881.203/1
The Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at
Tangier (
Blake
) to the Secretary of State
No. 1547
Tangier
, July 12,
1940.
[Received July 22.]
Sir: I have the honor to inform the
Department that the Spanish Minister in Tangier has addressed a Note
to me,39 transmitting “for my information” copy,
in the French text, of an order issued by the Colonel in Chief of
the Spanish troops of occupation of Tangier. This order proclaims
that offenses committed against the members of the forces, involving
disrespect towards them, danger to their safety, or obstruction to
the performance of their duties, will be dealt with by Spanish
Courts Martial in Tangier, whosoever may be the person charged with
such offenses.
Mr. Goold, on the other hand, reports that in the Permanent Court
Martial at Fez, French Morocco, proceedings are now pending against
an American protégé, Rahamin Azoulay, charged with failure to
declare stocks, as required under the terms of a Dahir to which,
moreover, the American Government’s assent has not been given. In
his representations in this connection to the Diplomatic Cabinet at
Rabat, Mr. Goold points out that the matter is further aggravated by
the fact that the civil courts in the French Zone continue to
prosecute charges for similar offenses committed by non-American ressortissants, that is to say by persons
other than those who, according to the treaties are amenable to the
jurisdiction of the American Consular Courts in Morocco.
[Page 806]
In an instruction addressed to the American Ambassador in Paris,
under date of January 3, 1921,41 the
latter, in connection with a similar violation of American
extraterritorial jurisdiction in French Morocco, was directed to
point out to the French Minister for Foreign Affairs that:
“The proclamation of Martial Law by the French Authorities of
the Protectorate cannot, in the absence of an agreement to
that effect with the Government of the United States, confer
upon French military tribunals jurisdiction over American
protegees, who, under the treaties in force and the existing
usages, are liable to judicial proceedings only in the
American Consular Courts, representing in Morocco not the
dignity of His Shereefian Majesty but the sovereign
authority of the United States.”
(See last paragraph on page 7 of Enclosure to Instruction No.
191 of January 3, 1921, addressed to the American Agent and
Consul General in Tangier. See also Instruction to American
Ambassador, Paris, of November 19, 1921, Enclosure to
Instruction to Tangier, No. 203 of November 19, 192142).
In view of the foregoing I respectfully request instructions, by
cable should the Department deem it necessary, as to the action
which it may be desired that I take in regard to each of the two
cases above reported.
In so far as concerns the Spanish authorities, whether civil or
military, it may be recalled that no formal recognition of their
status in Morocco has yet been given by the Government of the United
States.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure—Translation]43
Military Order by the Commander of the Spanish
Occupation Troops in Tangier (Yuste)
Don Miguel Ponte y Manso de Zúñiga, Marqués de Bóveda de Limia,
Lieutenant General, Chief of the Army Corps of Morocco, and in
his name Don Antonio Yuste Segura, Colonel of Infantry, Chief of
the Column of Occupation of the Tangier Zone.
I hereby give notice that:
The proper complement to the presence of the Forces of Occupation
of my command in the Tangier Zone, as well as the guarantee of
normal development of the complex functions entrusted to them,
is the exercise and effectiveness of military jurisdiction which
constitutes the fundamental power of a permanent character in
the life of the accompanying army and provides the necessary arm
for the execution [Page 807] of
the high commissions which have been entrusted to the army—a
military jurisdiction which at all times follows the Forces of
Occupation, wherever they may be, or whatever the reasons for
the occupation, according to the basic principle of Public
International Law.
In virtue of the foregoing, I ordain:
-
Article 1. The following matters
shall be subjected to the Military Jurisdiction of the
Forces of Occupation and tried by summary procedure
whosoever may be the person charged:
- (1)
- Espionage offences, mentioned and penalized
under articles 228 and 230, both comprised in the
Code of Spanish Military Justice, whenever the
offence assumes the following military character:
- (a)
- To penetrate clandestinely or in disguise
without justified motive among the troops of
occupation or into places where they are
installed.
- (b)
- To carry out, without proper authorization,
reconnaissances, drawing of plans, or to obtain
sketches of military posts or of places where the
forces of occupation are permanently to be
found.
- (c)
- To protect, conceal or to favor in any other
manner perpetrators of the above offences.
- (d)
- Conspiracy or proposition to commit the
above offences.
- (2)
- Insulting offences to a sentinel, guard or the
armed forces of the Troops of Occupation, and
injuries or offences, open or disguised, against
specified branches, classes, or corps of the
service, or against the military
authorities.
-
Article 2. The following shall be
deemed guilty of the offence of rebellion, within the
meaning of the Code of Military Justice, and shall be
tried accordingly.
- (1)
- Persons who disseminate false or tendentious
news for the purpose of impairing the prestige of
the Forces of Occupation.
- (2)
- The authors, instigators, liaison agents,
distributors or possessors of clandestine or
subversive broadsheets or proclamations, the
contents of which are prejudicial to discipline or
security, or to the prestige of the elements
composing the troops of occupation, or to the
prestige of Spain.
- (3)
- Persons who for the purpose of obstructing or
preventing the action assigned to the forces of
occupation, promote, or succeed in creating
disturbance of public order such as to imperil the
mission of the said forces.
- (4)
- All persons who, whatever means they may
employ, attempt to perform, or succeed in
performing acts of sabotage or obstruction to
roads, and means of communication, telephone or
telegraph stations, highways or bridges, provided
the ulterior object of such acts is to make
difficult the functions entrusted to the troops of
occupation, and are consequently directed against
the latter.
- (5)
- Persons engaged in the clandestine sale of
fire arms for purposes which may prejudice the
security of the forces of occupation or that of
persons belonging to the same.
-
Article 3. No intimation or
previous notice shall be required when armed force is
used to repel attacks on sentinels, guards or on
military forces.
-
Article 4. In respect of penal
prosecutions the Military Jurisdiction in Morocco is
extended to the Zone and town of Tangier, for the trial
of specifically military offences.
In conclusion I hope to find the active co-operation of all those
who desire public order, and who personify the traditional
qualities of the Tangier population, in order to be assured of
the greatest effectiveness, which is the essential factor in the
execution of the important duties assigned today to the forces
under my command.
Tangier
,
July 3,
1940.
Antonio Yuste
(Seal of the “Inspection of Shereefian Forces”)
