Dear Participants of BERMUN 2024,
Welcome to the International Court of Justice!
At BERMUN 2024, we will be discussing the case of Georgia v. Russian Federation on the Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). In August 2008, the Russian Federation aided by the separatist states Abkhazia and South Ossetia initiated a major invasion of Georgia.
Georgia brought its case in front of the ICJ, claiming that the Russian Federation had breached its fundamental obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), specifically Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, which relate to racial discrimination, the crime of apartheid and hate speech. Georgia claimed that the Russian Federation had conducted ethnic cleansing of Georgian civilians based on their nationality, constituting a violation of the CERD. This case highlights the importance of addressing and preventing discrimination on the basis of identity as well as promoting responsibility among Member States to adhere to international agreements like CERD.
I am currently an 11th grader at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. In my free time I like to listen to music, ride my bike, and hangout with my friends. This will be my 5th MUN conference and my 3rd conference as a part of the student officer team. When I first joined the courts as a judge, I was immediately hooked and couldn't have asked for a better experience in the MUN program.
I look forward to seeing you all in November!
Sincerely,
Christian Grewe
