Topic: Protecting the Human Right to Peaceful Protest
Country: New Zealand
Delegate Name: Samantha Zahrai
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All New Zealand position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
Throughout history, the freedom to protest has given civilians a voice. Back during the civil rights movement, one of the most famous acts of protest was the march on Washington. Also, during the Vietnam war, many students expressed their frustration by protesting. In the news, lately, there have been many protests in Syria, with some of them ending in violence. The right for a country's people to be able to protest peacefully without the fear of being hurt, abused, or punished is crucial.
New Zealand has had a long history of peaceful protests. From getting women to vote to protecting New Zealand's environment, peaceful protesting has been a part of our culture. Our country protested against France testing its nuclear weapons in our waters, and when they wouldn't stop, our government sent ships to find a resolution. If a government and its people listen to one another, many issues can be easily resolved.
In order to encourage governments to grant its people the right to protest peacefully, the UN will have to establish a clear definition of legal protest and illegal protest. Legal protest should be any protest that does not carry weapons or harm officials in any way. If protests do become violent, officials need to calmly stop the violence and end the protest. If officials fire back, then it will just create even more violence. By firing back, officials could even hurt people who were not even protesting violently.
New Zealand looks forward to finding ways for the UN to ensure that people all over the world are guaranteed the right to peaceful protest.
