Committees

• Security Council

Under the UN charter, the Security Council (SC) has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Some of its functions and powers are to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the UN, to investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction, to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or suggest terms of settlement, to determine act of aggression or the existence of a threat to peace as well as to recommend action to be taken. The powers of the SC include calling on Members of the UN to introduce economic sanctions and authorizing military action against a party threatening international peace.

The organizational structure of the SC reflects the world order at the time of the creation of the UN. Out of its 15 member states, five have permanent status; these are France, People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. The five permanent members have the right to veto any decision. The remaining ten members of the SC serve two-year terms, five are re-elected every year.

Transnational organized crime causes a complex variety of threats to international peace and security. During the conference, the focus of the SC is on two types of transnational organized crime: trafficking in illicit drugs and arms, including the threat to security posed by transnational criminal cartels. Illicit drug and arms trade fuel and facilitate acts of corruption, which in turn jeopardizes democratic stability and is a serious obstacle to guaranteeing peace, security, governance and national security of countries. These two dimensions of transnational organized crime can thus be considered to be particularly grave security threats.

• Economical and Social Council

The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) plays a major role in combating transnational organized crime. Whenever humans organize for illicit purposes, either economic interests or social reasons can be singled out as the main root cause. It is hence crucial to face this threat at all levels of society and to find the appropriate balance between measuring short-term success and investing into long-term preventive strategies.

During the discussions in the Economic and Social Council, it must therefore be top priority to construct a stabilizing framework for the combat of transnational organized crime. This framework is to encompass both the development of regional economies and the prevention of political corruption.

Discussion shall also focus on both underlying causes and prevention of the issues in focus. No less important than the direct combat of criminal activities is the reduction of the forces stimulating them. In the case of trafficking in illicit drugs, there is a need to target those countries in which the demand for substances is the strongest. Solutions, decreasing the demand for drugs, may thus simultaneously lessen the benefit of the production and trade thereof. When it comes to human trafficking an underlying cause may be weak institutional attempts to prosecute traffickers on national levels.

• Human Rights Council

Transnational organized crime has a wide range of both direct and indirect negative effects on human rights. Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, the right to a fair trial and freedom of assembly. Human rights also include economical, social and cultural rights, such as the right to food, work and health. In the Universal Declarations of Human Rights, human rights are defined as universal, unalienated, interrelated, interdependent, equal and non-discriminatory. All human beings are thus “born free and equal in dignity and rights”[1].

The Human Rights Council (HRC) main task is to promote and protect human rights. At present, high on the HRC’s agenda is the work to prevent and combat the negative effects on people’s full enjoyment of human rights caused by transnational crime. Two of the most pressing issues within this area are terrorism and trafficking in humans.

The “war on terror” has been justified as a way of defending human rights. However, counter-terrorist laws may paradoxically also infringe on peoples’ full enjoyment of human rights. Both terrorism and counter-terrorism activities should thus preferably be considered when discussing the relation between terrorism and the promotion and protection of human rights.

The second pressing issue to be discussed by the HRC during SMUN is the question of human trafficking, which has been described as a contemporary form of slavery. As trafficking has become a global problem, it requires a global response. Trafficking in humans, just like terrorism, is often a form of transnational crime. During the conference, delegates should thus aim at developing a strategic management plan to deal with both these issues jointly as a matter of priority.