Amicus Brief: On NWI-Conifer Cultural Assets (R-2/24)

7 March 2024 — A submission by the Government of the Communist Cartel to the General Court of Alcris.

Flag of the New West Indies

I. Introduction

1. This amicus brief has been written to support petitioner Achipel’s case in R-2/24 regarding the cultural assets of the New West Indies (“NWI”) and Evergreen Conifer (“Conifer”) on the Alcris Discord server.

2. This brief has been written on behalf of the Government of the Communist Cartel (“CC”), which has shown demonstrable historical and continued interest in the protection of NWI and Conferian minority rights within Alcris.¹² This interest comes from our longstanding historical relationship with all three regions and diplomatic mandate to represent our sizeable dual-citizen population.³

3. It is the position of the CC Government that the removal of the NWI and Conifer flag emojis from the Alcris Discord server represents a breach of—

   1. Interregional law, specifically the Alcris’ duty to “ensure the conservation of the NWI and Conifer flags for cultural purposes” under the Miyadakan Proposal (“the Treaty”), and⁴

   2. Alcrisian constitutional law, as the population ratified the Treaty and thus “[carries] the force of constitutional law” (quoting Yinh J in R-8/23, “HUE”).⁵⁶

4. This brief will seek to outline one of many reasons why the removal constitutes a breach, namely that it is inconsistent with the broad interpretation of the Treaty’s protection of cultural rights, which form its paramount core.

II. The importance of cultural rights

4. On the 25th July 2023, 87.5 percent of Alcrisians voted to approve the Treaty, merging the region of the New West Indies into Alcris.⁷

5. A crucial component of the Treaty is the protection of cultural rights of the NWI and Conifer, which it repeatedly makes provision for (emphasis mine)—⁸

“The NWI Discord server shall be made read-only, and the NWI NationStates region shall be password protected, to ensure their continued existence as a historical artifact.”

“NWI admins may request any factbooks, discord channels, or other elements of the NWI be accepted into Alcris …”

“The Alcrisian government shall ensure the conservation of the NWI and Conifer flags for cultural purposes.”

6. The obligation to protect Conifer's cultural rights did not come out of nowhere. It was derived from the NWI’s own duties under the Treaty of Conservation, which also makes extensive provisions for the protection of Coniferian cultural rights (emphasis mine)—⁹

Article II: Sovereignty

C. The region Evergreen Conifer and relevant documents may mechanically remain for historical reference.

Article III: Transition

III. Evergreen Conifer shall be granted its own roleplay (without need for an application).

IV. Evergreen Conifer shall be granted its own business (without need for an application), which may dedicated—at the remnants' discretion—to preserving Coniferan culture, such as:

A. Maintaining the previous Coniferan Discord server as a museum;

B. Keeping the Evergreen Conifer region mechanically alive;

C. Hosting celebrations to honor Coniferan holidays and traditions;

D. Acting otherwise at their discretion.

V. The following cultural items of Conifer shall be added to the New West Indies in stated forms:

A. The Coniferan flag as an official flag;

B. The Wren Song as an honored song; and

C. The Conifer as the official plant.

7. The importance of protecting cultural rights as a precondition of the NWI-Conifer merger cannot be overstated. The preamble of the Treaty of Conservation lists only three express promises, one of which is to “preserve the sanctity of Conferian culture.”¹⁰

8. These cultural rights were arguably made non-derogable (“jus cogens”) by the extraordinary provision which allowed the community of Evergreen Conifer—despite ceasing to be a sovereign entity—the ability to declare [the Treaty of Conservation] null and void” if the NWI government failed to “faithfully execute” its provisions.¹¹

9. Additionally, the-then Foreign Councillor Aidia acknowledged the importance of protecting NWI and Conifer cultural rights under the Treaty on the 27th July 2023, where he made the following diplomatic assurances to our Government following our queries—¹²¹³

We've taken and are currently taking a number of steps for ensuring the NWI's culture. These are what we have outline and have either done or plan to do so far:

• We have created a number of emojis that not only represent the NWI, but also Conifer and the other regions that Alcris has merged with: [Conifer, NWI, Mithra, and Laraniem]

  • We are also preserving the flags in other ways that we are continuing to brainstom as to how to go about that.

