[DRAFT] Protections for the Undead

[Belschaft]

Just a first draft. Looking for input.

Protections for the Undead
Category: Human Rights
Strength: Signifigant

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY,

NOTING the provisions of General Assembly resolutions 355, 38, 242 and 272,

RECOGNISES that the undead, specifically those individuals referred to as zombies, meet the requirements outlined in GA#355 to be defined as a sapient species,

REFERRING member nations to their duty under GA#355 to provide equal treatment, rights and legal protections to all sapient species,

SADDENED that in the case of the undead this has not occurred,

AWARE that the continuing attempts to exterminate zombies occurring within members nations fall under the definition of genocide established by GA#38,

APPALLED at the use of a so called "cure" against the undead, in clear violation of both GA#242 and GA#272 which prohibit the use of chemical and biological weapons,

Hereby,

CONDEMNS all members nations engaged in the the above mentioned activities and orders the immediate cessation of such,

REQUIRES member nations to:
1) Immediately cease any and all support for groups engaged in the genocide being committed against the undead,
2) Extend all civil, social, economic and political rights enjoyed by other sapients to the undead,
3) Undertake to provide restitution to their undead citizens for the state sanctioned oppression they have suffered,

PROHIBITS member nations from:
1) Developing or storing biological and chemical agents designed to specifically target the undead,
2) Any attempts to "cure" the undead without the explicit consent of the individual in question,
3) Imprisoning or otherwise detaining the undead without due legal cause and process

[Belschaft]

This is a totally legit and serious proposal guys. Honest.

[Auralia]

The Charter of Civil Rights already provides adequate protection for zombies. Assuming you think that distinguishing between the dead and undead is an "arbitrary and reductive categorization", that is...

Martin Russell
Chief Ambassador, Auralian Mission to the World Assembly

[Araraukar]

OOC: After a closer read, the multiple HoC violations are enough to render this into a joke proposal, and we have a thread for those.

[Belschaft]

Whilst the Charter of Civil Rights may in theory provide adequate protection for the undead, we cannot help but note that it is currently not being enforced. I'm not sure if you've missed the mass genocide currently being orchestrated on the regional level, but it seem fairly apparent that specific protections are needed - not least direct instruction from this body that member nations must treat the undead as sapient under GA#355 and thus extend the Charter of Civil Rights to them. It is the failure of members to recognise the undead as a sapient species, and thus afford them the equal protections they deserve, that is the problem here.

[Wallenburg]

Paulson leans over his desk and casts a murderous glare at the proposal author. "Millions of my people have died to these things. Don't you dare suggest that they are anything more than monsters that ought to be exterminated at every opportunity. They are not sapient, they are not people. They are killing machines, and nothing more."

[Sciongrad]

"If we accept that zombies are sapient (which is a stretch), then they are already protected by extant legislation - namely, GAR#35 and GAR#355. That would mean current zombie extermination efforts are violations of extant international law. Additional legislation won't solve the issue of non-compliance.

I also wonder how you've come to the conclusion that cure missiles would constitute biological weapon?"

"Plus," Ricardo added, "zombies aren't people. Like, you clearly haven't played Call of Duty before."

[Frustrated Franciscans]

"First of all," Friar John Sanders replies, seeing that Brother Maynard is in the bar, "this should all be covered under the WHA, resolution #31, if not the patient's rights act, resolution #29, which does state, 'Patients have the right to emergency medical treatment under circumstances requiring lifesaving procedures. A physician or qualified caregiver may provide treatment without the patient’s consent if, because of emergency circumstances, including the patient’s physical or mental state, it is not possible to obtain their consent.'"

Mother Angelica chimes in, "It also states, 'Patients may refuse treatment, provided that such refusal does not endanger the health of others.'"

