[PASSED] Rules of Surrender

[Separatist Peoples]

I noted your delegation's support from the get-go, Ms. Chinmusic; fear not. The honorable ambassador from Valsyvir raised the issue; if I've misdirected any passion in argument towards Dark Star representatives I apologize. All I wished to point out is that treating so-called "unlawful combatants" as they are alleged to treat their targets seems inconsistent with the implied moral superiority putatively held by WA members' forces.

Whatever our stances on that, it seems we all see an opening for further WA action on the general conduct of warfare.

Apologies to Mr. Bell if this was off topic, though I think it was worth exploring.

"Not at all. I have had some drafts on the subject for quite some time, though I feel a serious effort to codify laws of war will be pointless without some supranational mandate to ensure prosecution first. I regretted my support for the Repeal of the ICC the moment it passed."

[The Dark Star Republic]

"So my MiDaggio*-esque streak of incorrect predictions continues! I really did not see this passing at all, but yet again the wise caution of action has been shown to bet against my predictions.

"My (premature) congratulations to Ambassador Bell."

~ Vice-Colonel Truculent Bilgewater
Ambassador to the WA

* Jo MiDaggio was a Dark Star softball player who went 0-4 in 56 consecutive games.

[Railana]

We strongly support this resolution. It will make a fine addition to international humanitarian law.

Joseph Fulton
Chief Ambassador, Railanan Mission to the World Assembly

[The Sheika]

As a delegate to the WA I must report that I fully supported this resolution and I personally feel that it is necessary. I must however cast a vote based upon a regional poll. That being said, I am for this resolution but I am obligated to cast an "against" vote. Best of luck to Ambassador Bell and this proposal.

[Ontorisa]

"As a victim of inhuman treatment of surrendered soldiers, the Fascist Dominion of Ontorisa hereby strongly SUPPORTS this resolution."
Ontorisan WA Delegate (Cpl RET.) Kiederit Askau, veteran of the Seventh Heratoian Conflict, announced proudly, sporting his service medals including the "Point Esderial" Medal, in recognition of the group of Ontorisans who held their position during the "Great Retreat". "If anything, this is a beautiful step forward in the humanitarian treatment of surrendered soldiers during armed conflict."

[Hakio]

"The League and I agree to stand in FAVOR of this resolution's passing, to support the furtherment of peace and prosperity for all people throughout the World Assembly stricken by the plague of war," states Sia Hedishi after coming back from the hospital with a broken ankle from the defenestration at the hands of Separatist People's ambassador. "On behalf of the Hakii government, The League of Liberty, and myself, I would like to personally congratulate our ankle breaking 'National Sovereigntist ally'... Separatist Peoples for such an exemplary and respectful course of action that lead to such an important piece of legislation passing."

[Chester Pearson]

I think The Federation's position on this is pretty clear, therefore we will forgo making an official diplomatic statement from our ministry....

[Betoveria]

"Sometimes you guys make my job way too easy. Approved." Eugene Danson III states, looking up from his Windows Surface. "This bill is part of why I like this Assembly; its goals are amiable as well as reasonable, and I cannot imagine the logic behind rejecting it... If you call that logic at all. Now, I'm going to take a brief break, get coffee, and play Metroid Zero Mission, if anyone needs me." He stands, and strides out of the Assembly Hall.

[The Peoples Republic of Amtactica]

"Allrighty then, I've seen this idea kicked around a bit, and, in a stroke of sudden and uncharacteristic ambition, decided to give it a crack. So, ladies, gentlemen, and various fauna, please get your Red Pens, Shredders, and Flamethrowers ready for...

Rules of Surrender
Category: Human Rights
Strength: Mild

---

COGNIZANT of the World Assembly’s enduring commitment to ensuring ethical standards in warfare;

FINDING UNTENABLE the international community’s lack of just standards on the treatment of combatants laying down arms, and;

RESOLVED to rectify this oversight;

The General Assembly,

DEFINES surrender as the act of combatants capitulating to an enemy force during a time of armed conflict between nations;

DEFINES a parley as the negotiation for surrender, ceasefire, or other form of truce between representatives of parties in an armed conflict;

DEFINES a symbol of truce as an inviolable signal made by a party of the conflict for the cessation of hostilities and intention to parley, including signals of military tradition such as waving a white flag, laying down arms, or other internationally recognized symbol so associated;

DEFINES hors de combat as a state in which a combatant is immediately recognizable as unable to engage in combat, including the state of being wounded, incapacitated, unarmed, or otherwise incapable of defending themselves;

