Mideast situation/Palestine question – Rio Group press communiqué – Note verbale from Costa Rica

Note verbale dated 15 April 2002 from the Permanent
Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations addressed
to the Secretary-General

The Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations, in its capacity as current secretariat of the Rio Group, presents its compliments to the Secretary-General and has the honour to transmit to him the Rio Group’s communiqué on the Middle East, adopted by the heads of State and Government of the States members of the Rio Group on 12 April 2002, at the conclusion of the sixteenth summit meeting of the Group, held in San José, Costa Rica.

The Permanent Mission of Costa Rica would be grateful if the attached document could be circulated as a document of the Security Council and of the General Assembly, under agenda item 42.

Annex to the note verbale dated 15 April 2002 from the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Rio Group’s communiqué on the Middle East

The heads of State of the States members of the Rio Group, meeting in San José, Costa Rica,

1.   Express their deep concern at the serious deterioration of the situation in the Middle East, and at the spiral of violence plunging the peoples of Israel and Palestine into mourning;

2.    Demand immediate compliance with Security Council resolutions 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002);

3.   Fully support resolution 1397 (2002), which envisages a region where the States of Israel and Palestine would live side by side within secure and recognized borders;

4.   Emphatically condemn the acts of violence, terrorism, provocation, incitement and destruction, and in particular the indiscriminate suicide attacks causing loss of life and suffering among the civilian Israeli population, and demand that the parties cease such acts immediately and fully respect international humanitarian law;

5.   Also express their concern at the conduct of military operations in the vicinity of places of worship, and call on the parties to respect the integrity and immunity of the Holy Places and free access thereto;

6.   Consider that there exists no military solution to the conflict and urge the parties to proceed immediately to the implementation of a ceasefire and to return to the negotiating table. In this connection, they request that the Israeli forces be withdrawn immediately from the Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, and that the integrity of the Palestinian Authority and its leader be respected;

7.   Reiterate their full support for the action and measures taken within the framework of the United Nations for a just and lasting settlement of the conflict, specifically the firm and effective action of the Security Council, and express their backing for the peace and mediation initiatives now under way, particularly the current efforts of the representatives of the United States Government, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

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