomatoes, Crooks and fiends, Fenure)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 130 more approvals)

Voting Ends: Sun May 8 2005

we would like to advise the member from CatholicBlueBoy that this proposal has actually made it into the silly proposals forum on the basis that it has been tried so many times, yet failed. unfortunatly, this is actually a well worded proposal. the problem is that many nations will play the 'national sovereinty' card that i played befor, and it will get defeated. sorry :(

If we can force nations to legalise prostitutes, then we can jolly well force them to remove the death penalty, national soverignty be dammed.

I like it. Excellent outline, expalination and justification

If we can force nations to legalise prostitutes, then we can jolly well force them to remove the death penalty, national soverignty be dammed.

I like it. Excellent outline, expalination and justification
1) dont bring the prostitute argument in here and
2) i know this is kinda continuing it, but there has to be some UN signifigance in that and not this if that one had been passed twice, yet this one hasnt even made the floor before being shot down...

The Republic of Yuunli is shocked to see some nations still have the death penalty. We consider this a severe violation of human rights, and therefore support the resolution proposal.

1) dont bring the prostitute argument in here and It was the first resolution I could think of that you could argue national soverignty. Better one is the one currently at vote. 2) i know this is kinda continuing it, but there has to be some UN signifigance in that and not this if that one had been passed twice, yet this one hasnt even made the floor before being shot down...I'd cynically suggest that there is a number of delegates that might wish the other resolution was real, and fewer who'd want this one to pass. <there goes my chance of getting another proposal past quorum> :p

But you are right, this is not the place to discuss that topic and hijack this one.

Hirota, we agree, this one is a very well written proposal, with very good points, but unfortunatly it probably wont come to vote, and if it did, there are quite a few nations which would say 'we're not giving up the death penalty' without reading it. the main reason i used the national sovereignty thing is that if i didnt, someone else would have. it has almost become an unofficial rule that if the proposal has guns, nukes, death penalty, uranium mining, or is a repeal of abortion or gay marriage, it is likely to be doomed from the start

the problem i'm having is getting enough regional delegates to approve it so it CAN come to a vote. i wouldn't mind it being defeated in a full UN vote nearly as much as i mind it not ever being able to come to a vote because the delegates aren't making a daily check of proposals. is there a better way to contact the 2,000-odd delegates than looking through all the regions for the delegate? because i must have sent 500 telegrams so far, and have only 20-some approvals. i'm kinda running out of time, so any advice and/or help would be greatly appreciated.

the problem i'm having is getting enough regional delegates to approve it so it CAN come to a vote. i wouldn't mind it being defeated in a full UN vote nearly as much as i mind it not ever being able to come to a vote because the delegates aren't making a daily check of proposals. is there a better way to contact the 2,000-odd delegates than looking through all the regions for the delegate? because i must have sent 500 telegrams so far, and have only 20-some approvals. i'm kinda running out of time, so any advice and/or help would be greatly appreciated.

sadly telegramming is the best way to do it. I don't think there is another proven method that works.

sadly telegramming is the best way to do it. I don't think there is another proven method that works.
agreed there, but i dont think its worth trying our deligate. he was the one who put it in the silly proposals thread. all i can say is good luck. this is the best one i have seen covering this subject, but i have a feeling that it wont make it to vote...

Getting a resolution Approved and Passed is quite possibly the hardest thing you can do in the NS game. My Own resolution took three tries to just get Quorum and each time i had to telegram many delegates. The First time i telegrammed 300, then 600 the second time and finally the third time i had to telegram 1000 delegates. You need determination, the courage of your convictions, lots of spare time and a lot of strong black coffee!

its even harder when the issue you are highlighting is a contentious one such as The death Penalty.

The Delegation of the Venerable Libertarians will support your Proposal and we wish you well.

The Democratic Republic of CatholicBlueGuy appreciates your support, and should the working paper fail to reach the amount of votes needed for a quorum, the government of CatholicBlueGuy will bring the issue up at another time.

I apologize in advance for the ping-pong game I'm about to play.

Description: Noting with deep concern that the death penalty has proven to be inherently racist and classist due to the fact that there is a greater chance of a convicted criminal being placed on death row if she or he is an ethnic/national minority, poor, or both,

Interesting, but if people in UN member states are getting a fair trial, as per the "Fair Trial" and "Definition of Fair Trial" resolutions, and we have all sorts of legislation preventing discrimination already (ie. Article 4 of "Universal Bill of Rights", "Rights of Minorities and Women", and "Discrimination Accord"), and there is even a resolution protecting from racial discrimination by UN officials ("Fairness and Equality"), then how the hell is racism in the court system still a problem that can be addressed by legislation? When we also consider that all of the educational legislation put forth by the UN has greatly ameliorated the problem of poverty in UN member states, it looks like it isn't actually that much of a problem at all. Most of the issues you purport to address with your legislation have already been dealt with by previous legislation.