OBLIGES member states to extend the following protections and duties:

Article I. Those parties participating in a parley, under the protection of a symbol of truce, or in the process of complying with the terms of a negotiated surrender are entitled to the following:

1. Protection from assault, injury, or detainment by any combatant party to the conflict while displaying, broadcasting, or otherwise openly utilizing a symbol of truce;

2. Good faith in all negotiations relevant to the conditional surrender by combatants party to the conflict;

3. Expectation of all rights and protections afforded by World Assembly law, regardless of the status of the combatants’ nation of origin;

Article II. Those parties participating in a parley, under the protection of a symbol of truce, or in the process of complying with the terms of a negotiated surrender have the duty to:

1. Comply, in good faith, with all accepted terms of surrender, insofar as they are legal and do not constitute an outrage of personal dignity, and;

2. Refrain from perfidious activity while under the protections of a symbol of truce, including but not limited to abusing the protections of a symbol of truce, feigning surrender to take advantage of the enemy, or using a symbol of truce or parley to screen force deployment, munitions resupply, or reconnaissance operations;

Article III. Those parties accepting surrender have the duty to:

1. Immediately recognize and confer upon the surrendering party all the protections of prisoner of war status following the satisfaction of the terms of surrender, and;

2. Refrain from perfidious activity as it relates to the process of negotiating and accepting surrender;

ASSERTS that member states shall consider combatants found hors de combat to be surrendering and accordingly extend the protections outlined in Articles I and III, subject to the belligerents’ reasonable ability to comply with the duties outlined in Article II.1;

DECLARES that those belligerents in violation of the duties herein shall have their protections as outlined in Article I.1 revoked as the situation requires;

MANDATES that member states consider the deliberate and knowing violation of these Articles a war crime, and exercise their jurisdiction over violators appropriately.

Rules of Surrender
Category: Human Rights
Strength: Mild

---

COGNIZANT of the World Assembly’s enduring commitment to ensuring ethical standards in warfare;

LAMENTING the lack of right and just standards for the treatment combatants laying down arms by the international community, and;

DETERMINED to rectify this gross oversight;

The General Assembly,

DEFINES surrender as the act of combatants capitulating to an enemy force during a time of armed conflict between nations;

DEFINES a parley as the negotiation for surrender, ceasefire, or other form of truce between representatives of armed forces in armed conflict;

DEFINES a symbol of truce as an inviolable signal for the cessation of hostilities and intention to parley by a party of the conflict, including signals of military tradition such as waving a white flag, laying down arms, or other internationally recognized symbol so associated;

EXTENDS the following protections and duties:

Article I. Those participating in either a parley, under the protection of a symbol of truce, or in the process of complying with the terms of a negotiated surrender are entitled to the following:

1. Protection from any hostile assault, injury, or detainment by any combatant party to the conflict while displaying, broadcasting, or otherwise openly utilizing a symbol of truce;

2. Good faith in all negotiations relevant to the conditional surrender by combatants party to the conflict;

3. Expectation of all rights and protections afforded by previous and future international law, regardless of the status of the combatants’ nation of origin;

Article II. Those parties either participating in a parley under the protection of a symbol of truce, or in the process of complying with the terms of a negotiated surrender have the duty to:

1. Comply, in good faith, with all accepted terms of surrender, insofar as they are legal and do not constitute an outrage of personal dignity, and;

2. Refrain from any perfidious activity while under the protections of a symbol of truce, including but not limited to abusing the protections of a symbol of truce, feigning surrender to take advantage of the enemy, or using a symbol of truce or parley to screen force deployment, munitions resupply, or reconnaissance operations;

Article III. Those parties accepting a surrender have the duty to:

1. Recognize and confer upon the surrendering party all the protections of prisoner of war status immediately upon the terms of the surrender being satisfied, and;

2. Refrain from any perfidious activity as it relates to the process of negotiating and accepting surrender;

DECLARES that those belligerents in violation of the duties herein may have their protections outlined in Article I.1 revoked as the situation requires;

MANDATES that member states consider the deliberate and knowing violation of these duties a war crime, and prosecute violators within their jurisdiction accordingly.

