Declaration of Guayaquil
IN SUPPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF UNASUR

The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of UNASUR extraordinary meeting in the city of Guayaquil, on August 19, 2012, considering:

That the Minister of Foreign Trade and Integration of Ecuador, informed the Council that the citizen Julian Assange, requested on 19 June 2012, political asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador in London, a matter on which the Governments of Ecuador, the U.K. and Sweden, have been holding diplomatic talks about the demands for the extradition of Mr. Assange and the request for asylum;

That Ecuador was considering the request for asylum in accordance with the principles of protection of human rights and international law;

On 15 August, the Government of the Republic of Ecuador was notified in a U.K. memorandum a threat to “take action to arrest Mr. Assange in the current facilities of the Embassy” by invoking its national law on facilities diplomatic and Consular of 1987 (diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987);

That pursuant to Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, of which the U.K. is a signatory, “premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them without the consent of the Head of Mission” and that “the premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission may not be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution”;

That according to the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, states must refrain from the threat or use of force or to act in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations in international relations, and solve their differences peacefully.

That the Security Council of the United Nations, in SC/10463 press release of November 29, 2011, condemned in the strongest terms violations of diplomatic immunity and recalled the fundamental principle of the inviolability of diplomatic missions states consular receptors in relation to the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

UNASUR declaration:

1. Express its solidarity and support to the Government of the Republic of Ecuador to the threat of violation of local diplomatic mission.

2. Reaffirm the sovereign right of states to grant asylum.

3.  Strongly condemn the threat of use of force between states and to reiterate the full observance of the principles enshrined in international law, respect for sovereignty and the faithful observance of international treaties.

4. To reaffirm the fundamental principle of the inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions and consular offices and the obligation of the receiving states, in relation to the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

5. Reaffirm the principle of international law under which no law can be invoked for failure to complete an international obligation, as well is reflected in Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969.

6.  Reiterate the relevance of institutions of asylum and refuge to protect the human rights of people who believe that their life or limb is threatened.

7.  Urge the parties to continue dialogue and direct negotiations in search of a mutually acceptable settlement under international law.

Guayaquil, August 19, 2012, 21:30 hours

Union of South American Nations are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela