YouSaid · the spoken record

Stagno Ugarte

lines on the record: 121
first: 2003-03-27
most recent: 2017-05-25
sittings or episodes: 12
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“In that regard, while the Human Rights Up Front initiative that emerged in response to the inquiry is full of good intentions, it has failed - to date at least - to turn the receding tide on horizon-scanning briefings and to commit the Executive Office of the Secretary-General to using Article 99 in order to tell the Council what it needs to know and not what it wants to hear. The Council has all the tools it needs, yet it sorely needs to abide by the promise of the very resolutions it adopts, resolution 2286 (2016) included. Otherwise, it is not only failing in its duties to protect medical facilities and services and to protect civilians trapped in armed conflict, but surely condemning itself to making devalued never-again apologies in future.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“As the 2012 inquiry into the Sri Lanka debacle highlighted, there was a systemic failure based on the absence ofboth an "adequate and shared sense of responsibility for human rights violations" and a "coherent strategy in response to early warnings and subsequent international human rights - and- humanitarian-law violations against civilians". In drawing lessons and identifying improved early-warning procedures, the inquiry called on the Secretary-General to make more regular and explicit use of Article 99 to bring situations of concern to the attention of the Council. It also referenced the horizon-scanning briefings to the Council by the Department of Political Affairs as a welcome recent initiative undertaken by the United Nations.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“As early as 1985, speaking on the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, then Secretary-General Pe'rez de Cuellar had already concluded that as "crises have frequently been brought before the Council too late for preventive action, it would seem to follow that the Council might well establish a procedure to keep the world under continuing survey" (S/PV2608, para. 15). Nothing except for political will has prevented the Council from adopting such procedures. The Council enjoys unfettered leeway in deciding, adapting or amending its internal procedures or creating subsidiary bodies to go about its business. Yet after major failures in Rwanda, Srebrenica and Sri Lanka, and all of the reports that followed on those failures, such common-sense procedures are still struggling to find a firm footing in the Council.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“Students and teachers have been killed, injured, raped, tortured and kidnapped in at least 21 States since 2013, according to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack. During the same period, schools have been used for military purposes in at least 24 conflict-affected States. By endorsing the Safe Schools Declaration, 64 Member States have made commitments to better protecting schools during armed conflict and to refraining from using them for military purposes. We welcome these commitments and, as the Secretary-General does in his recent report on protection of civilians during armed conflict (S/2017/414), we encourage all Member States to endorse the Declaration. The Security Council has long been failing in terms of early warning, which is the best strategy for avoiding civilian harm.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“The Secretary-General should immunize the annexes to his annual report from political redactions by States by strictly upholding the technical merits of the monitoring and reporting process, as well as exercise his powers under Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations. United Nations country teams should engage in dialogue with listed parties and, wherever possible, negotiate concrete, time-bound action plans to end violations, as stipulated in previous Council resolutions. And, in the absence of such action plans by persistent perpetrators, the Council should impose targeted measures, as stipulated in its previous resolutions. In addition to medical facilities, schools have also been bombed, burned and looted or converted to military bases and barracks.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“The United Nations system, consistent with its Human Rights Up Front initiative, should also prioritize the collection of information about such attacks wherever they happen, push States to hold perpetrators responsible and recommend avenues for accountability. In that regard, Human Rights Watch would also recommend the following. In the light of some yawning gaps in reporting, the Secretary-General should ensure that all parties responsible for such attacks are listed in the annexes to his annual report on children in armed conflict. This is not the time - I repeat, not the time - to freeze new additions to the list. The Council should ensure that the list includes all perpetrators, with no exceptions.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“In the 2016 report (S/2016/360), the Secretary-General reported more than 350 United Nations-verified attacks on medical facilities or personnel in 10 States and listed nine parties to armed conflict in six States in the annexes to the report. Under Council resolutions, those parties must enter into action plans with the United Nations to end their violations, or be subject to possible targeted measures. To date, none of the parties have signed such action plans. In order to enhance accountability for attacks on health facilities and personnel, Human Rights Watch therefore recommends that the Secretary-General commit to alerting the Council of all future attacks on health-care facilities on an ongoing, rather than an annual basis.