Costa Rica, 1998

Costa Rica is extremely pleased at Mr. Didier Operttiâs

election to preside over the work of this fifty-third session

of the General Assembly. We say this not just as the

ritual greeting required by protocol, but as an expression

of our deeply felt congratulations to a gifted citizen of the

Americas and as an expression of our certainty that in this

position the noble qualities you have displayed as a great

jurist in the inter-American system and as the

distinguished Minister for Foreign Affairs of our sister

Republic of Uruguay will once again be shown.

In presenting our respectful greetings to the

Secretary-General, my delegation also wishes to express

its sincere recognition of the enormously courageous

efforts he has made in the Secretariat in favour of

maintaining international peace and security, as well as

his efforts to renew and modernize the United Nations.

Costa Rica congratulates you, Sir, for your work and

encourages you to continue in your endeavours, which do

honour to Ghana and to Africa.

We are approaching the twenty-first century, the

third millennium of our era, at a dizzying speed. In a few

years, all of us here will be men and women of the past

century. Nevertheless, we have the obligation to bestow

upon the new millennium a world of greater solidarity.

This subject calls for reflection. What have we done so

far, and most of all, what are we doing about the

imminent future? What positive contributions can we

make to the new horizon that is opening up in the annals

of history?

Undoubtedly, the very existence of the United

Nations constitutes a most positive element. In 1945, this

Organization emerged as a successor, on a larger scale, to

the ideal of peace embodied in the League of Nations.

The 51 countries represented in San Francisco aspired to

build a world in which harmony would prevail and where

international security would be supported by a far more

solid foundation. Today, in this Hall, almost all the

countries of the world are represented — we hope that in

the near future there will be no exceptions — and each of

them has taken upon itself the obligation to abide by the

purposes and principles of the San Francisco Charter.

Under the vigorous leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt,

the members of the Commission on Human Rights of the

Economic and Social Council worked untiringly, freely

and openly discussing the subject, and trying to

harmonize approaches that encompassed both Western

humanism and the ancient philosophy of the East. The

fruit of their efforts was the adoption, on 10 December

1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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During those bitter years, when the shadows left by

the worldwide conflagration had not yet cleared, and those

of the bipolar confrontation were already looming, some

believed that the Declaration was a pleasant, romantic and

entirely unrealistic suggestion.

Others saw it, on the contrary, as our speciesâ best

hope, in the conviction that international relations have

ethical value only insofar as they guarantee the dignity of

human beings, which is our very essence as rational

creatures, through respect for our natural attributes. As the

former President of Chile, Mr. Eduardo Frei Montalva once

stated, the ratification of the Declaration was a

demonstration of faith in peace, faith in the peoples of the

world and faith in moral progress.

I am proud to be able to say that Costa Rica

enthusiastically supported the Declaration; since then, Costa

Rica has expressed its firm belief that human rights cannot

be subordinated to the interests of States. Today our

country is the seat of the Inter-American Court of Human

Rights, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, and

the University for Peace of the United Nations. Throughout

Costa Ricaâs history as a Member of the United Nations, it

has consistently been committed to the cause of human

rights, in both the international arena and the domestic

sphere.

On this occasion, I reiterate to the Assembly all Costa

Ricaâs firm, solemn and unconditional commitment to

continue fighting actively, whenever and wherever, to

achieve full respect for all human rights.

Today my country reaffirms that its voice will

continue to be heard in all forums on behalf of the noble

ethical and moral ideals that we proclaimed 50 years ago.

Perhaps the most important legacy that the United

Nations of the twentieth century will leave to the United

Nations of the twenty-first century will be the certitude that

human rights are a matter of universal concern. This

conviction has allowed the broad conceptual, legal and

political development of the subject of human rights. We

have debated and signed pacts, conventions and protocols

on increasingly specific aspects of human rights.

