Uruguay, 2012

On

behalf of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, I would

like to congratulate my friend Ambassador Vuk

Jeremić on his election to preside over the work of the

General Assembly during its sixty-seventh session. His

experience, competence and reliability will be crucial

in ensuring that the most representative body of the

United Nations effectively fulfils its duties. We assure

him of the full support of Uruguay.

The focus of the General Assembly this year

on the promotion of the rule of law at national and

international levels is extremely relevant, and I take

this opportunity to welcome the declaration adopted

by the General Assembly on Monday on that matter

(resolution 67/1). Respect for and promotion of the rule

of law at the national and international levels are two

sides of the same coin, which has the well-being of the

individual as its raison d’étre. It means also that neither

individuals nor States are above the law, but are subject

to it. Uruguay considers rule of law a constitutive element

of the social contract that sustains its democratic system

and that stands out as a pillar of its foreign policy. It

is important to stress that this was not motivated by

foreign influence, nor did it come through the adoption

of an abstract political model from outside. Rather, it

was the result of a profound internal process of building

and organizing the free coexistence of our people.

The principle of juridical equality of States,

like equality among individual people, is one of

the fundamental principles of our Organization,

guaranteeing to all the same right to participate in

the responsibilities of the international community,

independent of the power possessed by each nation. It

is precisely in respect of this principle that our country

rejects any coercive unilateral or extraterritorial

measure that contravenes the rules of international law

and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The clearest contemporary example of such a measure

is the embargo unfairly set against the Republic of

Cuba.

The principle of the self-determination of

peoples — understood as a collective right that must be

observed in a manner analogous to respect for freedom

of the individual at the domestic level — is also an

essential pillar of the rule of law. That freedom, which

includes freedom of expression and other fundamental

freedoms, is closely related to the effective operation of

democratic institutions.

In that respect, and without prejudice to reaffirming

that any attempt at the partial or total disruption of the

national unity or territorial integrity of a country is

incompatible with the purposes and principles of the

Charter of the United Nations, Uruguay has always

defended the right to self-determination of peoples

as a key principle for the international coexistence

of States. It reiterates its desire for a peaceful, just,

sustainable and mutually accepted solution of the

question of Western Sahara, based on international law

and resolutions of the General Assembly and Security

Council and respectful of the human rights and the will

of the Saharan people.

An independent judicial system, to which all

persons have access on the basis of the principle of

equality before the law, is necessary for the genuine

rule of law. Projecting this concept of the State and

of the law beyond our borders is a vocation for peace

and the peaceful settlement of disputes, of which my

country was an early promoter. My country showed its firm commitment to those values and principles

already at the Hague Conference of 1907, where it tried

to introduce compulsory international arbitration, and

also in 1921, when it became the first country to legally

accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the Permanent

Court of International Justice, under only the condition

of reciprocity.

The strenuous efforts of the international

community to build a fair system and to achieve greater

balance among countries and greater well-being for

their societies have not yet achieved the necessary

ethical and policy solutions.

Recently we have seen what appears to be an era

of change in some regions of the world. Peoples are

seeking their freedom with the means they have at

hand, with a legitimate desire to achieve democracy

and greater well-being. Political actions of peoples

seeking new alternatives of power have come up

against those who are better organized politically and

who thus will prevail, as they have always prevailed.

Those who have now assumed power must be aware of

their responsibilities towards those peoples.

Eradicating tyranny, consolidating peace and

making social benefits available to everyone are

enormous challenges. The task is to build real

democracies, and to build them with all of the

contradictions, differences and difficulties that exist

within a society.

Even in our region we have received threats with a

major ideological component. The attempted coup d’état

in Ecuador and the breakdown of the democratic order

in Paraguay have shown that Governments of change

have been affected in the development of their policies.

The rule of law and democracy are not acquired values;

rather, they must be defended each day as precious

goods.

Recent events such as what happened in Paraguay

demonstrate that the rule of law is still threatened and

that despite progress in terms of democratic institutions

in all our nations, threats to the full exercise of

fundamental rights and democratic values persist.

That represents a great challenge to our aspiration

to strengthen the integration and development of our

countries, making the defence of the rule of law and

the democratic order a necessary and unavoidable

condition.

