The translation referred to was prepared by the Embassy, which has now
received from the Foreign Office an official English translation
[Page 143]
which is forwarded herewith.
This text has been compared with the one prepared by the Embassy and has
been found to be substantially in agreement with the latter.
[Enclosure]
The Argentine Ministry for
Foreign Affairs to the American
Embassy
Draft Convention on the Right of
Asylum4
The Governments of. . . . . . . . aware of the necessity of fixing
the rules they should observe in their mutual relations as regards
the granting of political asylum;
Bearing in mind the instruments approved with that object at
Montevideo, in February 1889, on concluding the treaty on
international penal law at the South American Congress of Private
International Law;5 the provisions set forth
in the draft convention number 10 approved in March 1927 at Rio de
Janeiro by the International Board of American Jurisconsults;6 the
Convention approved by the Sixth International American Conference
met at Havana in January and February 1928,7 and the
amendments made to its text by the Seventh International American
Conference met at Montevideo in December 1933;8
And with the object of coordinating the different treaties in force
with the practices followed as regards the right of asylum and the
juridical status of the political refugees;
Have resolved to conclude the present convention, and accordingly
have appointed as their plentipotentiaries:
The President of . . . . . . .
The President of . . . . . . .
Who, having communicated their respective full powers, found to be in
due order, have agreed as follows:
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Chapter I—Internal Asylum
Article i. Political asylum may be granted
to all persons, whatever their nationality might be, without
impairing the right to protection which the State they belong to,
owes to such persons.
Article ii. Asylum can only be granted in
the embassies, legations, warships, military encampments or
aircrafts, and it is accorded exclusively in cases of political
offenses or causes.
The heads of mission may also receive refugees in their private
residences, whenever they are not living at the embassy or
legation.
Article iii. Asylum shall not be granted to
those accused of common offenses during proper legal proceedings, or
who have been condemned by the common courts.
The determination of the causes which give rise to the asylum belongs
to the State granting it. To this effect, principal account should
be taken of the circumstances giving rise to the asylum, as well as
the political motive in the concurrent offenses. Terrorists shall
not profit by the asylum.
Asylum shall not be granted to army and navy deserters. In case of
armed rebellion, account should be taken of the fact of their non
appearance, and whether it has any political significance.
Article iv. The diplomatic agent or
commander granting the asylum shall immediately communicate the
names of the refugees to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
State where the event took place, or to the administrative authority
of the locality, if it occurred outside the capital, unless serious
circumstances made this materially impossible, or communication
dangerous for the security of the refugees.
Article v. While the asylum lasts, the
refugees shall not be allowed to do any acts that endanger the
public order.
The diplomatic agents or commanders shall require from the refugees
their personal data and their promise not to hold communications
with the exterior without their expressed approval. Should they
refuse or violate any of these conditions, the diplomatic agent or
commander shall immediately cause the asylum to cease.
Article vi. The government of the State may
require that the refugee be placed outside the national territory,
as soon as possible; and the diplomatic agent or commander who has
granted the asylum may on his part demand the necessary guarantees
in order that the refugee may leave the country, the inviolability
of his person being duly respected. Should those guarantees not
exist, the evacuation may be put off until the local authorities
facilitate them.
Article vii. Once the refugees have left
the country, they may not be landed in any part of the same. In the
case that an ex-refugee returned to that country to take part in the
movement that caused the
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asylum to be granted, it shall not be granted again by any of the
High Contracting Parties.
Article viii. When the number of refugees
exceed the normal capacity of the places of refuge set down in
Article II, the diplomatic agents or commanders may provide other
places, under the protection of their flag for their shelter and
lodging. In such case they have to ask for the consent of the
authorities.
Article ix. Warships or military aircrafts
which are temporary in arsenals or workshops for repairs, shall not
give shelter to those who might take refuge in them.
Chapter II—External Asylum
Article x. The asylum in the territory of
the High Contracting Parties is inviolable as regards those
persecuted for political offenses or reasons; but the country of
refuge is obliged to prevent the refugees from acting in its
territory in a manner that may endanger the public peace of the
country from which they come.
The political refugees shall not be allowed to set up committees or
boards, which have evidently been established for the purpose of
promoting or furthering disturbances of the established order in any
of the territories of the Contracting Parties. Such boards or
committees shall be dissolved, once their subversive nature has been
verified by the authorities of the State in which they are.
The propagation of ideas shall be ruled according to the legal
provisions of the country of refuge.
Article xi. On the request of the State
concerned, the country which has granted asylum shall keep watch
over and remove to a prudent distance of its frontiers those
political emigrants who were notoriously known as leaders of a
subversion, as well as those intending to join it.
The appreciation of the proof set forth by the state requiring it and
the prudential character of the distance from the frontiers shall
for the effects of the confinement depend on the criterium of the
authorities of the required State.
Article xii. The various expenses incurred
by the confinement of political refugees or emigrants shall be met
by the State asking for it. An amount, not higher than the minimum
salary fixed by local laws or customs, shall be settled for the
maintenance of those confined.
Article xiii. The political refugees may
ask permission to leave the territory from the Government of the
State in which they are. This shall be granted on condition they do
not return to the country where they came from and having previously
reported to the Government concerned.
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Chapter III—General Provisions
Article xiv. In case of dissidence on the
application of political asylum, the Government of the High
Contracting Parties shall consult between themselves in order to
arrive at a friendly solution of the controversy, which it has not
been possible to settle through direct negotiation.
Article xv. Any State not signatory to this
Convention may adhere to it by sending the appropriate instrument to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic, which
will notify the other High Contracting Parties through diplomatic
channels.
Article xvi. The present Convention shall
be ratified by the High Contracting Parties according to their
constitutional procedures.
The original Convention and the instruments of ratification shall be
deposited in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine
Republic, which shall communicate the ratifications to the other
Contracting States through diplomatic channels. The Convention shall
enter into force among the High Contracting Parties in the order in
which they have deposited their ratifications.
Article xvii. This Convention shall be in
force for an indefinite period, but it may be denounced by two
years’ previous notice, at the expiration of which it shall cease in
its effects as regards the denouncing State but it shall remain in
force as regards the other signatory States. Notice of denunciation
shall be addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Argentine Republic which shall transmit it to the other Contracting
States.
In witness whereof the above mentioned Plenipotentiaries have signed
the present Convention in Spanish and . . . . . . . and stamp their
respective seals.
Done at Buenos Aires this . . . . . . . day of the month of . . . . .
. . nineteen hundred and thirty seven.
