Why is Mugabe allowed to go to America?
Can somebody please explain to me how come Mugabe is in New York (albeit at a UN meeting, technically not on American soil but on international soil) when US sanctions prevent him from travelling to the US?
5 Responses to “Why is Mugabe allowed to go to America?”
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September 28th, 2006 00:43
Same bizarre situation applies when he attends FAO meetings in Rome as he is otherwise banned from the EU.His entourage never seems to have any shortage of foreign currency to spend in local shops on clothes and the like.
September 28th, 2006 19:53
It’s diplomatic protocol and UN rules - officials are allowed to attend international meetings. This is why Gono was also allowed to come to Washington for the IMF meetings. I am not certain, but I think it goes back to the original agreement to locate the UN headquarters in New York.
September 29th, 2006 20:57
… because the treaty between the UN and the USA concerning the seat of the UN says so.
If I think about it… I think it is absolutely necessary that the UN forum remains a forum for EVERYONE, regardless of what the USA or the majority of the UN members might think of the state leader speaking at the GA. Another reason would be that it is important to hear everyone’s views at the opening of the UN GA, cutting undemocratic leaders away would not solve anything, it could only increase tensions and give these leaders a ready-made argument to persuade its people that the world is against their country and that only the Leader can save them.
Thanks for this blog, by the way - I keep learning new things on every visit.
September 29th, 2006 20:59
And something else, under international law there is no such thing as ‘international soil’, even Mugabe was legally on US soil during the time of the UN meeting, however weird that sounds.
October 24th, 2006 20:57
Representatives of Stalin, and then Stalin’s successors themselves, regularly appeared at the UN. There is no reason to change this rule for Zimbabwe’s pocket Stalin.
He might be lucky enough to hear what people think of him.