Diplomatic pouch inviolable

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Trinidad and Tobago has found itself in a seriously embarrassing situation, with international ramification, when diplomatic bags destined for Toronto and London were seized at Piarco containing cocaine. A third diplomatic bag also with cocaine was intercepted in New York following work by Intelligence officers and officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Two persons are now before the courts charged with offences related to alleged drug trafficking. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Port-of-Spain has summoned a number of employees posted at the three Missions abroad back to Trinidad to assist in enquiries and has taken steps to impose more stringent procedures and supervision not only of the bag but also their preparation and documentation.

The story has caused considerable concern about activities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and raised questions about the security of the diplomatic bag. What is “a diplomatic bag”? It is a mail pouch used by Governments to send official letters and dispatches to their Em-bassies around the world. According to international convention, packages carrying official documents and other material deemed necessary for use by a diplomatic mission are “inviolable.” This means that the so-called diplomatic bag, provided that it is clearly marked as such, cannot be opened or detained. A “diplomatic bag” can be a bag, a briefcase, a package. What makes it different  from other bags is its clear marking “Diplomatic.” Just as diplomats and their embassies are exempt from the rules and regulations which govern others in a host nation, their correspondence is also above national law. Any items entering a host country in this way are not within the jurisdiction of customs officials or subject to import taxes.

Enshrined in the 1961 Vienna Conven-tion on Diplomatic Relations, the status of the diplomatic bag allows a country to send “anything it wants” to its embassies. Of course certain items such as arms and illegal drugs are not permitted. Four years ago, by opening a six-tonne freight delivery intended for the British mission in Harare, the Zimbabwean government stood accused of flouting diplomatic law. The Vienna convention also gives special status to the couriers who accompany the diplomatic mail. A “diplomatic bag” is a term used to describe shipping containers which have diplomatic immunity from search or seizure. It need not be an actual bag. In the case of the UK, these “Queen’s Messengers” as they are called cannot be hindered in their duties. They are liable to neither arrest nor detention. Despite the potential sensitivity of the documents they carry, Queen’s Messengers regularly travel on normal commercial flights.

For larger consignments, packages are loaded into an aeroplane cargo hold and met by diplomatic officials at their destination. While much information is now sent from Foreign Offices to their overseas missions via satellite, the diplomatic bag remains a lifeline for embassy staff. Stocks of documents such as passports, vital to the everyday running of a mission, also come via this route. Each year the Queen’s pre-recorded Christmas Day message is sent in the diplomatic bag to every corner of the world. During World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was kept supplied with Cuban cigars thanks to the bag and a wealthy well-wisher in New York. Following China’s cultural revolution, the Foreign Office received an interesting memento of the turmoil from the embattled staff of the Beijing embassy. The “diplomatic bag” is conventionally used as an example of the ultimate secure channel used to exchange keys, codebooks and other necessarily secret materials.