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“Resolution 2286 (2016) also highlighted the importance of international justice mechanisms when domestic systems are unwilling or unable to respond appropriately. In many conflict countries, however, from Libya to the Central African Republic to South Sudan, State justice systems have become largely defunct, yet none of the incidents that we reviewed have been referred to international accountability mechanisms. The Security Council has, however, one important accountability mechanism for the perpetrators of attacks on health care, under the children in armed conflict agenda. As part of the monitoring and reporting on parties to armed conflict responsible for recurrent attacks on schools and hospitals or related personnel, the Secretary-General is mandated to list the perpetrators in the annexes to his report.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“The task force established by the Saudi- led coalition forces to investigate potential violations of international humanitarian law committed by the coalition in Yemen investigated the incident and concluded that the air strike was an error, but failed to determine whether the attack violated the laws of war. The task force also claimed that the coalition was not aware that it was a hospital prior to the attack. Yet, Medecins Sans Frontieres had clearly marked the roof of the hospital and repeatedly provided the coalition with the GPS coordinates of the facility, including just five days earlier. To date, the Saudi-led coalition has neither released further findings nor offered a public apology, nor has it, to our knowledge, offered compensation to victims.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“They then took two patients, including a 15-year-old boy, and shot them dead outside the clinic. Both Afghanistan and NATO reportedly opened investigations into the incident, but neither has published any findings. NATO has stated that it found absolutely no evidence to support that allegation, without specifying which allegation it was referring to, or whether international military forces were present in the raid. Five of the cases reviewed were investigated, yet all five investigations were flawed. Almost all of them left critical questions unanswered, and many arrived at conclusions that contradicted our findings. Let me share another example. In August 2016, an air strike hit the main hospital in western Hajja, Yemen, killing 19 and wounding 24, including 11 health workers.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“In all, 11 health workers and 17 patients and other civilians were killed. Russia and Syria, the likely perpetrators of both attacks, denied responsibility and claimed that United States- led coalition forces had carried out the strikes. The United States denied that allegation, and none of the parties investigated the incident. In three of the cases we reviewed, authorities indicated that they would investigate attacks but either failed to present any findings or have not concluded any investigation. Let me share another example. In February 2016, Afghan security forces, reportedly accompanied by international military forces, raided a clinic in Tangi Saidan in Wardak Province. The soldiers handcuffed staff members while they searched the premises for Taliban fighters.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“We believe that 16 of those incidents may have constituted war crimes, either because they were intentional attacks on protected health facilities, or because there is evidence of criminal negligence. And yet, no one appears to have faced criminal proceedings for any of the attacks. In fact, based on publicly available information, it does not appear as though 20 of the incidents that we reviewed were ever investigated. Perpetrators either ignored credible allegations about the attacks, publicly denied responsibility or blamed another party, without providing any supporting evidence. Let me share an example. In February 2016, the two largest hospitals of Maret al-Numan in Syria were hit three hours apart. Those wounded in the first attack were immediately transferred to a nearby hospital, only to suffer a second attack.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“As the resolution indicates, accountability, in particluar impartial investigations, prompt disciplinary measures and fair prosecutions, is an essential element of any strategy to end the widespread violations ofthe principle of protecting health facilities and services in conflict. Yesterday, Human Rights Watch published a review of 25 attacks on health facilities that occurred between 2013 and 2016 in 10 countries. We found that little has been done to investigate such attacks or to hold those responsible to account, where appropriate. In such incidents, at least 232 people were reportedly killed, including 41 health workers and more than 180 injured.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“Mr. Stagno Ugarte: Resolution 2286 (2016) was a milestone that reaffirmed the principle that health facilities and personnel must be protected during armed conflict. Yet today, one year after its adoption, this is no time for celebration. According to a recent report by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, attacks against health facilities have continued at alarming rates in 23 countries over the course of the past year. Although former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented a strong set of recommendations for the implementation of resolution 2286 (2016), the Security Council has yet to affirm them. Resolution 2286 (2016) warned that the prevailing impunity for attacks on health facilities and personnel in conflict could lead to a recurrence of such acts.”
