General Assembly Resolution #611 “End Collective Punishment” (Category: Civil Rights; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.
The General Assembly,
Convinced that collective punishment of civilian populations in wartime via reprisal violence is a despicable act that should be outlawed,
Relieved that GA 317 “Wartime Looting and Pillage” already bans this reprisal violence,
Noting that this leaves GA 611 with the primary effect of banning collective punishment in non-wartime settings,
Sympathizing with the target in that collective punishment can be “grossly unfair” and “a serious violation of sapient rights,”
Saddened, therefore, that the target fails to effectively curb unjust domestic applications of collective punishment due to only banning actions by “member states” instead of outlawing such actions within members’ jurisdiction, thereby leaving the door open for injustice so long as member states themselves are not the ones executing it,
Appalled at the hideous clumsiness of how the target’s ban is worded, with its use of “purposefully punishing, convicting, or otherwise targetting [sic] for punishment” rather than specific forms of punishment such as “prosecution” causing it to overreach to the point of ensnaring legitimately beneficial actions taken by member states, such as sanctions and public safety measures, which cannot reasonably be divorced from member states themselves without grossly inhibiting their effectiveness,
Aghast, therefore, that the target’s approach has the sum effect of rendering it unable to effectively prevent injustice it should cover while directing its practical effects against useful policies it absolutely should not,
Convinced that a resolution that so utterly undermines its own good intentions while crippling the tools available to governments acting in their peoples’ interests should not remain on the books,
Pondering whether the approach of GA 323 “No Penalty Without Law” indicates a better framework for protecting people from unjust penalties and discouraging collective punishment generally, and the approach of GA 317 is more effective at restricting specific forms of harmful collective punishment that warrant it, and
Beseeching this body to act against injustice itself rather than ineffectively banning an umbrella under which potential injustice may lurk,
Hereby repeals GA 611 “End Collective Punishment.”