NationStates Jolt Archive

Fellow delegates,

I want to try something out, and may be looking for co-authorship for a environmental/moral decency (yes, we in Ghostlin know what that is, we just sometimes define it differently than the rest of you) proposal.

Here's a rough draft of the idea:

Decent Burial Act

The United Nations,

AGREEING with the ideals of national soverignity and individual determinism,

AGREEING with, in addition, that public health and safety needs to be forefront on certain sensitive topics, and that the impact of this bill shall be minor to undersigned nations,

CONCERNED with the fact that burial of human beings can be an issue to be handled with diplomacy and respect,

PROPOSES the following:

1) All deceased persons, regardless of station, have the right to a proper burial in the manner of which they choose, unless that manner would be a matter of public health and safety, such as being burnt at a caern creating pollution and sea burials causing water pollution.

2) All nations shall bury their dead in a manner that shall not impinge on public health and safety in accordance to the first part of the proposal.

3) For public health reasons, this proposal forbids the following practices: leaving corpses exposed in a pouplated area; burying corpses in mass graves instead of individually; or the open air burning of bodies.

4) The deceased shall be returned to the nation of which they are a member if deceased abroad unless specified otherwise by that nation citing a specific legal reason, or by a Will and Testament written by the deceased. If buried abroad due to any of the above, the deceased is treated under this act as if they were a member of the burying nation.

5) Unless the remains are taken care of in a manner that does not include burial, such as cremation, all nations shall make a good faith effort to identify the body and mark the grave with full legal name of the deceased, birth and death dates if and only if the deceased has insufficent family, relations and assets to do so. The manner and materials on which such a marker is created is up to the burying nation, and if any other information on the deceased will be furnished on said marker. The marker will be created in accordance with any environmental laws of that nation, and according to the technology availble to said nation state.

6) All nations shall transport bodies when necessary with the utmost respect, decorum and care shown to the grieving. This proposal urges specific vechiles to be used for any corpse transport, such as a herse.

7) All nations shall provide at minimum in addition to what is outlined above, a spiritual prayer for the comportment of the deceased if and only if the deceased has insufficent family, relations and assets to do so unless otherwise specified by the beliefs of the deceased or the government has no spiritual advisory to do so.

8) This proposal urges all nations to bury their dead at a depth of at least 6 feet, unless geography of the nation makes this impossible.


Well, that's the idea, so to speak. I wouldn't mind to hear well reasoned thoughts on how this proposal might work; while not what you call a widespread issue, it is one that is worth protecting with a proposal.

Cordially,

Alex Taurit, Secretary of Foreign Relations, Ghostlin

"I'd like to point out to Mr. Taurit that his proposal, while no doubt put forward in good faith and with the best of intentions, is highly flawed; tt would outlaw the religiously mandated burial practices of several cultures, particularly the exposure of the dead or the use of funeral pyres, which are still used in some parts of the world today.

"It also outlaws the use of mass graves in the name of "public health", when mass graves may sometimes be necessary for public health, particularly after a natural disaster or military engagement, when sufficient time or facilities may not exist to dispose of the deceased in a more traditional manner.

"Furthermore, I am quite sure that this proposal is a matter for national governments, and not for the United Nations.

"Thankyou!"

~ Galen Serrault, by appointment of Her Majesty Ambassador to the United Nations

I want to try something out, and may be looking for co-authorship for a environmental/moral decency (yes, we in Ghostlin know what that is, we just sometimes define it differently than the rest of you)Seriously not seeing Environmental.

I find it interesting that this proposal does the opposite of what it purports to do in it's opening paragraphs.

And not allowing sea burials? You would rather ships carry their dead all the way home? What about ex-sailors who wish to have their ashes settle to the depths? I hear that there is a bio-degradable ashes-coffin-float designed for this purpose.

(ooc: There really is! With a print of a boat on the top.)

While the motivations behind this might be sincere it can really only legislate the depth of graves without stepping on a load of rotten toes.

About the no mass graves, what about situations where there a disease running rampant, and the only way to be able to deal with the corpses in a timely manner is to bury them all at once?

Furthermore, this idea is nothing but unneeded micromanagement by the UN, as such I cannot support it.

Bob Flibble
UN Representative

An unnecessary intrustion into the religious and community practices of individual nations, masquerading as a public health initiative. We will not support this.