2017-05-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7951 (2017) · source
“Peace is the fruit of endeavours by moderate voices that accept the coexistence, side by side, of two independent States living in peace and security.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“But we are satisfied at the acceptance of our request for the elimination of any reference to a preparatory process for Palestine to acquire full statehood: as I have said, my country already recognizes the State of Palestine. The time has come to start with the ultimate goal of two independent States living side by side in peace and security. The time has come to put an end to the cruel irony that the only democratic Arab State is living under the oppression of foreign occupation. The time has come to put an end to a situation that, if unresolved, will only encourage extremists and that has strengthened, among others, the deniers in Tehran. We will never stop saying that in the Middle East there can be no final victory of one over the other.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“The two countries that have signed peace agreement with Israel - Egypt and Jordan - as well as Saudi Arabia, have a great deal to contribute. That is why Costa Rica considers that the Arab Peace Initiative is an important contribution in that regard. Let me comment briefly on the draft presidential statement on which we have been working. We will be flexible in order not to prevent its adoption, but let me note that we would have preferred clearer and more resolute emphasis on and support for the Arab Peace Initiative, and a recognition of the Initiative for what it is: in Mr. Miliband's words, a "deposit that needs to be matched" (supra). We would also have preferred more precise direction for the work of the Quartet and we would have preferred to somewhat reorder the paragraphs.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“Similarly, we must reverse the growth of illegal settlements, in conformity with agreements reached, avoiding any measure that would alter the demographic character of the occupied territories or cause deterioration in the living conditions of the Palestinians. Also, Palestine must strengthen measures to combat violence, extremism and terrorism and must exercise control over its own territory. In our view, two actors are indispensable in following up the process: the United States - particularly now, with a new Administration that believes in the audacity of hope and that has been linked to or associated with all efforts to find a solution- and the moderate Arab countries that are neighbours of the parties. Some of these countries have learned from the errors of the past and can become solid partners for peace.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“The more involved the parties concerned are in defining the elements of peace initiatives, the greater their commitment to speedy and effective implementation. That is a lesson that we in Central America can vouch for. Like the Israelis and the Palestinians, we had to undergo suffering to understand that the solution lay within ourselves and that, in the final analysis, it takes more courage to agree than to reject. In the meantime, we must immediately allow and facilitate unobstructed, continuous and timely access for humanitarian assistance to the population of the occupied Palestinian territories.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“With such a bold gesture, we would strengthen the democratic Government of President Abbas and would place it in a position of greater symmetry vis-a- vis other parties to the conflict. In that way, on behalf of the Palestinian people and along with Israel, it would be in a position to chart the path towards a future free from violence for its people and for the entire region. Such a political gesture could become a symbol with the power to shape reality. It is time to call the fundamental elements of the conflict by their proper names, and to support the parties in reaching lasting, concrete, verifiable and final agreements. That is the spirit of past efforts that we must retrieve. We must turn our attention to the parties concerned and their regional neighbours, who are the ones suffering the most from the consequences of the conflict.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“That is why it is doubly important that the outlines of a final outcome be known in advance. Costa Rica understood this when on 5 February 2008 it recognized the State of Palestine, thus paying a historical debt, in particular because it was among the 33 countries that voted in favour of the partition resolution (General Assembly resolution 181 (II)). It is time for the international community - starting with those 33 countries, several of which are represented in this Chamber - to recognize the existence of two States and to support a final, peaceful solution to a situation that has already generated far too much intolerance and violence and which urgently requires closure in keeping with the best interests of the parties.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“The destination should be recognized as a guarantee for the necessary intermediate and temporary agreements that will promote definitive solution and make the process irreversible. All must be committed to the final goal. Otherwise, the Quartet will continue, to go in circles without any sense of direction. Similarly, given that in the immediate and not-so- immediate neighbourhood there are so many actors wishing to obstruct the process, there is no reason to require that final negotiations resolve issues that are difficult but not fundamental and that have an impact on the process while not capable of resolving it. Such false logic has given those who thrive on intolerance and violence too many opportunities to sabotage the peace. The frameworks of step-by-step negotiations have been a snare in which hope has often been trapped.