The International Court of Justice
--US bombing of Sudan--

ICJ Chair:James Rynasiewicz Assistant Chair: Anna Belkina

 

A personal note from the

President of the International Court of Justice

My Distinguished Justices,

It is a great pleasure to introduce myself to this year’s crop of ICJ participants. My name is James Rynasiewicz, and I am a senior at South Kingstown High School. My extracurricular activities at SKHS over the last four years include three years of football and two years on the school’s radio station (and now a shameless plug: Those of you who live in the area can hear me on 90.3 WRIU-FM every Sunday morning from 6-8. It’s jazz, you’ll enjoy it). This is the fourth SK Model United Nations Conference I have taken part in. Last year I was the assistant chair on the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee, and as a sophomore I received a best delegate award for my participation in the ICJ. I want to thank you all in advance for making this what will surely be one of the best SKMUNs ever.

Assisting me in running the ICJ is my esteemed vice president, Anna Belkina. Anna is a junior at SKHS, and to my knowledge the first junior to be admitted to the prestigious Honors International Relations class which runs the Model UN. This is her first opportunity to participate in the SKMUN, as she moved to the United States from Russia in August of 1998. Her main tasks will be to keep things running smoothly in the court and keep me in line. She will also be representing the recognized Afghani government, in support of the United States.

I would like to thank Anna, as well as Stephanie Bowser, Anish Shukla, and Chris Kelley for contributing to the background paper you are about to read. Steph will be defending the claims against the United States in the court, and Anish (our distinguished Under-Secretary General) is the agent for Sudan. Chris will be representing the Taliban, Afghanistan’s ruling body, and will be speaking in support of Sudan. I have the utmost confidence in the talents and abilities of all four of them and I could not ask for a better team to work with.

Now, I would like to let you in on a little secret. The ICJ happens to be the best committee in the SKMUN. First of all, there are less of us on this committee than any other, so if you have something to say, you won’t have to wait an hour to say it. Along those same lines, there is much more informal discussion among the judges than you would find among delegates in a Security Council. The best part, however, is the fact that we are the most important people in the building, with the possible exception of the Secretary General. Whenever an ICJ justice walks into another committee in session, everyone in the committee must rise until we allow them to be seated. Of course, this tradition isn’t to be abused, it’s just a fun little custom that must be strictly adhered to.

Are you convinced yet that the ICJ is the place to be? With your help I’m sure it will live up to the standards of previous SKMUN courts, and while I’m running the show I’ll make sure it will be a whole lot more fun than most.

If any questions or concerns arise before the conference, fell free to contact Anna or me.

See you at the conference!

James Rynasiewicz

President, International Court of Justice

ICJ | Background Paper | Background Paper Updates | ICJ