STATEMENT OF COSTA RICA ON THE SECURITY COUNCIL OPEN DEBATE ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY, OCTOBER, 2015
STATEMENT OF COSTA RICA, October 2015
To remedy this disparity, the inclusion of women in peace and security processes must go beyond checking a box marked “women”. Costa Rica believes that the full and effective participation of women means much more than inserting women in the existing security structures and concepts. The original intention of resolution 1325 (2000) was never to promote women soldiers, but rather to reap the rewards obtained when women are granted space to participate as equals in the search for solutions.
STATEMENT OF COSTA RICA, October 2015
Costa Rica stands firmly in support of holistic approaches that enable women to participate in addressing the root causes of conflict, but it is impossible to move forward without also ensuring justice for those who have been victims of the systemic violence that accompanies conflict and war. In 1998, during her tenure on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Costa Rican judge Elizabeth Odio Benito worked successfully to have rape and other forms of sexual assault be considered forms
of torture. Odio Benito’s interpretation, based on the case of two Serbian women who were raped in the Celebici detention camp, is now an accepted principle of international law.
STATEMENT OF COSTA RICA, October 2015
Costa Rica is outraged by the pervasiveness of sexual violence as a weapon of war and condemns the sexual misconduct and abuse committed by United Nations peacekeepers. Odio Benito’s juridical legacy continues to form part of our efforts to have sexual violence as a weapon of war considered a crime against humanity, and this belief is reflected in our zero- tolerance position against impunity in cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations personnel.