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“However, the international community must be committed to a solution, and not consider it an opportunity to gain diplomatic points, renew past lustre, or possibly derive some personal profit or even hold a letter of credit that might be redeemed in some future game of chess. While we are all betting on the success of the Quartet, my country believes that it is time to recognize that the Road Map is fatally skewed. It is a Road Map to nowhere. It is an itinerary with stages and stops, but no clear goal or destination. For that reason, Costa Rica believes that the entire Road Map process should be addressed from another perspective - in other words, start from the perspective of the final stage. The parameters and outlines of a definitive solution must be crafted and made known from the outset with total clarity.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“We all know that there are many obstacles on the path to peace; some seem insurmountable and cannot be overcome. But we cannot gloss over the fact that the behaviour of either party can affect the behaviour of the other, although it cannot justify it. Certainly, Costa Rica does not ignore the mutual interdependence among all of the fundamental elements of a final status agreement. Each obstacle and element deserves our full attention, but first and foremost the attention of the parties most directly involved: Israel and Palestine. Costa Rica is convinced that the only possible peace is one that is agreed between the parties, with the international community strongly behind them and watching over the success of the negotiations.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“My country believes that the international community must insist that the parties most directly concerned negotiate and accept from the outset that a final and definitive solution will not give them everything they hope for or claim, or even what they believe to be fair. The time has come to relinquish rigid positions based on the past - a past that no longer exists for either party, because the greatest injustice is that which has continued for more than six decades. We have lived through six decades of misunderstandings, confrontations, regression and disenchantment, occasionally interrupted by interludes or some progress that have led us to believe that peace was still possible. It has been six decades of intolerance and violence on both sides that have deprived both peoples of the right to live free of fear.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“Mr. Stagno Ugarte (Costa Rica) (spoke in Spanish): Once again, the Security Council is meeting to discuss an issue about which almost everything has already been said. Few situations have attracted as much attention, led to so many meetings, mobilized so many actors and generated as much disappointment and frustration as the situation in the Middle East. We are definitely facing a graveyard of lost opportunities in a region of the world that is saturated with history. However, we must not hesitate; on the contrary, we must continue to press forward. To that end, we trust that the debate to which the Russian Federation has invited us will produced added value.”
2009-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6123 (2009) · source
“The presence in this Chamber of representatives of Arab countries that are concerned about the events in the region and that have sometimes, played an active role in their development, offers a timely opportunity to call on those countries to play a constructive role that will further develop the factors conducive to mutual respect and understanding between the parties. We want peace and we support peace for the simple reason that both peoples more than deserve peace. In that regard, we urge the parties to meet their commitments to establish verifiable and sustainable progress on the ground through the establishment of new agreements that will lead towards the peace that both peoples so deserve.”
2008-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5983 (2008) · source
“None of the parties has done all that is necessary to create an environment conducive to a definitive solution to the conflict. It has been an asymmetrical conflict, with asymmetrical concessions and consequences. There is not absolute parity between the parties, even if reciprocity must prevail. It is time for both parties to accept that peace comes at a price and requires painful and uncomfortable concessions, but the price will always be far less than the cost of war. Otherwise, intolerance, violence and mistrust will continue and in that environment, unfortunately, we will have to once again face more extremism and terrorism. The ongoing negotiations between Israel and Palestine appear to be leading towards agreement on key aspects.”
2008-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5983 (2008) · source
“Since the universal unilateral declaration of 1988 granting Palestine observer status at the United Nations, followed by the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority that entity has gradually taken on some if not all of the basic features of a State. The decision of the Government of Costa Rica to recognize the State of Palestine on 5 February 2008 was based not only on resolution 181 (II) and on the fact that the current Palestinian State unites many of the basic characteristics of a state, but also on a well-founded understanding of the reasons for the various interruptions in the peace process and the complicated manoeuvres of the political forces in the region. In the Middle East there are shared but differentiated responsibilities.”
