Lisa Dammeyer for Aljazeera

CCPCJ 2002 Starts Discussing Terrorism

 

by Lisa Dammeyer (Al Jazeera)

The Committee on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) is an ECOSOC committee focusing on the oversight of international crime. This year at JHUMUNC, the CCPCJ is set in the year 2002, shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States of America. The topics that the CCPCJ are focusing on this year are 1) Gender Equality in the Criminal Justice System and 2) Developing an International Model to Combat Terrorism.

In the very first Committee Session of JHUMUNC, the CCPCJ began their time by deciding on which topic to tackle first. After a brief debate, they decided to first debate the topic of “Developing an International Model to Combat Terrorism”. In the Speaker’s List and the following moderated caucuses, delegates debated the definition of terrorism as well as which facet of terrorism should be approached first. The debate was full of varied opinions. While the United States and Japan called for a clear definition as to what terrorism is, some countries such as Egypt argued that just one definition could be too specific. While some countries, including Ethiopia, stated that the focus should be more on the roots of terrorism, France responded by saying that there is no traceable root of terrorism.

After a few moderated caucuses and some heated debate, the committee went into an unmoderated caucus to discuss working papers. With such varied opinions amongst the committee as to how to approach the topic of terrorism, several distinct groups began to form to build working papers.

Afterwards, in a moderated caucus, two working papers were briefly discussed. One was presented by Morocco and was also supported by the United Kingdom and the United States. It defines terrorism, calls for more action to be taken against terrorists, and encourages improvements in national defence as a way to counter terrorism. Another paper, presented by Italy, India, and Germany, puts more emphasis on the prevention of terrorism.

With one productive committee session under its belt, it will be interesting to see the CCPCJ’s progression of the debate about terrorism. In addition, the debate of Gender Equality in the Criminal Justice System is still to come, and with this group of passionate delegates, it is sure to be a thought-provoking debate.