"But clearly they do and therefore that doesn't apply. In any event this is in direct contradiction to GA #29. Besides the resolution in question clearly states, ' The use of biological agents as weaponry in any situation with the intentions of incapacitating, injuring, or destroying civilians populations, military personnel, or the environment is hereby prohibited;' and curing people doesn't incapacitate, injure or destroys anyone. It merely returns them to their proper medical state of well being."

[Shazbotdom]

"The problem is that the Empire does not see the 'Undead Hordes' as Sapient Beings. They are mindless monsters and we will do whatever we feel is necessary to protect the people of the Empire. We could have gone the route as many others have and used our Military to shoot any and all 'undead' so that they cannot cause any more problems for our living people, but we took the moral high ground and have cured any and all 'undead' to the point that they are back to being productive members of our society."

[Bears Armed]

OOC: meta-gaming.

[Araraukar]

OOC: meta-gaming.

OOC: Technically not. It doesn't mention the game event or anything about this being just a game. It falls afoul of plenty of other rules, though.

[Kryozerkia]

OOC: meta-gaming.

OOC: Technically not. It doesn't mention the game event or anything about this being just a game. It falls afoul of plenty of other rules, though.

Indeed. Although it was posted at the time of the annual *blech* event, it isn't a meta-gaming violation. The timing is a coincidence.

[Gruenberg]

it isn't a meta-gaming violation

OOC: Are we allowed to appeal this absolutely crazy ruling to the Council, or is this an "obvious" case to be handled by the moderators only?

[Araraukar]

it isn't a meta-gaming violation

OOC: Are we allowed to appeal this absolutely crazy ruling to the Council, or is this an "obvious" case to be handled by the moderators only?

OOC: And what grounds would you have to claim the draft is illegal for metagaming? It is illegal, but not because of metagaming.

[Kryozerkia]

it isn't a meta-gaming violation

OOC: Are we allowed to appeal this absolutely crazy ruling to the Council, or is this an "obvious" case to be handled by the moderators only?

It has only been posted to the forum. It was not removed from the queue. If this player is serious, and they can continue to draft and we'll consider the timing a coincidence. If the player removes mention of other resolutions and focuses on various delivery methods beyond airborne chemicals, it would be a step in the right direction.

[Gruenberg]

OOC: Are we allowed to appeal this absolutely crazy ruling to the Council, or is this an "obvious" case to be handled by the moderators only?

It has only been posted to the forum. It was not removed from the queue. If this player is serious, and they can continue to draft and we'll consider the timing a coincidence. If the player removes mention of other resolutions and focuses on various delivery methods beyond airborne chemicals, it would be a step in the right direction.

Are we allowed to appeal this absolutely crazy ruling to the Council, or is this an "obvious" case to be handled by the moderators only?

[Araraukar]

Are we allowed to appeal this absolutely crazy ruling to the Council, or is this an "obvious" case to be handled by the moderators only?

OOC: Are you trying to prove that the council may get frivolous requests for legality challenges? Also, I don't read Kryo's opinion as an official mod ruling, and I've yet to hear your explanation for why it would be metagaming.

[Ochea]

This would basically force all World Assembly member nations to join the zombies. Nations would not be allowed to exterminate them, and very few zombies would consent to be cured. There would either be a record number of infected nations on Z-Day⁶, or a large number of nations leaving the World Assembly right before Z-Day⁶ begins.

I oppose this resolution.

[Belschaft]

The talk of meta-gaming seems somewhat silly considering this is a "totally serious" proposal.

[Bears Armed]

OOC: And what grounds would you have to claim the draft is illegal for metagaming?

Requiring everybody to recognise the IC existence of zombies -- something that doesn't really exist in RL -- as a fact. This is why proposals on rights for sapient non-humans had to be written on a "just in case you encounter any" basis.

[Kryozerkia]

The talk of meta-gaming seems somewhat silly considering this is a "totally serious" proposal.

Even if "totally serious", it doesn't mean it's immune to meta-gaming discussions.

