I would first like to draw attention to the fact that the Committee has been misinformed, the Battleship Kruus is only 1,750 Meters long, a far cry from the 5,000 quoted above. And while it may be longer than other ships in service, it is of a similar tonnage to smaller ships, which surely is the relevant factor.

My Son, Captain Luneray I.C.T.O.O.D Kruus is a Cyborg. And I am not ashamed of him, he is my son. Under the Empire, cyborgs, along with other minority groups were subject to abuse and discrimination, and even were ruled by courts at the time not to be sentient citizens. Under the New Republic cyborgs, are accepted as part of day to day life and embraced as full citizens. For example, Mr Skywalker of the Jedi Order is a cyborg if only to a small extent, others have served in senior positions and are valuable members of the galaxy we live in now.

But onto my son and his disposition. His brain stem has been completely spliced to the computer, and the computer now forms part of his personality (one which he can deactivate if required). Neimoidia has always pursued automated weapon systems in order to save lives and allow war to be fought without massive slaughter. However, a concern that has been raised is that they lack a "soul" and so find it hard to differentiate between friend and foe, and also to assure they act morally.

It became clear to us that a way to give this soul to a computer we would in fact require a full brain stem interface, where the ships computer would form with neural connections to his brain (so for example, using his tractor beams are as natural as using his arms, after this level of integration) and the additional processing and memory space would allow him to use the mass of data created by the use of the ship.

I would highlight that this neural integration is only a step further than many commercially purchasable products and those seen on other Neimoidian ships. In that it gives the user vastly quicker uplink speeds, vastly more memory and also access to more processors. In this case, the faults of the formerly mentioned product have been ironed out and my son retains all of his personality.

He is also able to have discussions with the computers he is uplinked with and can allow them to run systems if he is busy concentrating elsewhere. For example, if he wishes to spend some leisure time playing a simulation or sleeping (which he does not require) he is able to designate computers to monitor all systems, run repairs, fly the ship and even potentially fight.

The ship itself is completely independent and can function without the Pilot, but the pilot acts like a commanding officer, instilling control, and morality. However, the pilot cannot survive without the ship, once integrated, severing my sons connections with the vessel would undoubtedly mean he would die. A crude comparison would be beheading an individual, then keeping the head alive through artificial blood supply.. while it is possible, the individual would go into extreme shock, and aside from anything else might well wish for his own death.

To my son, the ship IS part of his body, he feels and sees through its sensors, he moves with its engines, he eats by refuelling. The pilot of the ship even feels pain during the battle if his ship is hit, giving him a much better indication of how serious damage is than a flashing light, this is another system that can be de-activated if it becomes too much to cope with (by the Pilot).

All of this, the integration does make for a warship that can self-repair, react quicker, fight longer and harder and have less deaths if it is attacked or destroyed while on exploration (as the Kruus was recently) meaning less sentients die. Gentlemen, I would not want to be accused of being one to put other peoples sons in the way of danger, I would rather never see another New Republic Citizen die in combat after the loss of my son Brian. So when my own son volunteered and was held to meet the required psychiatric stability and mental fitness levels to be integrated I decided to give him my blessing. I knew my son was making the ultimate sacrafice, and would have to live on forever as a cyborg warship, but I decided I would rather my son made this ultimate dedication than hundreds of sons of Neimoidia die in battle.

Since then, he has never given me a reason to doubt him, working hard in war and in peace for the good of his people. Serving on humanitarian, peacekeeping, blockade, and anti-piracy duties in admirable fashion adhering to all tasks with gusto and heroism. He has driven imperial raiders from our space and sent pirates scurrying to their bolt holes.

Gentlemen, what is my son? Is he a warship? Is he a person? is he a cyborg? Mr Vanden, My son is a hero, and I love him. My son is the embodiment of patriotism, one who has given up the flesh to be integrated with a machine and so serve his people in perpetuity. He embodies his ships motto "Valour Always" and is arguably the greatest military hero of my people in a thousand years. No more are Neimoidians known as cowards by racist propagandists! for he has proven that all species can be heroic, all beings, no matter their level of integration with technology. He has become greater than what he is, the sum of sentient and machine and allows us all to aspire to be, like him, greater than the sum of our parts.

Are we to start having courts to rule which cyborgs can vote and which cannot? as under the Empire? We are presented here with the chance to cast aside another form of discrimination, as we did specieism.

Just as an individual who had his brain transplanted into a machine to keep it alive would still be a sentient, My son is a Sentient. You cannot simply start saying that because he has a machine interface he is not sentient. Nor does history reflect well on governments who do.