Despite this prodigious pile of legal instruments,

humanity is still very far from having inscribed human

rights on its very spirit. In many aspects, the commitment

to an ethic of coexistence is as absent from the events of

today as it was half a century ago.

Costa Rica observes with regret the instances of

intolerance and violence that still persist in our world, the

ethnic, religious, cultural, national, ideological or gender

discrimination: the conflicts in the Balkans, the tragic

wars endured by some African peoples, the situation in

Afghanistan and the savagery of terrorism in various parts

of the world. We are extremely concerned by the limited

progress of the Middle East peace process and the

increasing virulence of national extremism and religious

fanaticism in certain countries.

My country believes that these serious problems

must be faced from an ethical standpoint, with the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the basic code

for the conduct of both States and individuals.

The legal validity of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights is no longer debated today. However, for

a long time, doubts and objections were raised as to the

possibility of establishing mechanisms to guarantee it.

Thanks to the efforts of many years, the United

Nations now has a High Commissioner for Human

Rights. My country is proud to have been one of the main

sponsors of the establishment of that office.

One of the most important events that has taken

place this year was the successful culmination of the

effort to establish an International Criminal Court.

The valuable experience of the International

Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia — of which

the Second Vice-President of Costa Rica, Judge Elizabeth

Odio, is a member — undoubtedly contributed to

strengthening the conviction on the need for a permanent

court to try the most serious violations of human rights.

My country embraces the adoption of the Statute of

the International Criminal Court, which took place in

Rome on 17 July of this year, whereby the international

community rejects and condemns the most heinous crimes

against our universal conscience. We are especially

pleased that the Rome Conference included within its

definition of crimes violations of the basic norms of

international humanitarian law, applicable both to

international and internal conflicts. In addition, in the

light of the tragic experiences of some Latin American

countries in the recent past, we are gratified by the

inclusion of the legal definition of forced disappearance.

I am pleased to announce that, in the coming days,

I will have the honour of signing the Courtâs Statute on

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behalf of my country, and I express Costa Ricaâs firm

intention to proceed with its speedy approval and

ratification.

My country is convinced of the necessity to establish

a commission that will prepare, before the year 2000, the

essential conditions for the Statute to enter into force. Costa

Rica believes that the commission should be convened as

soon as possible.

This year, in addition to celebrating the fiftieth

anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

my country will celebrate another anniversary which, for

Costa Ricans, is no less important: the fiftieth anniversary

of the abolition of the Costa Rican army, decreed on 1

December 1948. Only 10 days later, Costa Rica adopted the

Magna Carta of international ethics, the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights.

The abolition of the army was the culmination of my

countryâs long anti-militaristic history. In 1866, the then

President of Costa Rica, Mr. José Mar'a Castro, stated that

one of the foundations of external peace is a strict

adherence to international law, among whose prescriptions,

as listed by President Castro, are dignity, good faith, loyalty

and frankness. Today, as then, my country believes that in

order to invoke international law and aspire to be a

respected and valued State without need of military support,

Costa Ricaâs principal duty is to govern its domestic and

international conduct by a system of values that is grounded

in the fundamental rights of individuals.

As a result of its historical and moral tradition, Costa

Rica believes that there are no small countries when it

comes to consolidating and preserving peace. Such has been

Costa Ricaâs rule of conduct when it has had the

opportunity, as it does now, to be a member of the Security

Council.

For this same reason, Costa Rica has tenaciously

supported the work aimed at general disarmament, and in

particular the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction,

and has vigorously condemned the carrying out of nuclear

tests. In that regard, my country urges all those States that

have not yet done so to adhere fully and unconditionally to

the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Because of the values that have emerged from its own

experience, Costa Rica has invariably repudiated terrorism

in all its manifestations, wherever and by whomever it is

committed. We do not believe that there is any justification

for attacks against innocent people. Likewise, we condemn

those Governments that support, shelter and give

assistance to those who commit or instigate terrorist acts,

in clear violation of their international obligations.

