NGOs in Haiti Hold Diplomatic Immunity
According to Circular Note No DC/PHV/gIj/0366 Ex.:11-12 dated 19 December 2011 and signed by Paul Harry Voltaire, General Director of the Ministry of Interior, Territorials Collectivities, and National Defense, NGOs operating in Haiti hold diplomatic immunity while conducting humanitarian assistance efforts.
This Circular Note gives full powers, liberties, and freedoms to NGOs to do as they please while in Haiti and as such Mayors are refrained from intervening before them [NGOs] in order to request information about their efforts or where and how they are applying critical aids.
Any mayoral intervention will be considered as “inopportune” and will be treated as a violation of NGOs diplomatic rights, which are guaranteed and protected by the Vienna Convention, which states it is the responsibility of host countries to grant diplomatic immunity and that diplomatic immunity may only be granted to NGOs in cases of armed conflicts.
The Ministry of Interior, Territorials Collectivities, and National Defense reminds all Mayors that it is their duties and obligations to provide full assistance, collaborate with, and to respect the diplomatic immunity of all NGOs.
Page One Magazine
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