I would highlight also, that My son has substancially more of his personality intact than many cyborgs, and is able to pass any sentience tests set by those in authority. The fact that he has a battleship as part of him does not change who he is. If I have a prosthetic leg, it does not change who I am, and the level of integration (unless perhaps it wipes the original mind) is irrelevant.

I apologise if I seem defensive, but this matter is indeed one close to my own heart.

Hypothetically you could raise any number of sentients rights issues, but I would also say they do not need to be raised until they are prosecuted in a court. However, these are just the same sentients rights issues that could be applied to sentient aliens who live in deep space.

Borsk Feyla said "You refer to us as 'alien,' and the Princess calls us 'non-Human.' Why are we defined by you and in comparison to you?" because the Rights of Sentience are written with humans in mind does not mean that you can hold that a being who is not shaped or sized like you is not sentient. What of the giant beings that live in the void of space that have fought the Empire in battle? Are they held to not be sentient because they are huge and vastly powerful?

My son is not non-sentient, he is just a different form of sentient.

I would not see this as a fair destription, my son is as you say, paid a wage. He is free to allot himself leisure time, rest time etc. Because he is paid all around the clock does not mean that he is active all around the clock.

As for the argument that he can be considered property of Neimoidia is again, one I would say is not relevant. Just as an individual member of the military who could not normally afford prostheses might be loaned them for the duration of his military service, so the non-organic components of my son are loaned to him for the duration of his life and will default to the government on his death.

As for indentured service, many member of the military make commitments for 5, 10, 20 years etc, meaning they are in effect "indentured servants" for the duration of their service? As such he is no more a slave than a New Republic serviceman who is not able to quit his enlistment until a certain date, except my son has agreed to serve for a duration of 1,000 years which is longer than his lifespan (even with his current state) and in this way is the same as a soldier issued equipment. As such he could be considered, in the same way as a soldier, an involuntary servant, but not an indentured servant.

Ultimately the mechanical components of my son remain the property of the Neimoidian Government, but as I say are loaned to him for his lifespan.

I am not sure if you are familiar with the concept of freehold and leasehold property? Essentially my son owns the leasehold on the ship which forms an extension of his body, however Neimoidia retains the freehold. Which means my son owns his body, may alter it in any way etc for the rest of his life. However, at his death the mechanical "body" defaults back to the Neimoidian state.

Even so, this does not well enough establish the Neimoidian legal concepts which explain the ownership here, essentially the ship is the property of my son throughout his life, and can only be removed with very lengthy legal process (if he was convicted of a significant crime etc)

I would again remind the committee chair that while this may not be common in Human cultures, the concept of an individuals biomass, if not the individual, is common if not prevalent to species which live in nests or hives that once an individual dies his body returns to the common ownership and is often ingested.

In more progressive cultures, which seek to be more acceptable to humans, such as my own, we make accomodations and as such tend to make legal accomodations (such as leasing bodies and retaining the freehold in this case) however. other cultures must bear in mind that Neimoidians are not humans. Other species, including almost all insectoid ones, such as Geonosians do consume their dead and regard the body of the dead as property in-common after death which cannot be inherited aside from to be re-integrated into the biomass of the society itself. As such my sons "body" in the form of the battleship will return to the state on his death to be re-utilised as is appropriate.

However, the fact that there is due legal process before he could be deprived of his body (tantamount to that required for the death sentence) means that this is not, in fact slavery.

Perhaps a better explanation would be the contract that is signed gives the battleship to my son, but mandates him to bequeath it to the state upon his death.

While I would highlight that this is not Slavery, it IS a great sacrafice for his people, it is giving up a normal life and it is giving your life up for state service. It is the sacrafice every soldier makes. And just because it is a form that is alien to humans, does not mean it is wrong.

I would ask the Chair to please be species-sensitive in his remarks, and consider the very specific circumstances and values of my culture, and those of cultures which are not human in general when delivering your remarks. I would also stress there are cultures where all beings, alive and dead are considered "property of the state" such as again, many insectoid species... how would the committee resolve this with regards to Article III?

I think if you are to insinuate unfair labour or slavery in this instance, you could not help asserting a wide ranging ruling against many hundreds of cultures who happen not to be human. My Son chooses to serve the species, he works within fair constraints, he picked his path and owns his body.

The committee chair should also be aware that there are near-human and indeed human species that do not offer this freedom and compel individuals into castes or select careers for them. We must be at all times tolerant and careful of others cultural and species sensitivities.

If my son did, hypothetically, get convicted of a crime, we would likely simply disable his weapons systems (or take other suitable steps to mean that he was not a threat to himself or others) and put him on cargo hauling duty. Imprisoning him would serve no use as it would simply allow his abilities to go to waste. Wheras doing service to the state is always preferable to imprisonment.