2008-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5983 (2008) · source
“Given that there are multiple actors in the immediate surroundings and also in the region who are interested in impeding the peace process, we listened with profound indignation to the words of the Head of State of Iran, expressly calling for the destruction of the State of Israel. Final negotiations are always premised on resolving difficult issues that are not vital; issues that impact the process but at the same time do not help resolve the situation. Instead, all too many opportunities have been given to those who thrive on intolerance and violence, allowing them to sabotage peace. In the meantime, with each delay a Palestinian State has been taking shape.”
2008-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5983 (2008) · source
“At the same time, it has now been 10 years since the expiration of the deadline established in the declaration of principles of the Oslo Agreements and, once again, we have exceeded the deadline established in the Quartet's Road Map: delay after delay after delay. The core aspects of the conflict - Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlements, which is the issue that we are addressing here today have always been relegated to a second or third phase which has never truly begun, since, important or difficult as they may be, subsidiary or preparatory issues tend to be addressed first. That realization is not new and has been mentioned by many others before.”
2008-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5983 (2008) · source
“Since then, we have witnessed one tragedy after another including wars and intifadas, murders andattacks, which have seriously impeded the right of both peoples to live free from fear. At the same time, and without a time frame, we have seen promises and hopes flourish generated by various peace processes, without, however, any peace dividends yet being reaped. Instead, the situation has proved to be a breeding ground for double standards, foreign interference and for the sad repetition of events that have delayed fulfilment of the mandate agreed upon in 1947. Now we are meeting after more than 60 years of procrastination in regard to the establishment of a Palestinian State in accordance with the stipulations of the General Assembly in 1947.”
2008-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5983 (2008) · source
“My Government certainly does not ignore the mutual commitments that must be made with regard to the core elements of a final agreement. Each of those obstacles and elements deserves our full attention, but above all the attention of the parties most immediately involved - Israel and Palestine. Costa Rica supported General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 1947. We were among the 33 countries that recognized early on that, for all its faults, the idea of two States coexisting had to be accepted as being the least bad of all those available. Such a partition would result in the establishment of two independent States and as all know well, in 1948 the State of Israel was established; however, the establishment of the State of Palestine never came about, and here we must recognize the shared responsibility of many.”
2008-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5983 (2008) · source
“Mr. Stagno Ugarte (Costa Rica) (spoke in Spanish): Each new settlement that is built in the occupied territories is a new obstacle in the road to peace. In that regard, the decision of Council members to meet this morning underscores the need to put an end to the ongoing expansion of illegal settlements. We cannot ignore - and Israel should not ignore - the broad consensus within the international community on the need to reverse the growth of the illegal settlements, which contradict the agreed commitments. However, we must not lose sight of the many other obstacles that also block the road to peace. We cannot ignore how the conduct of each party affects the conduct of the other party, even if it is unjustified. The settlements are not the only cause for concern; we are also concerned about extremism, terrorism, intolerance and violence.”
