Hello, and welcome the UNYMUN 2009 Legal Political Committee. My name is Alexa Burkett, and I am a senior at Jamesville-DeWitt High School. This will be my third time chairing. Outside of school and Model United Nations, I enjoy skiing, photography, and theater. This committee will be run resolution style, and each delegate should bring 25-30 copies of their resolution to the conference. If you have any questions concerning the Legal Political committee, feel free to contact me at alexa@burkettmail.com. See you April 25th!

Hi my name is Kristen Ferries, and I'm a junior at Honeoye Falls - Lima High School. Aside from Model UN, I am a part of the Alpine Ski Team, Executive Student Council, and other clubs. I can't wait to be your chair, so prepare yourselves well and let's have a great committee!

This year we will continue our poster contest, which will be taking entries as your school registers the day of the conference. For more information on the event and rules, please see the Important Information page.

The Use of Money Laundering to Fund Terrorism

The term "money laundering" by itself incorporates several illegal activities, including: drug trafficking, prostitution, and human trafficking. Generally, these actions generate a great deal of profit for corrupt individuals, or entire illicit organizations. In short, money laundering is any profit that has concealed, illicit origins. Terrorist funding may stem from several resources, some of which are actually legal. Illicit organizations focus not only on concealing their sources for funding, but also on hiding where the money they receive is distributed. Not only does money laundering essentially fund terrorist organizations, it can lead to the deterioration of entire economies due to the unbalance flow and distribution of funds. Nowadays, it is common for terrorists to even buy out businesses, and transfer via online payment systems.

The main difficulty in tracking down terrorist financers is that their methods of laundering are continuously shifting. A great deal of the money groups like Al-Qaeda receive is given in cash, which makes it more difficult to track. It is also difficult for nations to differentiate between legitimate and frivolous suspicious behavior reporting. Governments across the globe spend a great deal of their own money to combat the financing of terrorism, but have seen few rewarding results.

In 1979 at the G-7 Summit, a thirty-three member organization called the Financial Action Task Force was established for the purpose of worldwide anti-money laundering and terrorist funding. But this is only the first step of a multi-tiered project. In an age where the entire world is diminish terrorism; it is important for nations to collaborate on methods to prevent the pillars of all organized crime- money laundering.

Questions to Consider

• How can we trace where terrorist organizations get their money?
• How can we prevent terrorists from transferring funds?
• When located, what is the best way to confiscate terrorist funds?

Further Research

International Response to the Growth of Cyber Crime

As computer usage continues to increase, the amount of crime they are subject to does so as well. "Cyber crime" refers to any illicit activity where a computer is the source or target of a crime. Blackmail, forgery, and embezzlement are traditional crimes that have experienced shifts to computer-heavy activities. While it is great that agencies and governments can store such large amounts of private data on computers, networks become targets of cyber crime; and once they are infiltrated, chaos is sure to ensue.

While the term "cyber crime" has a pretty broad scope of offenses, it helps that most of these illicit activities can be labeled as targeting computer systems or using computer systems. If a crime is targeting a computer system, it probably involves viruses or malware. Using networks to commit crime includes identity theft and information warfare.

With the widespread usage of computers and internet, cyber crime has become an issue that transcends international borders. However, a major issue a government faces when addressing cyber crime is establishing the line between appropriate investigation and invasion of privacy. Some worry about governmental control of the internet, an issue that has become particularly prominent in the United States and European Union. The opportunities for illicit activities that computers present are a widespread issue. Governments need to come together and decide how they want to address cyber crime.

Questions to Consider

• What measures should be taken to prevent the usage of networks for cyber crime?
• What measures should be taken to prevent the infiltration of networks for cyber crime?
• When does investigation of cyber crime become a breach of personal privacy?
• What can authorities do to prepare themselves for combating cyber crime?

Further Research