Adam
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
The United States has once again seized diplomatic and consular properties belonging to the Russia Federation and is in the process of conducting raid style searches of the properties which are set to formally begin on the 4th of September.
These actions which first took place in the final full month of Barack Obama’s Presidency and are now taking place at additional Russian diplomatic and consular facilities in the United States under Donald Trump’s Presidency, violate clearly codified international laws which are contained in documents known as the Vienna Conventions.
The following are the provisions of the Vienna Conventions that are presently being violated by the United States.
From the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
Article 22
1. The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents
of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of
the head of the mission.2. The receiving State is under a special duty to take all
appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any
intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the
mission or impairment of its dignity.3. The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other
property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be
immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.
From the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
Article 31
Inviolability of the consular premises
1.Consular premises shall be inviolable to the extent provided in this article.
2.The authorities of the receiving State shall not enter that part of the consular premises which is
used exclusively for the purpose of the work of the consular post except with the consent of the head of the consular post or of his designee or of the head of the diplomatic mission of the sending State. The consent of the head of the consular post may, however, be assumed in case of fire or other disaster requiring prompt protective action.3.Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article, the receiving State is under a special
duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the consular premises against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the consular post or impairment of its dignity.4.The consular premises, their furnishings, the property of the consular post and its means of
transport shall be immune from any form of requisition for purposes of national defence or public utility.If expropriation is necessary for such purposes, all possible steps shall be taken to avoid impeding the performance of consular functions, and prompt, adequate and effective compensation shall be paid to the sending State.
In summary, these statues of international law codified by the United Nations in 1961 (Diplomatic) and 1963 (Consular) mean that irrespective of the condition of relations between the sending state (in this case Russia) and the receiving state (in this case the US), the diplomatic and consular properties in question must remain free from any kind of molestation including searches, raids, property seizures and the infringement of normal and dignified working practices.
Each of these items of law has been clearly violated by the United States. The US has prohibited diplomatic and consular workers from pursuing their work under normal circumstances. The US molested the peace and freedom of such workers and their families on a personal level and the US is in the process of preparing raid the diplomatic and consular properties which the law states are clearly inviolable.
Even in times of conflict that run much deeper than the current political disputes between Washington and Moscow, the Vienna Conventions have a precedent of being adhered to.
In 1984, an individual inside the Libyan Embassy in London shot and killed a UK police officer. The shots were fired from inside the embassy onto the street below.
Although many called for the suspect to be brought to trail in an English court, the UK government at the time, a government that had generally poor relations Libya in any case, observed the Vienna Conventions and allowed the embassy workers to return to Libya safely after being named persona-non-grata, something which is sanctioned by the Vienna Conventions.
The US itself raised a claim in the International Court of Justice against the Islamic Republic of Iran over an incident involving the taking of US hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran in 1980.
In 2005, during the second term of George W. Bush, the United States withdrew from an optional provision of the Vienna Conventions allowing for disputes arising between states on matters involving diplomatic and consular facilities and individuals to be dealt with by the International Court of Justice.
This means that if Russia wanted to take legal action against the US for violating its protections under the Vienna Conventions, Russia would have to file the complaint in a US court which is subject to accusations of bias vis-a-vis an international court dealing with a dispute between sovereign states.
The aggregate effect of this means that the US is breaking international law with impunity while giving the victim of this anti-diplomatic aggression few realistic options to deal with the issue, other than to attempt some sort of equivalent retaliation.
Instead of scrutinising the United States for a flagrant violation of international law, the mainstream media is instead pontificating on why smoke is coming out of the chimney at the soon to be closed Russian Consulate in San Francisco, even though such a matter has no real legal implications. Until the premises is involuntarily vacated, the Russian consular staff have the right to use their facilities as they fit.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova issued the following statement to the conspiracy theorists who have taken an interest in the smoke,
“Now in San Francisco, another circus begins – a new round of baiting called ‘What are you doing there?’.
After giving 2 days for the emergency conservation of the building and deciding to conduct a search in the premises, which had for many years had diplomatic immunity, a search involving FBI employees, the “host party” in the afternoon of September 1 “accidentally noticed” smoke above the building. The truth is that they also did not happen to notice that the was coming from a pipe.
Immediately there were prepared photo reports about the “emergency situation”, and, as the top of sadism, fire protection was called. Just in case. Suddenly, Russians need help: they still had a couple of hours left to clear the premises.
And then the questions of American journalists poured down about what kind of trickle of smoke rose over the Russian consulate general.
I answer: measures are being taken to preserve the building. In this regard, the windows can be closed, the curtains can be lowered, the light may turn off, water may come down, the doors may be locked, garbage can be disposed of, heating devices must be switched off, life support systems switched on, and much more.
