The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) recalls that the nations of the Americas have reaffirmed in the OAS Charter that "International law is the standard of conduct of States in their reciprocal relations" and, in that sense, strict compliance is essential by all States with the rules that regulate the protection, respect and inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions and consular offices, which have been codified in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, of April 18, 1961, in particular the provisions of its article 22, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, of April 24, 1963, in particular the provisions of its article 31.
In the duty to maintain coherence with the history of the Organization's international positioning, and reiterating the content of previous pronouncements, the OAS General Secretariat reiterates the full validity of the principles and norms that regulate diplomatic relations between States, and in particular those referring to full respect for the inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions and consular offices. At the same time, it reaffirms that these principles and norms constitute fundamental rules to ensure peaceful coexistence between all the countries that make up the international community.
Therefore, the General Secretariat rejects any action that violates or puts at risk the inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions and reiterates the obligation that all States have not to invoke norms of domestic law to justify non-compliance with their international obligations. In this context, it expresses solidarity with those who were victims of the inappropriate actions that affected the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador. The OAS was also recently the victim of a similar attack in Managua and neither in that case nor in this one are ambiguities admissible, but rather the fullest coherence with international law.
In this framework, the OAS General Secretariat calls for dialogue between the parties to resolve their differences, deeming a meeting of the OAS Permanent Council necessary to address the issue and based on the principles enshrined in international law, such as respect for sovereignty, the peaceful resolution of disputes, the peaceful coexistence of States, the renunciation of resorting to the threat or use of force to resolve conflicts and the faithful and strict compliance with international treaties, including those that guarantee the right of asylum.
Reference: E-020/24