Harmalan Shandreth
Ambassador Plenipotens

What exactly is unhealthy about mass graves?
And if unburied bodies are soooo unsanitary that the UN needs to regulate burial, shouldn't countries be required to do the same for animal bodies? I mean, they are just as unhealthy to be lying around.
And what about countries where funeral pyres are a religious issue?
In many navies, burial at sea is a privlege that serving members earn through service...why are you denying them this right? Dead fish are just as bad for oceans as dead people.
In short...good intentions that don't work out on paper.

Mmmm, soylent green.

What is with all these meddling resolutions I'm seeing lately. Did I read correctly that you want there to be a compulsory prayer for these deceased people? What if the people required to do so aren't religious? Wouldn't you say that would be an infringement of their rights? A country should bury their own dead according to their own customs. If they know it can be dangerous and do it anyway then it's their own business and it's not our fault if their country is ill affected. Let the countries decide.



UN Ambassador, Yuru Namari

3) For public health reasons, this proposal forbids the following practices: leaving corpses exposed in a pouplated area; burying corpses in mass graves instead of individually; or the open air burning of bodies.

The government of Sturmholm is vehemently opposed to this resolution due largely to the above quoted text,specifically the bolded text.
Since the time of our ancestors ancestors ancestors we have observed the noble and glorious tradition of burning our loved ones on open funerary pyres and see this legislation as a thinly veiled attempt to destroy one of our most holy ceremonies,all in the name of public health.*spits dramatically on floor*
*bangs fist on podium as he utters the next words*
WE SHALL DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO SEE THAT THIS LEGISLATION NEVER SEES THE LIGHT OF DAY!!!!

What is with all these meddling resolutions I'm seeing lately. Did I read correctly that you want there to be a compulsory prayer for these deceased people? What if the people required to do so aren't religious? Wouldn't you say that would be an infringement of their rights? A country should bury their own dead according to their own customs.

I must agree; to decree that a government be forced to perform a funeral prayer is not something I would agree with. While many in Subistratica are very religious, we rarely allow religion to enter into the political forum and this seems like one way to do so.

I also do not agree with forcing all UN member nations to abandon their customs for honoring the dead in order to "not impinge on public health and safety". In addition, I think sea burials have an extremely infinitesimal effect on sea pollution.

Patent Eros Tatriel
UN Rep. for Subistratica

Mmmm, soylent green.We have the mustard...

Who is to pay for that? You want the glorious people to pay for a homeless bums grave? NAY! Burn them... Simple.

3) For public health reasons, this proposal forbids the following practices: leaving corpses exposed in a pouplated area; burying corpses in mass graves instead of individually; or the open air burning of bodies.

But sometimes it becomes necessary to "cremate" rampaging zombies by the use of flame-throwers...

8) This proposal urges all nations to bury their dead at a depth of at least 6 feet,

OOC: If you really want to push a proposal through the UN then maybe you could try one to repeal Resolution #24 'Metric System' instead?

this is too much of a nanny multi state idea.

individual determinism previals here, and it is simply not fair to stop someone from being disposed of in the manner of their choosing.

Also on a practical note, where would the costs lie? what if someone was to not afford to be buried in a nice way. For example, in thezone, alo of poorer citizens just dump corpses in the wood for the wolves and timelords to eat.

Also it acts as an administrative burden for my secret police and members of the murdering community. When someone is killed, our murderers and the secret police havent got the time/energy to dig a proper 6ft grave. Also they may not want bodies to be discovered.......

[QUOTE=TheCraigzone;13086928]this is too much of a nanny multi state idea.

individual determinism previals here, and it is simply not fair to stop someone from being disposed of in the manner of their choosing.

Also on a practical note, where would the costs lie? what if someone could not afford to be buried in a nice way. For example, in thezone, alo of poorer citizens just dump corpses in the wood for the wolves and timelords to eat, and eventually the corpse gets converted into nutrients.

Also it acts as an administrative burden for my secret police and members of the murdering community. When someone is killed, our murderers and the secret police havent got the time/energy to dig a proper 6ft grave. Also they may not want bodies to be discovered......

ooc: ive seen those coffins, they're awesome. heres some guidelines for dumping bodies at sea. http://www.mceu.gov.uk/MCEU_LOCAL/FEPA/FEPA-burial-instructions-main.htm