Costa Rica, 2014

I

congratulate His Excellency Mr. Sam Kutesa, former

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uganda, on his election

to the presidency of the General Assembly. We wish

him the greatest success in carrying out his duties.

Whirlwinds of oppression and violence, anxiety,

desperation and the systematic violation of human rights

affect many corners of the world. We are witnessing an

upsurge in violence and armed confrontations and an

increase in atrocious crimes and extremism with an ever

increasing number of displaced persons, humanitarian

crises and deplorable acts that remain unpunished.

We are also concerned in particular about the

universal dimension of the crisis caused by the Islamic

State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). That reality requires

the coordinated and forceful multilateral action of

the international community in accordance with the

relevant bodies of the Organization. We have seen

the images and heard the screams of pain and distress

rising out of Gaza, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan,

Mali, Libya, the Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and the

Central African Republic. The cries can also be heard

in Central America, where thousands of children and

young people cross borders alone heading towards the

United States of America, fleeing violence and a lack

of opportunities in pursuit of dreams that can turn into

nightmares. The Assembly can never put aside the

future of those children because, in many ways, the

girls and boys of Central America who travel alone are

also our sons and daughters.

Costa Ricans are not indifferent to the terror

of armed conflicts, less still to the suffering of the

millions of victims of its most abject manifestations. As

a nation, we have always stood with our sister nations

in our efforts to bring an end to war and to establish

peace. The conflicts that torment us often emerge from

the fragile situations of States and their institutions:

extreme poverty, corruption and impunity. In all of

them, serious human rights violations have occurred.

None of those conflicts broke out without prior

warning. Ther were clear warning signs. In some cases,

the threat was identified but no action was taken, as in

Syria. In other cases, the danger was not acknowledged

in time, as in South Sudan. However, in all such cases,

the victims are those who are most vulnerable and most

need our help but who cannot make their voice heard.

They are the reason that we are here today.

Faced with the loss of human lives, we have reason

to ask ourselves if we have kept the solemn promise

that accompanied the founding of the United Nations

69 years ago. Do all Members of the Organization refrain

from resorting to the threat or use of force against the

territorial integrity or political independence of other

States? In some cases, that is so, in others not, but the

failure to act is unacceptable. When States disregard

that promise, the system of the United Nations is called

to action. Otherwise, it becomes weak. It loses its

essence. It loses its spirit.

The greatest challenge facing the international

community, the United Nations and the Security

Council — the challenge I wish to talk about

today — is maintaining international peace and

security as essential common goods. If we want peace,

we must prepare for peace. Maintaining international

peace and security begins with a culture of peace. As

an unarmed democracy and home to the University for

Peace, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights

and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Costa

Rica believes that the culture of peace and education for

peace must be an absolute priority. We are convinced

that peace, like war, is not the product of a human or an

historic destiny but is borne of the very freedom of the

human being.

Maintaining international peace and security is not

restricted to dealing with conflicts. The Organization

was founded on the ashes of two world wars precisely

in order to prevent them. Prevention begins at the

State level, with the strengthening of democracy and

its institutions, good governance and a social welfare

State founded of the rule of law as a basic prerequisite

for the promotion of development and fair and inclusive

societies. Prevention is also founded on a solid and

functioning multilateral system. Costa Rica values

and encourages the preventive diplomatic measures

provided for in Chapter VI of the Charter of the United

Nations, which include mediation, good offices and

early warning.

As part of the Group of Friends of Mediation,

I would like to highlight Costa Rica’s leadership in

negotiating General Assembly resolution 68/303,

which seeks to acknowledge the key role that regional

and subregional organizations play in mediating and

managing conflicts. To date, that is the first General

Assembly resolution on mediation to recognize that

role. Its inclusion is therefore a true achievement of the

General Assembly.

Maintaining international peace and security

requires all States to resolve our disputes peacefully in

line with the Charter of the United Nations and in strict

accordance with international law and agreements. Costa

Rica firmly believes in and implements all aspects of

international law. We therefore underscore in particular

the role of the International Court of Justice and the

International Criminal Court. Peace cannot take root

where there is impunity. When war crimes, genocide

and crimes against humanity have been committed,

those responsible must be investigated and put on trial,

including by the International Criminal Court when the

national jurisdiction proves insufficient.