It is unbearably embarrassing to monitor the actions of the US authorities and the entire information campaign. Later everything will be like it always happens in the USA: there will be those who stood behind all this Russophobic hysteria, another mistake will be recognized, perhaps we will hear miserable apologies. But all this will be, as always, later. And now, at this very minute, instead of the celebrations on the occasion of September 1 and the labor routine for issuing passports and visas, the employees of the Consulate General professionally oriented towards the development of bilateral relations are engaged in the conservation of the building…
The wider truth of the matter is that the only thing up in flames is the American government’s respect for international law.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
“United States violate the letter and spirit of the Vienna Conventions”
Show me ONE international law signed and ratified by the United States, that they respect. ONE.
The Law of Unintended Consequences.
It seems to me that the US government has chosen to cease observing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. That means, of course, that other nations no longer need to observe the Convention’s rules with regard to US government representatives and property.
Unless the US government chooses to explain to the international community why the Convention should apply to all other nations, but not to the USA.
We are acting totally against the law. This is despicable.
The United States proves that it is a Rogue State once again
The United States signs international Treaties and tears them up in public before telling the world that it believes in the Rule of Law….
The United States has gone barabarian….
The united states has never been anything else but barbarian and savage, from Day One, I’m afraid. It’s just that, for a while, it did a superb job of pulling the wool over the eyes of millions, and convincing them that it was a beacon of light on a hill.
Turns out the light was from the Bonfire of the Vanities.
And it continues to pull wool over their eyes. What I fail to understand how so many people continue in awe of the US…unless they are totally ignorant of what the US has been pulling.
The Scum of the Earth is in awe of the Untied Snakes.
It never stopped of being a rogue state, since its creation.
It is absolutely crazy to see the number of wars started by US in merely 240 years of existence.
“The United States has gone barabarian….”
Or better said in Oscar Wilde aphorism, “America is the only country , which jumped from barbarism to decadence, without civilization in between”.
Excuse me if I cannot take seriously someone protesting against rogue states who ignore international law and have what looks very much like a zionist symbol as their avatar.
Hasbara Tactics.
Got to agree with you there Seby.
They say it was Clemenceau or someone like that. Not Wilde. I always hoped that it was De Tocqueville.
Never mind Who, it is about what is being said, Franz and I know that you know.
The devil is in the details. Facts matter.
Nice observation by Wilde – I hadn’t caught up with that one, thanks Daisy. As Sigmund Freud said “America is a mistake. A big big mistake”.
The USA “has gone barbarian”? It always was.
Yes… You are correct.
Run by Democrats/Communists for the past 60 years
Key provisions of Vienna Convention, regulating diplomatic exchanges between sovereign countries:
Article 31. The host nation may not enter the consular premises, and must protect the premises from intrusion or damage.
Article 35. Freedom of communication between the consul and their home country must be preserved. A consular bag must never be opened. A consular courier must never be detained.
“It is unbearably embarrassing to monitor the actions of the US authorities”
It is also mind boggling to know which international laws the US refused to ratify. Among them: Convention on Cluster Munitions, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, Protocol to the Convention against Torture, Mine Ban Treaty …
Illegal?
Thanks for the detailed demonstration… but, but, but… the Empire has been constantly acting illegally and with impunity for decades upon decades. Illegality is the Empire’s very modus operandi! It respects absolutely nobody and absolutely nothing.
All that matters, really, is therefore how to prevent said Empire from making such a criminal, public nuisance of itself worldwide any longer. In a nutshell, the world must stop and neutralize that Empire asap.
Quarantine the USA.
You may be too lenient, Franz.
In this case, the disease being not merely a relatively minor contagious one, quarantine may not be quite in order. The disease in question is a major one of the mind, of the soul. Only confinement to one of the most renowned world mental institutions specialized in locking up and treating long, long term, the most violent compulsive criminals would seem to be appropriate, I’m afraid.
Boycott Brand America. Boycott them; one person, one company, on institution at a time: Boycott them all.
Sanctions begin with the individual; by the individual, against the individual. Boycott everything. Food, products, media, Hollywood, electronics, tourism: Choose something OTHER than ‘made in America.’
There is an ENTIRE PLANET of people who would like to do business with you, want to be friends and will treat you with the respect you deserve. Just Boycott Brand America.
This is how the individual Sanctions a Nation. Boycott Brand America.