Despite the great changes that have afflicted

humanity, the international system continues to work hard, yet it does not resolve the problems, or resolves

them unfairly. It has been unable to create equal

financial or commercial opportunities. Even today, it

is not a priority to invest in countries’ human resources

according to their specific needs. The political system

has acted to control or decide political destinies, rather

than to ensure the security or well-being of the people.

Those who suffered before are suffering now. Powerful

countries still threaten or intervene in other countries.

We have written about values and principles and

have incorporated them in our constitutions. We have

preached in many ways about what is good for everyone.

But we have not succeeded in meeting the basic needs

of billions of poor people, nor have we guaranteed

them programmes for health, education, housing or

employment.

The basis of social justice has not changed. It is

peace, it is freedom, because without that we cannot be

actively aware of noble causes that require that one not

be dominated or oppressed — and without that, there is

nothing. It is dignified housing that protects a family,

work with dignity at a fair wage, the right to education

and the responsibility of each individual. It is the health

care that can save the 7 million children under 5 years

of age who die each year around the world and that

cares for the elderly, for women and for the destitute.

What is truly revolutionary is to change the

conditions of life for those who cannot fully enjoy their

rights, because our political ideal must be, essentially,

the human dimension. The solution requires that the

system provide each person the greatest guarantees of

his political rights and that it be fair with regard to the

obligations and responsibilities in that respect.

The greatest freedom implies the greatest

responsibility. Each person, as both an individual

and part of the community, must receive, possess and

enjoy the rights that are fundamental to ensuring the

well-being of all as a way to transform solutions into

reality. The struggle for transformation determines

the struggle of each person to find a solution for his

problems. Resolving the issues inherent in poverty,

lack of freedom or impediments to the enjoyment of

economic, social and cultural rights requires concrete,

urgent and immediate action.

Almost 200 years ago, someone declared that

the most unfortunate would be the most privileged.

His thinking was truly revolutionary, but there was

something in it even more revolutionary, because he took on the task of orchestrating and executing

the changes that would provoke the redistribution of

resources. He took his solutions to the most needy:

widows with children, children, and poor blacks,

zambos and creoles.

Development requires change. The present day has

given us, as a fundamental condition of our projects,

insoluble problems such as poverty, malnutrition,

overcrowding, unemployment, child mortality and

other socioeconomic scourges that still afflict most of

humanity. Therefore, this system requires a change,

and the only way to carry it out is to transform reality.

Our responsibilities as a community of nations

cannot be avoided, as some of those problems occur as

a natural result of the conditions and characteristics of

relations among States. The international context tends

to concentrate wealth, efficiency and competitiveness

and has no mechanisms to redistribute the resources in

a fair and efficient manner that would provide a roof to

every homeless person, a plate of food to every hungry

person or break the chains of the oppressed. The

international system is based on the struggle of national

interests for a more powerful position, and that means

that the concentration of power becomes ever greater.

Everyone is aware that countries such as ours

operate within highly competitive international markets,

that we do not determine prices, that commodity prices

f luctuate thus altering our national export matrix, and

that we are exposed to successive financial crises.

Continuing with this line of thought, it is essential to

prioritize Uruguay’s involvement in the international

community, integrating international aspects of the

country’s issues in the areas of agriculture, industry,

commercialization and financing, all with the purpose

of eliminating poverty, achieving social justice and

firmly establishing primary education. Among other

things, this requires reducing or eliminating the

distortions that pose obstacles to commercial exchange,

particularly agriculture subsidies, internal supports and

other protectionist measures that prevent international

trade from becoming a factor that contributes to solving

the financial crisis that is currently affecting the global

economy.

Economic and social development requires the

stability and predictability that the rule of law ensures.

The United Nations has grasped that reality, and it is

encouraging to see that strengthening the rule of law,

and the institutions whose job it is to implement that rule of law, is central to the tasks of the Organization’s

various peacekeeping, peacebuilding and special

political missions, including the United Nations

Stabilization Mission in Haiti, to which Uruguay is a

principal contributor.

Our historical belief that a national society must be

ruled by law means that we believe that the community

of sovereign nations should regulate itself in conformity

with international law. In that context, it is Uruguay’s

hope that the international community can take

effective steps towards eliminating nuclear weapons

and focus its efforts on eliminating this terrible threat

still hanging over humankind. Similarly, we call for

redoubled efforts to enable us finally to conclude a

treaty regulating the arms trade, which has a serious

impact on Latin American and Caribbean countries and

other developing regions of the world.