Our country opposes the weakening of the Rome

Statute and any proposed reform that could promote

tolerance for impunity. Once again, we remind the

Security Council of its authority and responsibility

to refer to the International Criminal Court cases that

occur in non-States parties. That is the only approach

we recognize. Our only weapon is and will always be

international law.

Maintaining international peace and security

also necessitates strengthening the single global

Organization charged with defending them. The

Security Council must progress from a reaction

mentality towards one of action, and reaffirm its moral

and political commitment to all humankind. It must be

vigilant, strategic and proactive. It must be democratic,

efficient, transparent and inclusive. My country has

objected to the use of the veto to obstruct measures

aimed at preventing or resolving conflict. Costa Ricans

are amazed by the way some permanent Council

members have invoked the principal of sovereignty to

block intervention by the Council at a moment when it

should have acted to prevent rivers from turning red

with the blood of innocent victims.

We reiterate our call on the permanent members

to refrain from using the veto, especially in situations

of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and

mass human rights violations. We therefore welcome

the French proposal for a code of conduct addressing

the use of the veto. In that spirit, Costa Rica supports

the Secretary-General’s Rights Up Front Action

Plan so as to place human rights at the centre of the

prevention activities of the United Nations. Given our

serious and unshakeable commitment to human rights,

I respectfully ask the Assembly to back Costa Rica’s

re-election to the Human Rights Council in October.

Our poet Jorge Debravo said that we Costa Ricans

“have the obligation to fight for a better future for

man, for a wonderful future. It is not an option for

us to remain silent. It is not an option for us to be

observers or simple witnesses to the struggles of

our nations. In a time like this, remaining neutral is

to betray humanity’s future”.

Because silence is not an option for us, we condemn

the indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas

and its use of human shields, just as we condemn the use

of disproportionate force in military operations carried

out by the Israel Defense Forces. We demand respect

for the ceasefire and the negotiation of a permanent

solution based on two States living side by side in peace

and harmony.

Because silence is not an option for us, we reject the

transfer of conventional weapons to existing conflict

zones. As one of the world leaders in the negotiations

that led to the Arms Trade Treaty — an idea originally

proposed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former-

President Óscar Arias Sánchez — we urge States to

reconsider their laws and policies regulating the transfer

and availability of arms and munitions, with a view

to preventing access by those who would use them in

violating human rights and international humanitarian

law. To trade in death is to become an accomplice to

atrocities. In that context, it would be appropriate to

ask the Assembly: What is the ethical — not legal or

regulatory — difference between trafficking arms

that kill young people in less-developed countries and

trafficking in drugs that lead to the same result in the

planet’s richest countries?

Because silence is not an option for us, Costa

Rica rejects the use of explosive weapons in densely

populated areas of Syria, Gaza and eastern Ukraine.

Costa Rica urgently calls on Member States to develop

stricter rules and commitments to prohibit and restrict

their use, not only because they violate international

humanitarian law, but also because taking action on that

issue, here and now, is critical to reducing incentives to

non-combatants to take up arms and join the extremists.

Because silence is not an option for us, we also

condemn the use of cluster munitions in Syria, South

Sudan and eastern Ukraine. As the host of the Fifth

Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster

Munitions, which took place in San Jose from 2 to

5 September, my country will continue to reject the

manufacture, use and trade of those weapons. We

rejoice that our beloved Central America has become

the first region of the world to be declared free of cluster

munitions, and reiterate our commitment to continuing

to promote the Convention’s universalization.

Because silence is not an option for us, we reiterate

our rejection of nuclear weapons. No State should

develop or possess nuclear weapons. Maintaining and

updating nuclear weapons requires immense economic

and human resources that are necessary for responding

to the key challenges of our time, such as achieving

the Millennium Development Goals and the sustainable

development goals. Costa Rica is ready to negotiate a

new, legally binding instrument on nuclear disarmament

and calls on States to honour their commitments in that

regard.