Wartime Capitulation Accord
Category: Moral Decency
Strength: Significant

---

REEVALUATING the current standards of surrender in warfare,

THOROUGHLY DISSATISFIED with the status quo, and,

SEEKING to remedy this,

The General Assembly,

DEFINES surrender as the act of combatants capitulating to an enemy force during a time of armed conflict between nations;

DEFINES a parley as the negotiation for surrender, ceasefire, or other form of truce between representatives of armed forces in armed conflict;

DEFINES a symbol of truce as a signal for the cessation of hostilities and intention to parley by a party of the conflict, including signals of military tradition such as waving a white flag, laying down arms, formally striking the colors, or other internationally recognized symbol so associated;

EXTENDS the following protections and duties:

Article I. Those participating in a parley under the protection of a symbol of truce or in the process of complying with the terms a negotiated surrender are entitled to the following:

1. Protection from any hostile assault, injury, or detainment by any combatant party to the conflict while displaying, broadcasting, or otherwise openly utilizing a symbol of truce;

2. Good faith in all negotiations relevant to the conditional surrender by combatants party to the conflict;

3. Expectation of all rights and protections afforded by previous and future international law, regardless of the status of the combatants’ nation of origin;

Article II. Those parties participating in a parley under the protection of a symbol of truce or in the process of complying with the terms of a negotiated surrender have the duty to:

1. Comply, in good faith, with all accepted terms of surrender, insofar as they are legal and do not constitute an outrage of personal dignity, and;

2. Refrain from any perfidious activity while under the protections of a symbol of truce, including but not limited to abusing the protections of a symbol of truce, feigning surrender to take advantage of the enemy, or using a symbol of truce or parley to screen troop deployment, munitions resupply, or espionage and intelligence operations;

Article III. Those parties accepting a surrender have the duty to:

1. Recognize and confer upon the surrendering party all the protections of Prisoner of War status immediately upon the terms of the surrender being satisfied, and,

2. Refrain from any perfidious activity as it relates to the process of negotiating and accepting surrender;

DECLARES that those belligerents in violation of the duties herein may have their protections outlined in Article I.1 revoked as the situation requires;

MANDATES that member states consider the deliberate and knowing violation of these duties a war crime, and prosecute violators within their jurisdiction accordingly.

Convention on Surrender
Category: Moral Decency
Strength: Mild/Significant (?)

---

REEVALUATING the current standards of surrender in warfare,

THOROUGHLY DISSATISFIED with the current status quo, and,

SEEKING to remedy this,

The General Assembly,

DEFINES surrender as the act of combatants capitulating to an enemy force during a time of armed conflict between nations;

DEFINES a parley as the negotiation for surrender, ceasefire, or other form of truce between representatives of armed forces in armed conflict;

DEFINES, for the sake of this resolution, a symbol of truce as an internationally-recognized signal for the cessation of hostilities by a party of the conflict and desire to parley;

EXTENDS the following protections and duties:

Article I. Those participating in a parley under the protection of a symbol of truce or in the process of complying with the terms a negotiated surrender are entitled to the following:

1. Protection from any hostile assault or injury by any combatant party to the conflict while displaying, broadcasting, or otherwise openly utilizing a symbol of truce;

2. Good faith in all negotiations relevant to the conditional surrender by combatants party to the conflict;

3. Expectation of all rights and protections afforded by previous and future international law, regardless of the status of the combatants’ nation of origin;

Article II. Those parties participating in a parley under the protection of a symbol of truce or in the process of complying with the terms of a negotiated surrender have the duty to:

1. Comply, in good faith, with all accepted terms of surrender, insofar as they are legal and just terms, and,

2. Refrain from any perfidious activity while under the protections of a symbol of truce, including but not limited to feigning surrender to take advantage of the enemy, using a symbol of truce or parley to screen troop, materiel, or supply movements necessary to continue the conflict, or deliberately engaging in espionage or intelligence operations;

Article III. Those parties accepting a surrender have the duty to:

1. Recognize and confer upon the surrendering party all the protections of Prisoner of War status immediately upon the terms of the surrender being satisfied, and,

2. Refrain from any perfidious activity as it relates to the process of negotiating and accepting surrender;

MANDATES that member states consider the deliberate and knowing violation of these duties a war crime, and prosecute violators within their jurisdiction accordingly.

Convention on Surrender

Category: Moral Decency

Strength: Mild.

