IO Files: SD/A/C.6/63
Comment Paper Prepared in the Department of State for the United States Delegation to the General Assembly
Accessions to and Status of the General Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations
Report of the Secretary-General
the problem
The Secretary-General is submitting a report on the accessions to and the status of the General Convention on Privileges and Immunities. Should the United States concur in approving the report?
recommendation
Insofar as one can anticipate what will be included in the report of the Secretary-General, it is recommended that the United States Delegation concur in approving the report.
discussion
The Report of the Secretary-General on the accessions to and the status of the General Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations will apparently not issue in time to permit its examination prior to the General Assembly session.1 Judging from the Section on the General Convention which is contained in the Annual Report of the Secretary-General, the report on the General Convention [Page 79] will be largely expository and will contain little controversial matter. Apparently it will list the 25 countries who have adhered to the convention and report on action taken by other nations. In the absence of some unforseen item which may be objectionable, the United States Delegation should join in approving the report.
status of the convention in the united states
The failure of the Congress of the United States to complete action to approve the Convention may be a cause of adverse comment in the Sixth Committee. The United States Delegation should point out that the Senate of the United States passed S.J. Res. 136 approving the Convention and that the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives reported out H.R. 6802 which, inter alia, also approved the Convention. The pressure of urgent legislation at the end of the regular session, and the feeling that it was inappropriate to consider the Convention at the “special” session, prevented final action by this Congress. However, Representative Martin, Speaker of the House, and Majority Leader Halleck, issued a formal statement which said, in part, that “as Speaker and Leader, respectively, we have assured the members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs that these other provisions of their bill will be brought by us before the House of Representatives for debate” at the opening of the 81st Congress. While it will be necessary to introduce the legislation anew in both houses, it is not anticipated that there will be major difficulty in obtaining Congressional accession to the Convention.
For the present, the needs of the UN are adequately met by the International Organizations Immunities Act, P.L. 291, 79th Congress and the Headquarters Agreement, as approved in P.L. 357, 80th Congress.
Probable Reservations
It is not unlikely that the Committee will discuss the question of reservations to the Convention, as well as the specific items to which some nations have made reservation. In such discussions the United States Delegation should keep in mind that the Senate made certain reservations when it approved the Convention in 1947 and that these will probably be included in the final action of Congress.
a) National Service Obligations
It is virtually certain that in approving the Convention, Congress will reserve the right of the United States to impose obligations of military service on American citizens (and, perhaps, residents) who are employed by the Secretariat. It has been the position of the United States that military service when required by law is an obligation of citizenship from which no citizen should be exempt merely because of [Page 80] his employment by an international organization. The United States deems this obligation to be an implied exception to the privileges and immunities contemplated by Article 105 of the Charter, and the United States will make that exception explicit when it approves the Convention. The United States Delegation might also point out that with regard to the League of Nations, Switzerland apparently did not exempt employees and officers of the League who were Swiss nationals. Also, the United States does not exempt individuals merely because they are officials of the American Government.
The United States Delegation should be careful to indicate, however, that the United States is fully conscious of its obligations to the United Nations and will, in the administration of its service laws, take the steps necessary to assure that the operations of the United Nations will not be disrupted. Under the Selective Service Act of 1948 it is expected that provision will be made, either in the regulations or by administrative practice, to permit the deferment of key personnel of the Secretariat in the same manner as important officials of the United States Government, or key employees in essential industries.
The reservation under discussion applies, of course, only to American nationals and residents. With respect to Secretariat officials who are in the United States only by virtues of their status with the Organization, the United States will give full recognition to the requirements of the General Convention. Thus, the administrative regulations under the Selective Service Act of 1948 specifically exempts from registration any alien who has not declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States “provided: …
(2) He is a full time official or employee of a foreign government who is a national of the country employing him and who has been notified to the Department of State, or a member of the family of such official or employee;
(3) He is a full time official or employee of a public international organization, which has been designated by the President under the provisions of the International Organizations Immunities Act, approved December 29, 1945 (59 Stat. 669), or a member of the family of such person;
(4) He is a person who has entered the United States and remains therein pursuant to the provisions of Section 11 of the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations as approved in Public Law 357, 80th Congress approved August 4, 1947; …”
b) The Laissez-Passer
Both S.J. Res. 136, in which the Senate approved the General Convention, and H.R. 6802, which was reported out by the House Foreign Affairs Committee contained what may be deemed a reservation with regard to the laissez-passer. The Bills provided that nothing in Article [Page 81] VII of the Convention shall be deemed to abridge the right of the United States to require visas and passports. It might be argued that this is not a reservation, since there is nothing in the Convention which requires a Member Nation to cancel its normal passport and visa requirements. These, it might be noted, pertain even with respect to diplomatic officials of foreign governments. As is noted in the annual report of the Secretary General, however, the Report of the Sixth Committee on the Headquarters Agreement states that the position of the United States in effect narrows considerably the intended usefulness of the laissez-passer.
If the question arises for discussion the United States Delegation may note that the United States has been faithful to its obligations under the Charter and the Headquarters Agreement. Under the International Organizations Immunities Act, it has been according to officers and employees of the Secretariat the treatment accorded to officers and employees of foreign governments. In no case has the insistence of the United States on a passport or visa interfered with the freedom of the individual to leave or enter the United States on United Nations business. The Delegation might also add that a reservation by Congress on this point would not prevent the Government of the United States from giving to the laissez-passer, as an administration matter, such recognition as might prove necessary to facilitate the travel of United Nations personnel. (For a discussion of the possible criticism of the United States in the matter of travel of individuals on United Nations business, see the Comment Paper on the implementation of the Headquarters Agreement.)
c) Taxation of Income of Americans Employed by the Secretariat
In S.J. Res. 136, the Senate reserved the right of the United States to tax salaries paid by the United Nations to United States nationals. H.R. 6802, reported favorably by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, did not contain this reservation. In its Report, the House Committee stated:
“…2 It should be emphasized that the committee’s proposal does not go back upon the reservation stated at the time the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations was drawn up. That reservation stated simply that the exemption of American nationals from taxation was the business of the United States Congress.”
It is possible that the final action of Congress approving the convention will not contain the reservation. The Delegation may say that if Congress insists on the reservation, it is hoped that it will take steps to assure that in the event that the staff contributions plan is instituted, United States nationals on the Secretariat will not be subject to a [Page 82] form of double taxation. To this end, Congress might be willing to allow the American national to credit against the federal income tax on his UN salary any amounts paid to the United Nations under a staff contributions scheme. In this way Congress would make practicable the establishment of the staff contribution system contemplated and would eliminate any inequities which might otherwise result from the Congressional reservation of the power to tax the individual’s income.
The staff contributions plan and its relation to Congressional action on the General Convention is on the preliminary agenda as a separate item and is the subject of a separate position paper.3