• We are looking at creating a factbook that will link from our master dispatch for each merged region. These factbooks will contain information regarding the NWI, Conifer, Mithra, and Laraniem, and will be right up front for all to see.

• We are going to give Conifer's conlang, Wucelapan, the status of Recognized Language. This means the government would be given the ability to provide resources to give it more publicity within our region.

• Finally, for now at least, we are looking to establish the NWI's broadcasting agencies in Alcris. This gives their people the ability to retain that aspect of their culture here. It also allows our citizens to establish such agencies in Alcris as well, transferring that aspect of their culture over to us.

10. The protection of cultural rights under the Treaty must, therefore, be given a broad interpretation because—

    1. Conifer and the New West Indies traded their sovereignty—and the associated political rights with it—for their protection,

    2. It forms the substantive core of both the Treaty and the Treaty of Conservation (and may even form jus cogens under interregional law),

    3. The Coniferian, New West Indian, and Alcrisian governments had a mutual understanding of its paramount importance, and

    4. The Coniferian and New West Indian populations require extra protection from the Court due to their status as minorities within Alcris.

III. Conclusion

11. Legal Affairs Councillor Gelenia has stated that—¹⁴

“[T]here is no mention of a [C]onferian or NWI flag emoji in the treaty, merely the ‘conservation of the NWI and Conifer flags for cultural purposes’. This could mean a number of things, and does not specifically include an emoji. These emojis were made specifically when there was more room on the server - as per the statements of the server staff.

11. Accordingly, it is the position of the Alcris Government that “working on passing an initiative that will preserve the flags in a factbook with an explanation about each region” suffices in complying with their obligations under the Treaty.¹⁵

12. The Government of the CC forcefully rejects this position. As was exhaustively outlined, the protection of cultural rights under the Treaty must be given a broad interpretation; the relegation of the Conifer and NWI flags to a mere factbook entry falls afoul of this.

13. By removing the Conifer and NWI flag emojis from the Discord server because there was “[no] more room” in favour of emojis that had no constitutional or even statutory basis, the Alcris Government had signalled that it had prioritised political considerations over its incredibly weighty considerations to give carry out its duties under interregional and constitutional law.

1. His Excellency, Communist Cartel Monthly Update, July 2023 (Alcris, 27 July 2023) <https://discord.com/channels/971117732357611581/971119732671528982/1134236193018626118>.

2. His Excellency, Letter to the Foreign Councillor (Alcris, 7 March 2024) <https://discord.com/channels/971117732357611581/973426900779294781/1215351829177704598>.

3. His Excellency, ‘Formal diplomatic relations established with NWI and Alcris’ (Communist Cartel, 12 May 2022) <https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1704170>.

4. The Fezzian League, Miyadakan Proposal (New West Indies, 20 July 2023) <https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1909743>.

5. Kaspar, ‘The NWI-Alcris Merger Referendum Result’ (Alcris, 25 July 2023) <https://discord.com/channels/971117732357611581/996183603232911451/1133482033847488555>.

6. Yinh, R-8/23 (“HUE”) (Alcris, 27 November 2023) <https://discord.com/channels/971117732357611581/971119613012213761/1178781725908803665>.

7. Kaspar (n 5).

8. The Fezzian League (n 4).

9. Karteria, Treaty of Conservation (Evergreen Conifer, 12 March 2020) <https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1330658>.

10. ibid.

11. Anne Lagerwall, ‘Jus Cogens’ (Oxford Bibliographies, 29 May 2015) <https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199796953/obo-9780199796953-0124.xml>; ibid., Art IV.

12. His Excellency, Question for the Foreign Councillor (Alcris, 27 July 2023) <https://discord.com/channels/971117732357611581/973426900779294781/1134102891389521940>.

13. Aidia, Diplomatic assurances to ensure NWI culture (Alcris, 27 July 2023) <https://discord.com/channels/971117732357611581/973426900779294781/1134148909489459290>.

14. Gelania, Submissions to the Court for R-2/24 (Alcris, 7 March 2024) <https://discord.com/channels/971117732357611581/971119541587439666/1215371721608134726>.

15. ibid.