Minister of Foreign Affairs Rodrigues-Birkett has underscored at an Organisation of American States (OAS) meeting Friday the importance of upholding the principles of international law as it relates to the inviolability of diplomatic premises.
She was speaking at a meeting convened by the OAS at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., regarding the dispute involving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange being granted diplomatic asylum by Ecuador in the United Kingdom.
Ecuador granted asylum to Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK.
It said his human rights might be violated if he is sent to Sweden to be questioned over sexual assault claims.
However, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would not allow Assange safe passage out of the country.
The Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs was convened by the OAS “to address the situation between Ecuador and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland regarding the inviolability of the diplomatic premises of Ecuador in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in accordance with international law” and “to agree on appropriate measures to be adopted,” a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.
The meeting’s proceedings were conducted by the Foreign Minister of Peru as Chair and Minister Rodrigues-Birkett as Vice-Chair.
Urging the two parties to resolve the issue through dialogue, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett told the meeting that the issues which are of unusual sensitivity have the potential to escalate if not dealt with in an appropriate manner.
Meanwhile, underscoring the importance of upholding the principles of international law as it relates to the inviolability of diplomatic premises, the minister said “any divergence including threats, implicit or explicit, must be rejected.” On the issue of asylum, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett told the meeting that “the issue of asylum is one of particular application in Latin America. “A treaty subscribed to by several of the member states of our region gave legal effect to the practice of political asylum as long ago as 1889 and conventions on diplomatic asylum from our part of the world have been adjudicated upon by the ICJ which has observed that the practice of asylum is a well-developed institution in our countries,” she added.
The meeting concluded with a Resolution by Ministers that included: “To reject any attempt that might put at risk the inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions, to reiterate the obligation of all states not to invoke provisions of their domestic law to justify noncompliance with their international obligations, and, in this context, to express solidarity and support for the Government of the Republic of Ecuador.”
The Resolution also urged the Governments of Ecuador and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to engage in dialogue, the release added.