[Araraukar]

Requiring everybody to recognise the IC existence of zombies -- something that doesn't really exist in RL -- as a fact. This is why proposals on rights for sapient non-humans had to be written on a "just in case you encounter any" basis.

OOC: Well, a lot of our RP doesn't exist in RL, and yes, the proposal should be rewritten as a "maybe" scenario, but the way the metagaming rule is now written...

Proposals cannot break the "fourth wall" or attempt to force events outside of the WA itself. This includes and is not limited to forcing the Security Council to carry out specific actions, mandating that regions carry out specific actions, and forcing compliance on non-member nations.

...doesn't mention "forced RP", under which the "fantasy things are real" language would go. (In fact, there's no mention of "forced RP" or even roleplaying in the current rules.)

After a more careful reading of the rules as they now are, I really can't find anything that would make "fantasy RP" illegal in proposals. Stupid, yes, and unlikely to get the writer much support, but not illegal as per the rules.

Also, don't misunderstand me, I still think this should've been posted in the Joke Proposals thread, like all the previous zombie proposals.

EDIT: This post...

This would basically force all World Assembly member nations to join the zombies. Nations would not be allowed to exterminate them, and very few zombies would consent to be cured. There would either be a record number of infected nations on Z-Day⁶, or a large number of nations leaving the World Assembly right before Z-Day⁶ begins.

...illustrates very well the kind of thing that would be a metagaming violation, by directly mentioning the game event.

2nd EDIT: Why people might think "forced RP" is against the rules. That was under the old ruleset, however, and the mod ruling was never posted in the thread.

Some more zombie threads that made some sort of attempt to be valid.

[Frustrated Franciscans]

Requiring everybody to recognise the IC existence of zombies -- something that doesn't really exist in RL -- as a fact. This is why proposals on rights for sapient non-humans had to be written on a "just in case you encounter any" basis.

First of all, I'm tempted to say "are you sure?" You see the definition of zombie isn't defined in the resolution. There are a lot of modern diseases that show various traits of zombie behavior and it's not outside the range of classical science fiction to extrapolate a combination that would be very nasty. We place ourselves in a catch 22 here, if we want absolute realism while not wanting exact real world references.

Sapient non-humans definitely crosses the hardcore science fiction boundary. Mutant diseases does not.

Second of all, we also have a phobia about any specific references to anything, even common NS terms like VODIAS. Just protecting a specific animal is enough to get people to violently object. Being inspired by an event is not the same as resulting from an event. A tidal wave might cause someone to write a resolution on tidal wave mitigation without triggering any RW references.

[Wallenburg]

Sapient non-humans definitely crosses the hardcore science fiction boundary. Mutant diseases does not.

Actually, mutant diseases fall easily under the umbrella of science fiction. Hard science fiction, to be exact.
/scifinerdnitpick

[Excidium Planetis]

OOC: After a closer read, the multiple HoC violations are enough to render this into a joke proposal, and we have a thread for those.

OOC:
What HoC? None of the active clauses mention existing resolutions.

On the other hand, this entire thing is duplication of the resolutions mentioned, and as Frustrated Franciscans pointed out, contradiction of the Patient Rights Act.

Requiring everybody to recognise the IC existence of zombies -- something that doesn't really exist in RL -- as a fact. This is why proposals on rights for sapient non-humans had to be written on a "just in case you encounter any" basis.

Requiring everybody to recognize the existence of the WA, something that doesn't exist IRL -- as a fact.

I mean, I did bend GA#355 and 338 to prevent forced RP. But I have held for awhile that all WA resolutions are forced RP, and Forced RP should not be illegal.

Actually, mutant diseases fall easily under the umbrella of science fiction. Hard science fiction, to be exact.
/scifinerdnitpick

That's what FF just said. Right here:

There are a lot of modern diseases that show various traits of zombie behavior and it's not outside the range of classical science fiction to extrapolate a combination that would be very nasty.