Reevaluating the accepted standards of surrender in warfare,

Thoroughly dissatisfied with the current status quo, and,

Seeking to remedy this,

The General Assembly,

DEFINES surrender as the act of combatants capitulating to an enemy force during a time of armed conflict between nations;

DEFINES, for the sake of this resolution, a parley as the negotiation for surrender, ceasefire, or other form of truce between representatives of armed forces in armed conflict;

DEFINES, for the sake of this resolution, a symbol of truce as an internationally-recognized signal for the cessation of hostilities by a party of the conflict and desire to parley;

EXTENDS the following protections:

Article I. Those requesting or engaged in parley under a signal of truce or in the process of complying with the terms a negotiated surrender are entitled to the following:

1. Protection from any hostile assault or injury by any combatant party to the conflict while under, bearing, or broadcasting a symbol of truce;

2. Good-faith in all negotiations relevant to the conditional surrender by combatants party to the conflict;

3. Expectation of all rights and protections afforded by previous and future international law, regardless of the status of the combatants’ nation of origin;

Article II. Those parties requesting or engaged in parley under the symbol of truce or in the process of complying with the terms of a negotiated surrender have the duty to:

1. Comply, in good faith, with all accepted terms of surrender, insofar as they are legal and just terms;

2. Refrain from any and all perfidious activity while under the protections of a symbol of truce, including but not limited to feigning surrender to take advantage of the enemy, using the signal of truce to move troops, materiel, or supplies necessary to continue the conflict, or deliberately engage in espionage or intelligence operations;

Article III. Those parties accepting surrender have the duty to:

1. Recognize and confer upon the surrendering party all the protections of prisoner of war status immediately upon the terms of the surrender being satisfied;

2. Refrain from any and all perfidious activity as it relates to the process of negotiating and accepting surrender;

MANDATES that member states consider the deliberate and knowing violation of their relevant duties a war crime.

"Yes, I know how similar the title is to the Applebanian version. Titles aren't my strong point, and its a placeholder. ~2664 characters with spaces, so I still have room to expand. I'm still trying to work out some of the coding, but I'm afraid the fine-tuning of the formatting isn't a major concern. I hoped to write this with the intention of keeping it compatible with other bills to limit perfidious acts." Bell's gaze shifts hopefully towards the E&E delegation.

OOC: Minor edits of format, punctuation, and grammar will be made without announcement or redrafting. Major content alterations will merit new drafts.

The problem with this is that non-member nations, which outnumber us a thousand to one, do not have to follow these.

[Defwa]

"Allrighty then, I've seen this idea kicked around a bit, and, in a stroke of sudden and uncharacteristic ambition, decided to give it a crack. So, ladies, gentlemen, and various fauna, please get your Red Pens, Shredders, and Flamethrowers ready for...

"Yes, I know how similar the title is to the Applebanian version. Titles aren't my strong point, and its a placeholder. ~2664 characters with spaces, so I still have room to expand. I'm still trying to work out some of the coding, but I'm afraid the fine-tuning of the formatting isn't a major concern. I hoped to write this with the intention of keeping it compatible with other bills to limit perfidious acts." Bell's gaze shifts hopefully towards the E&E delegation.

OOC: Minor edits of format, punctuation, and grammar will be made without announcement or redrafting. Major content alterations will merit new drafts.

The problem with this is that non-member nations, which outnumber us a thousand to one, do not have to follow these.

"DECLARES that those belligerents in violation of the duties herein shall have their protections as outlined in Article I.1 revoked as the situation requires;"
If they do not surrender in compliance, you can do whatever you want with them.

All this is really doing is asking that you refrain from inhuman treatment of surrendering enemies.
If we're going to act like the fact that non members don't have to comply should allow us to be monsters, then I fear you may miss the point of this organization.

[Separatist Peoples]

The problem with this is that non-member nations, which outnumber us a thousand to one, do not have to follow these.

"Ambassador, had by checked your most recent report, you'll see that WA members are not outnumbered by a thousand to one. It's closer to about 7:1 at my last note, and probably no more then 10:1 on a bad day.

"Also, had you bothered to read this, you'll note that this provides exemptions for combatants not obeying. This includes both nonmember combatants and member states with soldiers refusing to follow the conventions of war. Your issues were addressed literally in the first draft of this."

[Defwa]

The problem with this is that non-member nations, which outnumber us a thousand to one, do not have to follow these.

"Ambassador, had by checked your most recent report, you'll see that WA members are not outnumbered by a thousand to one. It's closer to about 7:1 at my last note, and probably no more then 10:1 on a bad day.

"Also, had you bothered to read this, you'll note that this provides exemptions for combatants not obeying. This includes both nonmember combatants and member states with soldiers refusing to follow the conventions of war. Your issues were addressed literally in the first draft of this."