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201707271055924535-sanctions-us-justice/
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who will guard the guards themselves?) That the US Gestapo is 100% unreliable and an extension now of the proxy terrorists inflicted on the people of the multi-polar world is obvious. “What Goes Around Comes Around” as We the Pimple[sic] love to say. Relish the fact alone that Mueller of the FBI was the point man on the Cheney-Silverman/Silverstein WTC demolition. He is now in charge of the demolition of the Democracy in the United States – such as it was, like the WTC damaged beyond repair and full of asbestos. That Quarantine is now the… Read more »
“where will the people of the USA run to”
Only directly into the fire of the destruction from within of their country…their apathy and outright support towards their governments actions in breach of International Law and their support for its illegal wars of conquest “over there” for DECADES means they DO NOT DESERVE a place “to run to”
For those who are awake, aware and against their regimes actions….get out now if you can to a country willing to stand up to the hegemon and hope that your US passport will be accepted!
Houston, we have a problem! It is “America first”, so no way to go?
The American nationals should start to claim their name, properties and their land in their state where they were born, back. They are no property of the US INC. which is nearly bankrupt, so hurry up otherwise you all “have to” pay the debts of the federal government again! May be two hundred trillion Federal Reserve-paper dollars?
IMO, this Banksters trick is running since 1865.
Perhaps it is better to base the Consulate on the water, a cruise ship [http://www.ships4ever.com/]. NYC property value is still high.
Vienna Convention? Where is Vienna or what is it? As long as the US’ favoured ‘level playing field’ tilts towards the US. The more I read about the US, the sicker I feel to my stomach.
The captive people of the US should ask for a ‘no-fly zone’ to be policed by Russia and China so they might have a hope in hell of finally making the only regime change that matters.
It is very simple. Nietzsche’s “People of consummate cant” have added Lavrov’s ‘agreement-incapability’ and handed it all over to Hussein’s and Ahmadinejad’s ‘Great Satan’.
If the AntiChrist has a locus, it is certainly on the axis between Tal Habib and Washington.
This is Mueller’s doing. The noose tightening around his neck has forced him into rash acts.
He plans to plant evidence. As the point man for the WTC demolition he has some experience in this sort of thing.
Children need to be taught the common courtesy of please and thank you. They can be disciplined and trained to align with social expectations. But what happens to the world’s peaceful existence when a large strong nation does not follow established law in international relations? Chaos, instability and uncertainty result.
Trust of America again goes down. Russia, China and the peace – loving nations have this counterfoil to display their tolerance and adherence to law.
Putin’s legal training and absolute firm adherence to international law now looks even more attractive.
VERY well said!
And of course his intelligence background and experience not to forget.
Which in these kind of situations is going into the direction of the survival for the world.
Russian Federation for the Nobel Peace Prize I’d say.
The US has now committed the one act which, by their own definition, makes them a rogue state desrving of sanctions and military retribution. Like the fetishized object of Anglo-Zionist hatred, Iran did almost half a century ago, The United States have seized an embassy.
Yes. They have “NOT YET” breached international law, but are about to do so.
Boycott Brand America. Boycott Brand America. What what you buy; and extract all your money, commerce and investments from the U.$. (For your own protection)
Sanction my country – the USA. The UN needs to set boundaries – better for the citizens here and better for the world.
Maybe getting a petition going world-wide?
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201707271055924535-sanctions-us-justice/
It is sad, and unwarranted that someone as yourself may suffer as a result of something beyond your control; but unfortunately, America CLAIMS to be a democracy; and as such, the actions of the nation are a reflection on the individual.
Maybe it’s time for you to emigrate?
It claims is true but we are a Republic and allegedly governed by the rule of law.
UN? … Are you sure that you need the UN, K?
Who else would do it?
I venture to guess, all on behalf of Netanyahu who needs dirt in Putin
“The wider truth of the matter is that the only thing up in flames is the American government’s respect for international law.”
——————
… and the wider world’s respect for the USA.
BIG difference….Russia followed International Law!
The US is learning fast from Ukraine how to turn the whole world against you and distrust you.
What the Deep State with her secret service is doing here will come back to hunt them, without a doubt.
To break into international diplomatic codes in this way is a blamage, unforegivable. It looks like a desperate Deep State act which is gearing into under niveau “street fighting”.
US government still trying to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that their ‘leaders’ are playground bullies in a school for children with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders.
I suspect any country that would bring down skyscrapers and murder its own citizens to go to war all over the Middle East (9/11) would have no compunction in violating the Vienna Convention. Don’t they make decent people sick?
By acting this way the US behaves like a rogue state which has no respect for international law.
USA has been spying on that consulate for decades. I used to live up there in the 70s-80s and every single day there were white vans, PGE trucks, UPS trucks, phone trucks parked across the street from the consulate all day long.