2008-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5983 (2008) · source
“The confidence that Costa Rica would like to have in the Security Council's effectiveness in this specific case will depend on whether or not we muster the decency to acknowledge the facts, to enforce full compliance with resolution 1593 (2005) and not to appease those who still feel that the graves in Darfur are not sufficiently full.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“They taught us also that the United Nations global commitment to ending conflict does not preclude moral judgements, but makes them necessary." (A/54/549, para. 506) Costa Rica trusts in the International Criminal Court and would also like to trust in the capacity of the Security Council to address this complex situation. That, however, will depend on the States members of the Council. As they know, Costa Rica is coordinating the drafting of a presidential statement on the issue before us. We hope that all - and I stress, all - States members of the Council will cooperate with us in sending a forceful message commensurate with the tragic events unfolding.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“The Council knows of the evidence of the crimes committed; it knows that the guilty parties have been identified; and it knows which Government authorities protect and shelter them. All we need is for the States members of the Security Council to have the decency to muster the political will necessary to enforce the full compliance of resolution 1593 (2005) by the authorities in Khartoum. Enough appeasement - the time has passed to continue accommodating evil. Allow me to end by highlighting the final paragraph of the report of the Secretary-General on Srebrenica, as it explicitly establishes that the imperatives of peace and justice are mutually supporting. "The men who have been charged with this crime against humanity reminded the world and, in particular, the United Nations, that evil exists in the world.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“Finally, in a situation that is painfully similar to the one before us, the commission considered that "[t]he Security Council bears a responsibility for its lack of political will to do more to stop the killing" (ibid., p. 32. In Costa Rica, currently a non-permanent member of the Council, we refuse to believe that we, the international community, are inevitably heading towards a new "never again". We are worried, however, by the apparently boundless capacity of some to face shame. We are likewise worried that the inability of the Council to respond to evil with dignity, promptly and with the full moral authority of the Charter of the United Nations could also be boundless in this specific instance.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“As the report also demonstrated - and I believe this to be particularly pertinent in light of the mission that has taken some Council members to Khartoum - it is a cause for concern that more "emphasis [was placed] on a cease-fire, more than the moral outrage against the massacres, which was growing in the international community" (ibid, p. 41). Similarly, the report of the Independent Inquiry commission emphasized the dilemma that we are once again facing as to whether to negotiate with those in control, irrespective of the acts they may have committed. The commission did not doubt that, in its view, "the United Nations had an obligation to make absolutely clear to the members of the Government the individual responsibility which accompanies the commission of genocide and war crimes" (ibid., p. 39).”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“The report of the Independent Inquiry commission of 16 December 1999 on the genocide in Rwanda clearly attributes the failure of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda to "a lack of resources and a lack of will to take the commitment which would have been necessary to prevent or to stop the genocide" (S/1999/1257, p. 30). Although, since in the specific case of the Sudan we have budgeted some $2.126 billion for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur and the United Nations Mission in the Sudan peacekeeping operations, no lack of resources seems to apply, we still need, starting yesterday, to muster within the Security Council the political will needed to face up to the responsibilities that the tragedy in Darfur calls for.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“503) Lastly, fearing that we are heading towards a repetition of the past, allow me to highlight the following paragraph of the report of the Secretary- General on Srebrenica: "In the end, the only meaningful and lasting amends we can make to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who put their faith in the international community is to do our utmost not to allow such horrors to recur. When the international community makes a solemn promise to safeguard and protect innocent civilians from massacre, then it must be willing to back its promise with the necessary means. Otherwise, it is surely better not to raise hopes and expectations in the first place." (ibia'., para. 504) Second ghost. History repeats itself.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“502) Allow me also to refer to the following words of repentance contained in the report, which accurately describe what I hope many of us here think of the situation in Darfur: "Through error, misjudgement and an inability to recognize the scope of the evil confronting us, we failed to do our part to help save the people from the Serb campaign of mass murder. No one regrets more than we the opportunities for achieving peace and justice that were missed. No one laments more than we the failure of the international community to take decisive action to halt the suffering Srebrenica crystallized a truth understood only too late by the United Nations and the world at large: that Bosnia was as much a moral cause as a military conflict." (ibid., para.