UN PROTESTS DISCRIMINATION IN VISA PROCESSING AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000968

SIPDIS

PASS TO IO/UNP - EDMONDSON, DS/OFM - MCHUGH, CA/VO/L/C -
HOWARD, CA/VO/P/D - MUNTEAN, L/CA - MALIN, L/DL - GRESSER.
L/UNA - OSBORNE, L - FRONT OFFICE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2028
TAGS: OFDP CVIS ASEC
SUBJECT: UN PROTESTS DISCRIMINATION IN VISA PROCESSING AND
APPLICATION OF TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS


1. (C/NF) Summary and Action Request: USUN Host Country
Minister Counselor and deputy accompanied Department Visa
Office Diplomatic Liaison Chief (CA/VO/P/D) Carrie Muntean to
meetings on October 22, 2008, with UN officials to discuss
visa issues. In meetings with the UN's Travel and
Transportation Service and especially with the UN Office of
Legal Affairs, the UN voiced concerns regarding alleged
delays in G-4 (UN Secretariat) visa issuance, especially for
individuals of certain nationalities. More significantly, the
UN registered strong objection to the U.S. requirement that
certain UN Secretariat members apply for G-4 visa renewal
abroad, arguing that such treatment discriminates on the
basis of nationality and violates overriding US treaty
obligations. The UN Assistant Secretary General for Legal
Affairs also voiced objections to U.S.-imposed travel
restrictions on Secretariat members of certain nationalities
on the same grounds, and urged Muntean to to convey the UN's
views to the Department. He expressed a willingness to travel
to Washington in the next several weeks to discuss the issues
with Department interlocutors, including the Legal Adviser,
with whom he plans to speak during the week of October 27.
USUN seeks Department guidance in responding to the UN's
objections (see paragraph 9). End Summary and Action Request.

Visa delays and the USG requirement that certain Secretariat
members renew their G-4 visas abroad
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2. (C/NF) CA/VO/P/D Diplomatic Liaison Chief Carrie Muntean
visited USUN on October 21-22, 2008, to observe USUN visa
operations. USUN Minister Counselor for Host Country Affairs
and his deputy accompanied her to a meeting with Thomas
Hanley, head of the UN Travel and Transportation Service,l
and two key staffers to discuss visa issues. Among issues of
common concern, Hanley objected on principle that Washington
was requiring certain individual UN employees (e.g., UNDP's
Mohammad Younus, an Afghan national) to renew his G-4 visa
abroad. Hanley indicated that requiring individuals of
certain nationalities to apply abroad appeared to be
discriminatory profiling contrary to UN principles, and noted
the UN's and the applicant's concern that the applicant could
be stuck overseas and unable to return to the U.S. if the
visa were not issued. The situation is exacerbated by
uncertainty as to the reason such applicants must be
interviewed abroad, despite U.S. explanations regarding the
prohibition on visa interviews being conducted in the U.S.


3. (C/NF) In a separate meeting with the UN Office of Legal
Affairs (OLA),recently arrived Assistant Secretary General
(and Deputy to the UN Legal Counsel) Peter Taksoe-Jensen,
assisted by three OLA attorneys, raised the issue of visa
delays, alluding to the disconnect between the UN community's
expectation that visas be issued within 15 (working) days
from the time an application is submitted versus the reality
that visa applications of certain nationals take three to six
months to process either for visa renewals in New York or
initial issuance abroad. Taksoe-Jensen noted that it takes
the UN a long time to identify the proper person for a
specific position, and it was difficult for the UN to have to
wait an additional extended period for the visa to be issued
to the individual. Visa delays also impede the functioning of
the UN, especially in cases when a UN staffer needs to go
abroad on official business on short notice and then could be
stuck abroad for weeks at UN expense while his/her visa
request moves slowly through administrative processing. UN
Travel and Transportation Chief Hanley, who attended the
meeting with OLA officals, noted that the visa delays had
been reduced significantly in recent months, that there were
now no long-standing G-4 visas pending, but that delays had
been a significant problem in the past and the applications
of Secretariat members of certain nationalities do sometimes
take a long time to process. In cases where the process
approaches six weeks, Hanley indicated his office contacts
USUN to facilitate and expedite visa issuance.

