The Organisation of American States, an apex hemispherical body for the Americas, said a meeting of its Foreign Ministers next Friday would focus on the diplomatic row between Ecuador and the U.K. over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (41), who was granted political asylum by Quito while holed up in the country’s London embassy.
The outcome of the OAS meet might embarrass both the U.K. and the U.S., especially since Washington DC will be the venue of the discussion. However, the U.S. State Department has thus far refrained from interjecting itself into the controversy brewing in London’s posh Knightsbridge locale.
Even though the Obama administration appeared to be caught off guard by WikiLeaks’ publication of a massive trove of confidential State Department cables and has arrested and is prosecuting an army intelligence personnel, Bradley Manning, for the leak, the State Department issued a cautious statement on the OAS proposal and Ecuador’s position.
In a press release on Friday, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said Washington “is not a party to the 1954 OAS Convention on Diplomatic Asylum and does not recognise the concept of diplomatic asylum as a matter of international law.” She added that the U.S. believed this was a bilateral issue between Ecuador and the UK and that “the OAS has no role to play in this matter.”
This statement notwithstanding the OAS call for discussion on the mounting police presence around the Ecuador embassy noted that the group would “address the situation between Ecuador and the UK... regarding the inviolability of the diplomatic premises of Ecuador in the UK... in accordance with international law, and... agree on appropriate measures to be adopted.”
According to reports 23 OAS members voted for the resolution proposed by Ecuador to convene the meeting at its Washington headquarters, while the U.S., Canada and Trinidad and Tobago voted nay.
After the vote U.S. envoy to the OAS, Carmen Lomellin, reportedly said that a meeting of the Foreign Ministers “would be unhelpful and harmful to the OAS’ reputation as an institution”, underscoring Ms. Nuland’s message that the U.S. did not recognise the concept of diplomatic asylum as a matter of international law.
Mr. Assange, who sought refuge in the Ecuador embassy on June 19, was granted asylum by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa last week. Ecuador’s action was said to be motivated by concern for Mr. Assange’s life and liberty after it became clear that he faced the prospect of extradition to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges.
He also risks being subsequently re-extradited to the U.S., and in such a scenario Mr. Assange may be charged with treason and handed the death penalty, legal experts have argued.
Keywords: Assange extradition
The very fact that both USA and UK are taking great pains to arrest Mr
Assange and eventually send him to the US for a possible death
sentencxe speaks volumes about US hegemony over the other states of the
world. I sincerely hope that the UK does not dance to the tunes of USA
and release Assange without any charges. It is not that he fabricated
slang and libels in the form of US cables, but only published what was
available in the records of the US government. Though they were
secrets the fact that these cables were delivered to him absolves him
of any crime.
It should be pointed out that Mr. Assange is an Australian, not an American citizen, making it absurd that the US should be threatening, to charge him with "treason." Treason, by definition, is the act of betraying ones own country. There is no law that prevents a journalist from one country from revealing political secrets of another country.
This episode exposes the hypocrisy and double standards of UK, US,
Sweden and Australia. Also, this proves how shallow their commitment to
human rights. These countries vociferous about human rights as long as
the victims are not their own. Ms Nuland sounds as ludicrous as UK's
Foreign Minister, Mr Hague. UK has harboured terrorists in the past.
Assange has not been even charged but UK is threatening to violate the
sanctity of a diplomatic mission.
How can Assange be charged with treason if he is not a US citizen? I
thought it was espionage.
It is ridiculous that the Organization of American States (OAS) is holding its meeting in Washington DC, when USA doesn't even recognize the Diplomatic Asylum treaty and is not part of it. Proves that there is NO place safe for OAS to hold its meeting in any of its member states other than the USA. Pathetic bunch of loser countries!
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