We believe that the international community must

make special efforts to prevent and eliminate international

terrorism. In this context, we stress the recent negotiations

on an International Convention for the Suppression of

Terrorist Bombings, and we urge Member States to sign

it. We also trust that during this session of the General

Assembly decisive progress can be made on the

preparation of an international convention for the

suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism. My delegation

wishes to express how deeply pleased it is that the

Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,

Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on

Their Destruction is to enter into force within six months.

My country urges all those States that have not yet done

so to accede to that Convention as soon as possible.

We are pleased to see that in Central America —

notwithstanding the conflicts and the turmoil that our

countries faced during the last decade — there are signs

of progress towards the elimination or substantial

reduction of military expenditures. Some countries have

eliminated their armed forces, and others have reduced

them significantly. Costa Rica does not intend to either

export or impose any models on others, but it warmly

applauds the decision of these brother countries.

The international community should acknowledge the

specific progress that has been made in reducing military

expenses by developing countries. In this spirit, Costa

Rica wishes to propose the creation of a special fund for

Central America, which would be established through

contributions of developed countries and organizations.

The idea would be that each dollar not spent on military

budgets would be at least matched by contributions for

social development programmes to strengthen democratic

systems in our region.

The Central American peace process has been one of

the most successful ones of recent times. Only a decade

ago, in this same Hall, we were exhausting ourselves

discussing and commenting on the effects of the Central

American crisis. Today, our countries rarely make the

headlines of the international press. However, we would

like to stress that, notwithstanding Central Americaâs huge

social and economical problems, it resolutely continues to

work to consolidate for its children a more dignified and

freer way of life, more in accordance with the spirit of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have

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progressed in the areas of electoral democracy and freedom

of expression. Now the time has come to consolidate

participatory democracy. Therefore, at the end of this

century and of the millennium, Costa Rica has begun a

process of national political dialogue, with broad popular

participation, in order to strengthen our more than 100-year-

old democracy.

The Central American countries have worked

strenuously for the integration and liberalization of our

economies. We have achieved important progress in our

integration mechanisms and structural adjustment processes.

We are participating actively in the negotiations aimed at

creating a free-trade area throughout the Americas, and we

continue to maintain a policy of openness and commercial

links among the Latin American countries.

Despite the regional efforts to redraft its economic

plans and to adapt them to the world marketâs requirements,

Costa Rica views with apprehension the creation of

economic unions or commercial blocks that beget new

discrimination against third countries. Similarly, new

conditionalities in the commercial policy of the

industrialized economies and the use of managed-trade

mechanisms are a clear impediment to the ideal of free

trade and create new inequalities of access to the world

economy.

At the same time, we observe that, while the global

trade in raw materials and agricultural products is losing its

vigour, the exchange of high-technology goods is growing

stronger. This means that the portion of trade traditionally

carried out by the developing countries is becoming weaker

in the global context. In this regard, Costa Rica urges the

opening of markets, not only of the small economies, but

also of the large and industrialized economies. Costa Rica

also advocates commitment to the ideal of free trade that

gave birth to the World Trade Organization and respect for

its rules and resolutions in order to create an international

environment more propitious for developing countriesâ

economic progress.

Free trade encourages economic growth, and economic

freedom encourages the creation of wealth within the

nations. In accordance with these principles, my country

undertook, in 1997, the chairmanship of the negotiating

process for the free-trade zone of the Americas, and we are

trying to contribute dynamically to its progress.

We are also making efforts to attain fair and non-

discriminatory access for Central American products to

markets in the United States and the European Union —

the regionâs principal trade partners. In both markets, our

countries have been negatively affected by the diversion

of trade and investment that have resulted from the

granting of preferential concessions to third countries,

which are displacing our main exports. We refute the neo-

protectionist arguments of the groups who are trying to

obstruct the access of Central American products to those

markets. For this reason, we are promoting the

strengthening of the Caribbean Basin Initiative in order to

correct those diversions and inequities. Furthermore, we

believe there should be better opportunities for our

exports to the European Union through its generalized

preferences system. We are also promoting tariff

reduction for agricultural products in all the industrialized

countries.