4 (C/NF) Taksoe-Jensen stated that as a matter of principle
the UN wants to avoid any discrimination on the basis of
nationality, that G-4 visa reciprocity schedules should not
apply in the UN context, and that the US should conform its
regulations and administrative procedures or policies to the
requirements of U.S. international treaty obligations (e.g.,
the UN Charter, the US-UN Headquarters Agreement, the General
Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN, and
the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations). UN OLA
Secretary of the UN Committee on Relations with the Host
Country, Surya Sinha, noted that if the U.S. were to try to
avoid discrimination by relegating all UN staff members and
dependents to a limited visa (e.g., one entry, 3 months),the


UN would consider that an impediment to transit to and from
the Headquarters District, and thus a violation of the
Headquarters Agreement.


5. (SBU) Muntean stated that her office is well aware of the
different obligations that exist pursuant to the Headquarters
Agreement, and that her office works closely with USUN to
expedite visa clearances. In the post-9/11 era, certain
procedures were put in place which may have slowed the visa
issuance process somewhat, but they are necessary,


6. (C/NF) Assistant Secretary General Taksoe-Jensen viewed
the case of Mohammad Younus, who has been asked to apply
abroad, as an urgent issue, and stated that he would be
willing to travel to Washington in the coming weeks to
discuss that issue and others with Department and other USG
agency interlocutors. He reiterated that U.S. treaty
obligations override host country laws and administrative
procedures. The UN cannot ask staffers to go abroad at their
own expense to apply for a visa. The UN differentiated the
case of another Afghan national who had been asked to apply
abroad and who did in fact travel to Canada to obtain his G-4
visa. In that case, the UN pointed out that the visa was
issued without the USG-required cable from the UN being sent
to the US visa issuing post in Canada, and that the USG
instruction that the person apply abroad was conveyed through
the UN Travel and Transportation Service office, but in a
sealed envelope for the applicant, which the UN Travel and
Transportation Service office declined to open (Note: USUN
had also informed the UN Travel and Transportation Service
office directly that the applicant would have to apply
abroad).

USG repeal of fee waiver for Observer Mission personnel on B
visas requesting extensions of stay
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7. (C/NF) In regard to the Department of Homeland Security's
recent re-imposition of a $300 USD fee on extensions of stay
for members of Observer Missions who are in the U.S. on
businesss visitor (B-1) visas (e.g., Organization of the
Islamic Conference, League of Arab States, Gulf Cooperation
Council),UN OLA indicated that the UN regards such
individuals as UN invitees under the Headquarters Agreement,
to whom visas should be issued promptly and without charge,
as such fees impair the functioning of these Observer
Missions, and, in the UN's view, constitute yet another
impediment to transit to or from the Headquarters District
under the Headquarters Agreement, even though the fee is for
an extension of stay in the U.S. rather than visa issuance.

UN urges reconsideration of the travel restrictions on UN
personnel
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8. (C/NF) Taksoe-Jensen also raised the issue of USG-imposed
travel restrictions on nationals of certain countries as
violating the principle of non-discrimination, thus violating
the Headquarters Agreement. Muntean indicated that while her
office is not the appropiate addressee for questions
regarding travel restrictions, she would convey UN OLA's
concerns in this regard to the appropriate office in the
Department.


9. (C/NF) COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST: The meetings with the
UN, particularly with UN OLA Assistant Secretary General
Taksoe-Jensen, were the UN's most forceful iteration of its
firm objections to certain U.S. procedures regarding G visa
issuance and travel restrictions, which the UN views as
discriminatory, and therefore an unlawful violation of
US-treaty obligations. It is clear the UN intends to pursue a
satisfactory resolution of its concerns at an appropriately
high level. USUN welcomes Department's definitive guidance in
responding to the UN's objections and concerns.

Khalilzad