Regarding the promotion and protection of human

rights, Uruguay’s coordination with the international

system has reached a very high level. Our country is

party to all legal instruments relating to human rights

and international humanitarian law. It offers an open

invitation to all universal and inter-American special

procedures to visit the country and recognizes the

binding jurisdiction of all monitoring committees for

receiving individual complaints and communications.

At the same time, Uruguay has expressed its preference

for establishing international jurisdictional bodies

and institutions. Our country’s longtime goal in this

area was realized at the regional level through the

establishment in 1969 of the Inter-American Court of

Human Rights under the San José de Costa Rica Pact.

Uruguay has been a member of the Human Rights

Council since its creation in 2006 and is its President

for the period 2011-2012. During our mandate, we

have advocated for a new culture of dialogue, for the

progressive and incremental utilization of special

procedures and other instruments for action before

resorting to coercive or confrontational measures, for

a two-way cooperative model between States and the

United Nations system, for greater regional coordination

and for the importance of civil society’s participation.

We have promptly, clearly and constructively expressed

our position on situations involving serious violations

of human rights, ethnic cleansing, crimes against

humanity and war crimes.

Uruguay has been a party to the Rome Statute since

2002 and has enacted a law that can be seen as a model

of cooperation with the International Criminal Court. Seven years ago, when the Assembly was

considering the concept of the responsibility to protect,

we committed to ending mass atrocities, giving priority

to prevention and aiding States that so requested to

comply fully with their responsibilities to protect their

peoples from such scourges and to respond speedily

and decisively in accordance with the provisions of the

United Nations Charter.

We firmly condemn the serious violations of

human rights that are taking place in Syria. The

situation has deteriorated and the suffering of the

civilian population has become intolerable. We support

the work of the independent international commission

of inquiry established by the Human Rights Council,

which in its most recent report (A/HRC/21/50) states

that there is reason to believe that Government forces

are committing crimes against humanity. All violence

in Syria must cease immediately; it is essential that

we establish a process of dialogue aimed at reaching a

peaceful solution. Uruguay supports the mediator role

of the United Nations within a framework of a strict

respect for international law and the principles of the

Charter. The protection of civilians is a multifaceted

task, of which the most sensitive and important aspect

is protecting those facing imminent danger of physical

violence.

Through its firm commitment to peacekeeping

operations, Uruguay has played and will continue to play

a proactive and constructive role both at Headquarters

and on the ground. Nevertheless, we must make greater

efforts and work for better coherence among all the

actors involved in order to eliminate or minimize as

far as possible the numbers of civilian victims of armed

conflicts.

Human rights are universal, interdependent and

indivisible. Ensuring that they are enforced, protected

and promoted is possible only through a firmly

established rule of law and well-functioning democratic

institutions, democracy, good governance and a more

effective multilateral system.

It is essential that the United Nations adapt to

global challenges, guarantee its presence on the ground

and respond to all the challenges faced by developing

countries in accordance with their priorities and

needs. It is thus imperative that development processes

emphasize one of the greatest threats to the rule of

law and democracy — poverty, particularly extreme

poverty, which causes instability and insecurity. Our country has given absolute priority to combating that

scourge purposefully and head on. In the past year

alone, Uruguay was able to reduce the percentage of

people living in poverty from 18.6 to 13.7 per cent, and

of those in extreme poverty from 1.1 to 0.5 per cent.

Combating the adverse effects of climate change, a key

challenge to achieving sustainable development, is also

one of our priorities.

Now more than ever, we must revitalize our global

alliance for development and increase international

cooperation.

Finally, if the strength and sustainability of the

rule of law at the national level depend on the active

participation of citizens in defending the standards

that ensure every society’s continued coexistence and

development, at the international level it requires full

compliance with the principles of international law and

the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and

strong commitment to the causes of peace, the peaceful

settlement of disputes and multilateralism. That is the

main goal that Uruguay has pursued during the process

of building the United Nations, both as a founding

Member and through its participation in the activities

of the General Assembly. It is our ambition to continue

those efforts from within the Security Council should

our country be elected, as we hope, to that body as a

non-permanent member for the period 2016-2017.