There can be no peace without sustainable

development. There can be no peace in the world so

long as there is poverty. There can be no peace in the

presence of extreme wealth disparity. There can be no

peace while we destroy humankind’s habitat. There

can be no peace while large sectors of humankind

lack guaranteed access to drinking water. There can

be no peace so long as we fail to understand that all

of humankind and Planet Earth’s biodiversity can and

must thrive and live together. There can be no peace

while we fail to guarantee all human rights — civil,

cultural, economic, political and social — and in

particular the right to development.

Because we yearn for peace, we call on the

nations of the world to join us in defining the post-

2015 development agenda. In just one year’s time,

the General Assembly will be tasked with adopting

the international framework for achieving sustainable

development. The challenge we will face is colossal;

we must therefore humbly acknowledge that, despite

progress, the implementation of the Millennium

Development Goals has been, at best, insufficient.

I am convinced that the new sustainable development

agenda must be a tool primed for action, with precise

objectives, clear targets and indicators that will allow us

to measure and monitor its success. In addition, it must

result from a broad international consensus, including

open and transparent negotiation processes that involve

not only the Member States, but also other international

actors and civil society organizations whose experience

will significantly enrich the final agreement.

We are facing the most serious threat in our

history — the very survival of our species. Actions

taken to confront it must not be timid. On the contrary,

every public policy, national and international alike,

must take climate change into account as a determining

factor. Costa Rica celebrates the vision of the Secretary-

General in convening the Climate Summit at the

opening of this session. Now is the time to demonstrate

our political commitment to achieving a legally binding

instrument on climate change by 2015. In addition, we

demand robust action on the part of those countries that

contribute most to global warming. Their production

and consumption methods must be completely revised

as their impact on the planet’s most impoverished

people — the ones most affected by climate change — is

undeniable. If humankind is to survive, we must reverse

the current trend.

Three years ago, 33 countries came together to

establish the Community of Latin American and

Caribbean States (CELAC). Its agenda is underpinned

by full respect for the purposes and principles of the

Charter of the United Nations and international law.

Its objective is to build diverse, equitable, fair and

egalitarian societies, where eradicating poverty and

hunger are given priority status. I salute the nations,

members of this community.

In an international context of increasing military

tension and armed conflict, and with the realization

that a region’s prosperity and stability can contribute

to international peace and security, CELAC member

States have declared Latin America and the Caribbean

a zone of peace. As President Pro Tempore of CELAC,

Costa Rica reiterates its commitment to preventive

diplomacy and the peaceful resolution of disputes,

with the aim of forever eradicating both the use and the

threat of force from our region.

Costa Rica trusts that the United Nations will

maintain international peace and security in order to

promote sustainable development and ensure genuine

respect for all human rights. At a time when we must

control the reflexive use of coercive measures as a

first course of action, when anxiety and despair are

unsettling many, it is essential to re-establish hope.

When faced with fear, we must have confidence. When

faced with conflict, we must turn to peace. When faced

with rejection and prejudice on the part of others, we

must offer a caring and fraternal embrace. When faced

with death, we must think of life.

With faith in dialogue and consultation, I have

come to the General Assembly to ask that we declare

peace — that we conscientiously and decisively work

together towards a culture and education for peace;

towards strengthening of the social State based on

the rule of law, as well as its institutions and our

economies; towards conflict prevention and resolution

of international controversies by peaceful means;

towards a renewed role for the Security Council;

towards an end to and a reversal of climate change; and

towards sustainable development from which not one

person in the world is excluded.

I have come to tell the Assembly that silence is

not an option for us. We must raise our voices when

confronted with actions and situations that go against

the universal principles enshrined in the Charter of

the United Nations. I have come to inspire us to work

together on new paradigms for sustainable development,

human security and peace for the whole world.

The Costa Rican poet Julieta Dobles Yzaguirre

wondered: “Will the Earth in the new millennium/

become that common home?” I would like to respond to

the poet with her own words: “No one is saved alone./

Perhaps in sharing words and actions/ peace will finally

break out.”