OOC: and since most of those in game nations are puppets that do nothing- like the dozen or so my region has as ambassadorial accounts or the hundreds of nations that serve as storefronts, or those with WA puppet delegations, or even those non member nations that are played as world assembly members but can't actually join because they're puppets of a main WA member- the actual number of non member nations that would stand against us is that much lower.

[Normlpeople]

"If I may do the honors: "Rules of Surrender was passed 7,757 votes to 1,416."

Congratulations Ambassador!"

[Separatist Peoples]

"Ladies, Gentlemen, and those of a gender unknown to my native tongue, I thank you for your assistance and support in helping me pass my first General Assembly Resolution! It's particularly satisfying, since, when I first arrived, I waited about two years before daring to draft anything after seeing how sharp the eyes and tongues of the regulars were. Delegates who approved or voted For can help themselves to a round in the Stranger's Bar on my tab! My friends and colleagues who supported this though conception to submission, let's go get hammered!"

[Princepus]

Congratulations on your successful proposal. While no longer a member of the GA, the Compassionate Communities voluntarily submit to honouring these articles in toto as if still a member.

Question: should a non-member choose not to abide by these, (a) what's to stop him/her from doing so and (b) by what authority would a GA nation have the clearance to prosecute said "war crimes" against a non-member state?

[Normlpeople]

Congratulations on your successful proposal. While no longer a member of the GA, the Compassionate Communities voluntarily submit to honouring these articles in toto as if still a member.

Question: should a non-member choose not to abide by these, (a) what's to stop him/her from doing so and (b) by what authority would a GA nation have the clearance to prosecute said "war crimes" against a non-member state?

"The answer to both is nothing, and none, respectively. The WA cannot legislate for non-member nations, nor do they have any jurisdiction over non-member states in any way."

[Princepus]

I figured as much. The reason I ask is:

MANDATES that member states consider the deliberate and knowing violation of these Articles a war crime, and exercise their jurisdiction over violators appropriately.

The language doesn't specify that referencing member states as the violators, merely that member states recognize violation as a war crime, etc. Obviously, should a member state run into an armed conflict with a non-member state who does not follow these, the member state is entitled to do whatever it needs to do for the swift successful prosecution and resolution of the conflict.

[Separatist Peoples]

I figured as much. The reason I ask is:

MANDATES that member states consider the deliberate and knowing violation of these Articles a war crime, and exercise their jurisdiction over violators appropriately.

The language doesn't specify that referencing member states as the violators, merely that member states recognize violation as a war crime, etc. Obviously, should a member state run into an armed conflict with a non-member state who does not follow these, the member state is entitled to do whatever it needs to do for the swift successful prosecution and resolution of the conflict.

"Considering prosecution of violations of human rights is often considered to have unversed jurisdiction, I imagine member states are fine prosecuting nonmember officers with war crimes pursuant to this law, but, for example, if the ICC were replaced, I wouldn't be sure if the WA could try them. It would depend, I suppose, on the replacement. In the absence of such, I think it best to assume it left to individual members.

"While members are entitled to end conflict as quickly as possible from a strategic sense, this is not carte blanche to declare no quarter to nonmembers not obeying this law. Individuals found hors de combat cannot be killed unless they actively violate the POW Accord or the terms aforementioned. Nations would, theoretically, need to prove the necessity of killing enemies out of hand on a per-case basis to make sure they remain compliant with this law. Bureaucratic efficiency and the like.

"This aspect will become far more clear when a replacement of the ICC is passed, ambassador."

[Princepus]

I see what you're saying. My RL reference example would be post-WW2 Japan. In a strict legal sense, the nascent U.N. had no authoritative basis from which to prosecute war crimes against POWs, because their operating authority (1925 Geneva convention) was never ratified by any ante-bellum Japanese government. Essentially, the authority was the consensus of the victors.

While this served the RL purposes suitably and sufficiently, our own lil world operates with more individual national and regional sovereignty, even if y'all sacrifice some of it to the WA and its insane pure democracy. To a non-member nation such as yours-truly, allowing an external non-aligned body to be able to come and act on its own violates a whole list of self-deterministic principles.

[Separatist Peoples]

"I'm afraid, ambassador, that, until there is a way to force nonmembers into complying with WA law, having your sovereignty violated by an unethical outside force is a looming threat for all nations. In any case, we know that any powers enforcing this particular law on your people will, at least, be better bound by ethical principles than nonmembers. It's the best anybody can do."