Alarmed that the death penalty has recently been introduced or reintroduced in many nation states belonging to the UN,

Really? I must have missed that.

Deeply disturbed that many nations have been found to have executed a convicted criminal who was later found to be either completely innocent or convicted without a proper or prepared attorney, on faulty or incomplete evidence, or on circumstantial evidence and the testimonies of co-defendants,

If that's your problem, develop a Standard of Proof proposal.

Aware that minors have been tried as adults and been sentenced to the death penalty,

Believe it or not, the age at which the law defines a person as an "adult" may not correspond to their actual development into such. There are minors who are more mature and more capable of consent than many so-called adults. Should nations who have the death penalty and use it equitably be forced to stop using it because some other nations can't tell when a minor is competent to be tried as an adult?

Noting that putting a minor to death is an action of a court of law that is hardly in the minor’s best interest,

Of course not. One of the main rationales for the death penalty is eliminating a threat to society, so it's in the society's best interest, not the minor's.

Affirming that the death penalty is said “cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment,” as minors and mentally retarded victims have been executed in several UN member states,

The death penalty itself is cruel and unusual because it has been used inappropriately? You may as well say that all shovels are bad because they've been used inappropriately.

Emphasizing that the death penalty has not been found to be a deterrent to violent crime (and, in fact, the opposite is the case),

In your nation, maybe. The effectiveness of the death penalty as a punishment depends largely on the culture of the people in the various member states. In the case of a member state in which one's individual life is valued above all else, there would be very few people of that state who would risk getting killed for perpetrating a crime.

Keeping in mind that the death penalty costs more than life in prison,

Not necessarily. A bullet in the back of the head is instant death and less painful than more "humane" methods that are advocated by some nations claiming to be civilized.

Recognizing that the death penalty is the greatest denial of civil liberties,

Greatest? Perhaps. Quickest and more effective, certainly.

1. Declares accordingly that the death penalty will be made illegal in all UN member states for any reason whatsoever;

coughnationalssovereigntycough

2. Applauds the nations which have already banned the use of the death penalty within their borders;

Thank you. Texan Hotrodders is grateful for your applause. :)

3. Solemnly affirms that any member state who refuses to comply with this resolution will have their membership in the United Nations revoked;

I believe that's a game mechanics violation. Your proposal is illegal because of that clause.

4. Calls upon all nations to place a trade embargo on any nation who endorses and/or uses the death penalty, regardless of their membership in the UN;

Interesting move.

5. Requests that all member states voluntarily send reports on their progress in combating crime within their own borders, especially violent crimes.

Why?
_________________

Mr. Jones reveals his hand.

http://img112.echo.cx/img112/9943/readthestickies5la.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)http://img112.echo.cx/img112/7448/illegalproposal2yd.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)http://img112.echo.cx/img112/1306/natsovcard7yg.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

If that's your problem, develop a Standard of Proof proposal.
which would probably be shot down because no one can agree to its terms and the ol' national sovereignty card.

I believe that's a game mechanics violation. Your proposal is illegal because of that clause.
damn, how could i miss that one???

More generally, there's going to be the problem involving nations such as Krioval, where the death penalty is largely unheard of, but select cases still merit capital punishment. Treason, for example, is punished by public execution in Krioval. As such, we're reluctant to abolish all forms of the death penalty, though we'd like for other nations to at least restrict it to major crimes.

agreed there, but i dont think its worth trying our deligate. he was the one who put it in the silly proposals thread. all i can say is good luck. this is the best one i have seen covering this subject, but i have a feeling that it wont make it to vote...
That's true every time I see a proposal about the death penalty I whip out the good ol'http://bak42.notworksafe.com/images/NationStates/UNCards/nationalsovereighty.jpg


OK, so maybe it's not that old.:D

Mmm, yes. Illegal. The UN cannot eject members for non-complaince as there's no such thing as non-complaince.

- Gnome in Charge of Basic Things
"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone..."

PS- Tex: Hey, think you could maybe shrink those images a touch? Maybe a simple 20% reduction or so? They're great but can be a little big (pixel-wise, not kb-wise).

Many thanks to everyone who supported this initiative. It does not look as though it will have enough votes for quorum this time, but the issue has not died. I will consult with the delegates who did bother to approve the resolution, edit it a bit, and bring it up at a more opportune time.

Thanks again!

Many thanks to everyone who supported this initiative. It does not look as though it will have enough votes for quorum this time, but the issue has not died. I will consult with the delegates who did bother to approve the resolution, edit it a bit, and bring it up at a more opportune time.

Thanks again!

*sends the delegate a nice leatherbound dictionary with the reference to "ILLEGAL" bookmarked.*

Good luck resubmitting it, I think it's a fine resolution. Fix the minor bit about non-compliance, and you'll be fine.