At the same time, Costa Rica urges industrialized

nations to cooperate with the efforts to strengthen the

international financial institutions in order to ensure the

stability of the world financial system. Institutions such as

the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and

regional entities such as the Inter-American Development

Bank must provide support to overcome the crises that

cause financial instability, especially in the emerging

markets.

While some believe that economic profit and ethics

have nothing to do with each other, experience has shown

us otherwise. Capitalism without rule of law and not

subject to ethical rules usually causes scourges such as

the spread of drug-trafficking, the reign of organized

crime and corruption.

My country, like many others, has been affected by

these phenomena. Mr. Miguel Angel Rodríguez

Echeverr'a, President of Costa Rica, is actively

participating in both the fight against and the prevention

of these scourges, and he gave proof of his commitment

to this cause when he contributed to the success of the

recent special session of the General Assembly on drug-

trafficking. For Costa Rica, these struggles can be won

only if they have a solid ethical foundation. Genuine

ethical leadership can do more for the long-lasting and

sustainable prosperity of a society than the best laws and

the most detailed treaties.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not

only a statement of rights, it is also a clear statement of

every human beingâs duties to the community. One of the

fundamental obligations of all persons is to behave

fraternally with their fellow men and the environment.

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Costa Rica has not been exempt from the problems

caused by environmental degradation. However, my

countryâs authorities and many organizations of our civil

society are working strenuously to solve them. In a

relatively short time, we Costa Ricans have achieved major

progress in the task of recovering and preserving our rich

biodiversity, while at the same time transforming it into a

source of income. For example, Costa Rica is today one of

the developing countries that has undertaken a leading role

in carbon-fixation projects. We have negotiated important

bilateral agreements based on the filtration capability of our

forests. Those agreements have allowed us to become the

first country to issue “sale of oxygen” certificates as

specific proof of the quantity of captured emissions.

My country has been the recipient of important

international cooperation programmes. In many areas we

continue needing them. Nevertheless, we firmly believe that

cooperation is a two-way street in which we can all teach

and learn, give and receive. Costa Rica believes that its

experience in ecological matters may be useful to many

other countries and it makes it available to the international

community.

Furthermore, my country would like to express its firm

intention to offer technical cooperation for development, in

the modest measure of its capabilities, through the action of

a specialized office that is being established for such a

purpose. Thanks to this office, Costa Ricans will share with

other nations our experiences in the areas of health,

education, ecology, human rights and electoral

development.

For Costa Rica, the respect for diversity consecrated

in the Universal Declaration must be an essential

characteristic of the Member States of the United Nations.

In this regard, we are always conscious of the valuable

lesson of the African thinker, Salif Tall Tierno-Bokar, when

he taught that the rainbow owes its beauty to the varied

tones of its colours in the same way that the voices of

various believers make up a harmony that rises up to

divinity.

The survival of the human species cannot be based on

a system of separate existences. Since human beings first

appeared on the face of the earth, they must have had an

awareness of their individual limitations and must have

understood that they could not survive without the other

members of their species. Today, such natural wisdom of

our far-distant ancestors continues to be valid. We must live

in community in order to build the future.

The concept of love for our fellow men is at the

core of all religions. The ancient texts of the great

masters of China, Mexico and India, and the Torah, the

Gospel and the Koran, regardless of any differences, are

all permeated with a deep sense of identity among

individuals.

Moral and spiritual perfection, the dream of so many

thinkers and the innermost aspiration of so many peoples,

cannot be reached without a basis in the constructive and

fraternal coexistence of all the nations.

At this moment in history, we the people who

inhabit the earth must create a civilization of peace and

solidarity. The twenty-first century should be the century

of the culture of peace, which is also the culture of

freedom, tolerance and solidarity.