Photos added

You can now enjoy all photos from LUMUN 2010 in the photosection.

This just in!

Lumun Times: Crisis in Mogadishu

(Source: “moc-“ Reuters)

Today, fighting erupted in Mogadishu when the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jarmaa broke their alliance with the Somali government due to severe difficulties of cooperation, with Ahlu Sunna ministers openly criticising their fellow ministers for not ensuring their safety in the southern parts of Somalia. Hostilities shortly intensified as al Shabab appears to have taken advantage of the instability, launching an offensive against the TFG with the objective of seizing control of the capital. Currently, fighting takes place both between TFG supporters and Ahlu Sunna, between TFG supporters and al Shabab and between Ahlu Sunna and al Shabab. Because of the hostilities, the AMISOM troops have been ordered to withdraw for the time being, since the security of the troops cannot be ensured, given the recent instability and the limitations of the AMISOM mandate. Currently, the TFG stands without their primary protective force and order needs to be restored before the hostilities spiral into large scale fighting. Already, the citizens of Mogadishu are fleeing the capital and have to face the reality as IDPs, with no protection from their government. As of yet, it remains questionable if the police force is still under the effective control of the TFG, since Ahlu Sunna representatives were given high positions in the police force as an incentive for the cooperation with the government. The most recent fighting is merely the latest in a series of disasters for Somalia, who have been without a democratically elected government for the past decades. Although the UN Secretary General has already made several statements on the most recent developments, the situation continues to unfold before the eyes of the international community. If the conditions are to improve, the UN Security Council needs to adapt their strategy to the current situation and realise that the time for action is limited. An immediate response is needed, in order to stabilise Somalia and create favourable conditions for a sustainable solution of the conflict in Somalia.

Draft resolution?

According to sources that the Lumun times has been talking to, a
Draft resolution is in the pipeline..

News Update of Saturday Session

On Saturday, the US kicked off the debate with statements reflectively putting the discussion on pirates under international law to rest, arguing vividly by use of Captain Hook as an example.  Afterwards, the LUMUN Times almost gave up hope of publishing a scoop today, since the debate moved very slowly during the initial hours of the session. However, when the word terrorism was mentioned, it was as if the entire council finally was awakened by their early morning dose of caffeine, and a heated debate followed.

Nigeria was quick to commend the shift of the US policy, and the debate turned towards a discussion of the AMISON mandate.  Deployment of AMISON troops have been contested for several reasons, for instance regarding a lack of specified plans once the troops have been deployed. Also suggestions of increased funding have been met with scepticism due to doubts that the money will further enable the troops to securitize Somalia. Voices of protest have also raised concerns due to the fact that the AMISON troops, and the government they are supporting, are regarded more as an instrument of the international community than the lawful representatives of the public and the legitimate wielders of the monopoly of violence in Somalia.

The discussion intermittently returned to this subject, although it was also interrupted regularly by questions of humanitarian assistance to Somalia. Lawlessness and state building was discussed but considering the complexity of these issues and the lack of depth in these areas of the debate, no sustainable solutions have been advocated as of yet. A plan enabling the exchange of guns for money was discussed; no consensus was reached since voices expressed concern that this could facilitate the further purchase of weapons. It remains to be seen whether this will be of further interest for the coming draft resolutions.

Several draft resolutions have been presented during the session and have been well accepted by the council.  The LUMUN Times looks forward to the attempts of merging the draft resolutions and hopes for a couple of draft resolutions to be formed during the afternoon session.

Working Paper 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0

Three working papers have been submitted by the delegations of Mexico, Turkey and USA and presented to the Security Council.

The LUMUN Times Press – Friday Summary

Finally, it is time for the daily update from the first day of the 2010 LUMUN security sessions.

Following a fairly nervous Mock session, debating the extremely fascinating subject of who should pay on the first date, focus quickly shifted towards the conflict in Somalia. Formal debate was initiated with opening speeches, eloquently reflecting the standpoints of the respective countries. While the human security aspect was stressed by countries such as Austria and Mexico, the Russian Federation instead approached the Somali conflict with the aim of taking decisive action against the piracy off the coast of Somalia.

After the usual diplomatic courtesy had been exchanged, following a speech by the honourable secretary general to remind the delegates of their diplomatic duties, the discussion rapidly intensified into a riveting moderated caucus of the root causes of piracy.

During this moderated caucus it soon became evident that two rivalling camps were forming in session. While the US and the UK seem to agree on atop-down on an approach to strengthening Somali institutions and forcefully renewing the fights on piracy, the other camp have a completely different standpoint. Arguing for a bottom-up approach, China and Nigeria take the lead in directing the debate towards state building and Human Security, Negating that piracy is the relevant root causes of the Somali conflict. Although the discussion pivoted shortly towards piracy, the debate soon was directed towards finding an African solution to African problems. Regional stability and the question of how to strengthen the AMISON troops became a subject for discussion, as well as the legitimacy and democracy gap of the TFP and the TFG, stressed by Bosnia and Herzegovina. Heated debate continued until a working paper was introduced by Nigeria, whereby a moderated caucus discussion the working paper followed. Emerging the different perspectives into a document which both camps can support will require considerable diplomatic skills – as well as drafting skills – in order to accommodate all countries’ views. Currently, it remains to be seen whether the views of these camps are mutually exclusive or if they can be merged. During late afternoon two different moderated caucuses both the issue of Puntland vs. Somaliland border as well as Democracy. So far though, these have been quite unproductive.

The LUMUN times looks forward to further debates and commence the delegates on a job well done this far!

 

Mingel photos added to “photo” section

Working Paper 1.0

A working paper has been submitted by the delegation of Nigeria and presented to the security council.

Session one has begun

In a sunny and warm Lund, the first session has now begun. After a initial moc-session on the topic “Who should pay on the first date?” with a following Q&A on the rules of procedure the main negotiations will soon begin.

Opening ceremony

Guest speaker Göran Melander:

Göran Melander spoke of chapter 6 and 7 of the UN charter; their main differences and which one is possible for use.

Then he addressed the way in which the UN can act.
“There are a number of situations where economic sanctions has been used” Mr melander stated, but continued that “as far as I know this has not been discussed in the Somali situation”.

“Military sanctions are still a possible aspect, but it is being discussed if they are useful or not.”

“Military sanctions are extremely expensive”.. “Who will pay?”. He also pointed out that the UN does not have sufficient resources.

Mr. Melander then mentioned that “Veto is absolutely necessary” since in the case of Panama - should the UN have started a military sanction on the USA?

“The UN has been accused for beeing a lame duck” but is the UN an actor or is it an arena? The answer is, according to Mr. Melander, that “UN is an arena where actors have the possibility to act!” hence we should not accuse the UN itself but its member states, if there is no action taken.

Sven Brummer:

After The Secretary Generals Opening speech, that can be found here(Opening speech), he Officially opened the LUMUN conference 2010.