Committee on Relations

with Host Country

230^th Meeting (PM)

committee on relations with host country considers representatives’ complaints

about travel incidents involving their national officials

 

Venezuelan, Sudanese, Cuban Delegates Tell of Delay, Denial of Visas

In its fourth meeting of the year this afternoon, the Committee on Relations with the Host Country discussed several recent incidents involving the delay of ministers at United States airports and complaints about the issuance of visas.

The Venezuelan and Sudanese delegates protested the treatment of their respective ministers at airports, while the representative of the United States asserted that there were mechanisms in place to avoid such incidents and that all Permanent Missions to the United Nations had been informed of the programmes to facilitate the travel of ministers through United States airports.  

Under discussion were a letter from the Permanent Mission of Iran protesting the denial of a visa to allow its Interior Minister to attend a recent United Nations conference; a letter from the Cuban Mission protesting travel restrictions on its emissaries that prevented them from attending particular meetings; and a letter from the Mission of Venezuela protesting the treatment of its Foreign Minister at the hands of immigration officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

In its letter responding to the Cuban Mission, the United States stated that it was only obligated to facilitate travel to official United Nations meetings.  It did not consider the meeting at Princeton connected to the International Criminal Court, to which the Cuban diplomat had applied to travel, an official United Nations meeting.

Speaking at the outset of the meeting, the representative of Venezuela said problems had affected two cases of senior officials attending the general debate at the United Nations.  In the more serious of the two, the Foreign Minister of Venezuela had been detained for over an hour and a half by customs officials at JFK Airport.  The Minister had already gone through all the checks as “normal citizens” did but was then requested to submit to a secondary check.  The following day, immigration officials had held up the Deputy Foreign Minister for an hour.

He said the conduct of United States officials was in violation of the obligation of the Host Country not to place impediments upon diplomats in the execution of their duties.  Venezuela condemned those acts and requested a clarification of the incidents.  It requested also that the United States undertake measures to prevent a repeat in the future.

The representative of the Sudan informed the Committee that a Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on his way to attend the General Assembly, had been detained at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., for five hours.  The incident was unacceptable and a flagrant violation of the Headquarters Agreement, and the Committee was asked to adopt measures to prevent such incidents.

A number of other representatives addressed the issue, with several expressing “shock” at the treatment of the Venezuelan and Sudanese Ministers, with one delegate suggesting that disciplinary action be taken against the airport officials responsible.

Cuba’s representative, speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, said the incidents violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities as well as the Headquarters Agreement.  In his national capacity, he added that Cuban officials had also suffered similar treatment.

The representative of the United States said in response that, looking around at certain delegates reading from prepared typed statements and expressing sudden “shock”, he felt as though he had stepped into an ambush.  The United States Mission had not been notified by the Sudanese of any incident regarding one of their ministers.  Nevertheless, the United States Mission apologized.  It would investigate the matter and apprise the Committee.

As for the Venezuelan protest, he said that, although Heads of State or ministers from 160 countries had travelled to New York for the General Assembly, there had been no complaints other than that of Venezuela.  The United States Mission had circulated a note in August informing all Permanent Missions to the United Nations of the screening process at airports, to which all were subject.  However, information had also been given about an escort service, available to Government representatives at the ministerial level, to escort such representatives around screenings at the airport.  Venezuela had not taken advantage of that programme despite being aware of it.

On the specifics of the incident with the Venezuelan protest, he said the Foreign Minister had been requested to undergo an additional secondary screening as a matter of policy applicable whenever anybody paid cash for a one-way ticket at the airport counter as the Minister had.  Airport officials had had no way of confirming his identity.  Contrary to the Venezuelan assertion that the Minister had been detained for 90 minutes, airport records -- which were available for viewing by all interested delegations after the meeting -- showed that the security check had taken 27 minutes.  The airline had offered to board the Foreign Minister and his family without further screening but he had refused to board and chosen to remain at the airport and later return to New York City.

Moreover, there was no record of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Venezuela having arrived at any New York airport on the day alleged, let alone having been detained for an hour, he said, asking the Venezuelan Mission to provide more details for further investigation of the matter.

The United States had implemented procedures to be of assistance when travel plans were known, he continued.  On a previous occasion, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister had taken advantage of the service and had arrived without incident.  As for travel restrictions, of which none had been imposed on Venezuela, the United States reviewed them on an ongoing basis and had recently lifted restrictions on several countries.

Speaking on the issue of visas, the representative of Iran said that the failure of the host country to issue a visa to Iranian Interior Minister to attend the High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, which ran counter to its international obligations, was astonishing due to the fact that all requirements for obtaining the entry visas had been complied with in a timely manner.  He expressed the hope that the host country would take appropriate measures to live up to its obligations by preventing the repetition of such a failure in the future.

The representatives of Venezuela, the Sudan and Cuba also spoke of problems their officials had encountered regarding the delay or denial of visas or the imposition of travel restrictions.  The President of the Sudan and his delegation, for example, had been restricted to the Headquarters district, which was an outrage because the restriction was stamped on the President’s passport.

At one of its earlier meetings, the Committee approved a proposal to undertake another review of the diplomatic parking programme, instituted in November 2002, and to make the results known at its meeting in late January 2007.  A questionnaire will be sent to delegations for response by the end of November.  Their feedback will be shared with representatives of the City and the Host Country by mid-December, and City authorities are expected to submit their comments to the Committee by mid-January 2007.

The 19-member Committee, created in 1971, oversees practical matters connected with diplomats accredited to the United Nations, including visas, parking facilitation, financial indebtedness, education and health, as well as privileges and immunities.  The Committee meets every two months, although emergency meetings can be requested by any Member State at any time.  All States may participate in the Committee’s work as observers but only Committee members can vote.

In other business today, the Committee elected Randy Kondo ( Canada) as a Vice-Chairperson.  Its other officers: Chairman, Andreas D. Mavroyiannis ( Cyprus); Vice-Chairperson, Branimir Zaimov ( Bulgaria); and Rapporteur, Marcela Calderón ( Costa Rica).

The Committee on Relations with the Host Country will meet again on 30 October, at a time to be announced, to approve its report for submission to the Sixth Committee (Legal).

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For information media • not an official record