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“We do so because we believe that, despite the specificities of each case, the lessons of Srebrenica and Rwanda, for example, should resonate with full force within this chamber. The ghosts of Srebrenica and Rwanda should awaken us to the fact that in the Sudan there are some who believe that the graves in Darfur are not yet sufficiently full. Here is the first ghost. The Security Council should recall the contents of the report of the Secretary-General on Srebrenica of 15 November 1999. I would like to quote the conclusion of the report: "The cardinal lesson of Srebrenica is that a deliberate and systematic attempt to terrorize, expel or murder an entire people must be met decisively with all necessary means, and with the political will to carry the policy through to its logical conclusion." (A/54/549, para.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“I therefore take the liberty of quoting some of the conclusions contained in the landmark independent reports prepared by the United Nations in response to previous situations in which the Security Council, above all, had the opportunity and responsibility to act. Because of the limited time available, I will refer only to two reports and two previous situations, and make abbreviated references to some of the lessons learned from a past that we do not have the luxury of forgetting, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. I turn to those independent reports not only because Costa Rica endorses their conclusions and believes in their full applicability to the situation now before us, but also because we believe that they are the result of a dispassionate and detailed analysis of the errors of the past.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“If, through indifference or for the sake of political convenience, this Council does not make its best effort to enforce the cooperation of Khartoum with the International Criminal Court and its surrender without further delay of Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb in conformity with resolution 1593 (2005), in the not-too-distant future we will once again be invoking our promise of "never again". We, the civilized world, made that same promise following the Holocaust, and more recently following events in Kampuchea, Bosnia, Rwanda or Kosovo, and are currently putting it to the test in the Sudan. It may be uncomfortable to raise the failures and ghosts of the past, but at times we must recall them in order to avoid making the same mistakes.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“By blatantly and repeatedly failing to comply with its obligations under resolution 1593 (2005), the Government of the Sudan is not only affronting the Court, but openly defying the authority of the Council and the binding nature of resolutions adopted under Chapter VII. The Government of the Sudan is toying with us, toying with human dignity, toying with the authority of this Council. The appointment of Ahmad Harun as Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, as a member of the negotiating committee of the National Congress Party-Sudan People's Liberation Movement/ Army and as supervisor of the population census in South Darfur, among other responsibilities, is concrete evidence of the cynicism of the authorities in Khartoum. We can no longer afford to appease such cynicism. The facts speak for themselves. We cannot plead ignorance.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“It certainly cannot continue with what, as time passes, seems to be a policy of appeasement of Khartoum and of indifference to the atrocities that are occurring in Darfur. The Council must stop delaying and subordinating the imperatives of justice to political calculations, or, to cite the Prosecutor, thinking that political negotiations will solve everything. Just as, in adopting resolution 1593 (2005), the Security Council had the political will to refer the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court, it must now act accordingly and demand surrender by Khartoum of the accused, Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“The actions of the Council, and thus of the member States gathered around this table that give life to it, have clearly been inadequate to the situation in Darfur. Internal differences and political calculations have thus far impeded effective action by the Council. What we can agree on, although it is not of much comfort, is that the Council has complied with the final paragraph of resolution 1593 (2005), in that it has remained seized of the matter. However, the perpetuation of the situation is in and of itself part of the problem, because as time passes, the Council runs the risk of accommodating evil as the graves continue to be filled in Darfur. I exhort the Council to find a solution that adequately addresses the imperatives of both peace and justice.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“Seven times, the Prosecutor has come to enumerate the atrocities that have occurred and are occurring in Darfur - coordinated and planned atrocities carried out against civilians who were not participants in any conflict. In the report he has submitted today, the Prosecutor has laid out the facts with absolute clarity. These are not an incidental by-product of war; they are a calculated crime. Seven times he has shared with the Council the degree of cooperation - or, to be more precise, non-cooperation - that the Government of the Sudan has offered. Seven times, pursuant to a mandate of this Council under resolution 1593 (2005), the Prosecutor has thoroughly fulfilled his responsibility. We would like to be able to say the same of this Council.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source
“Mr. Stagno Ugarte (Costa Rica) (spoke in Spanish): It is an honour for me to participate in this meeting of the Security Council on the situation in the Sudan, while just steps away from this chamber, 106 States Members of the United Nations are simultaneously meeting as an assembly of States parties of the International Criminal Court. In effect, just steps away from this chamber, there is a firm commitment to eradicating impunity for the most atrocious crimes perpetrated by evil. Just steps away from this chamber, there is a firm commitment to fight the banalization of evil. Thus far, Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the International Criminal Court has submitted seven reports to the Security Council.”
2008-06-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5905 (2008) · source