ICJ: Honduras Institutes Proceedings Against Brazil

Yesterday, Honduras instituted proceedings against Brazil at the International Court of Justice. The application (not yet available online) states that "dispute between the Republic of Honduras and the Federative Republic of Brazil relates to legal questions concerning diplomatic relations and associated with the principle of non-intervention in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State, a principle incorporated in the Charter of the United Nations." In particular, it is alleged that "[José Manuel Zelaya Rosales and] an indeterminate number of Honduran citizens" who are in Brazil's Embassy to Honduras "are using [its] premises . . . as a platform for political propaganda and thereby threatening the peace and internal public order of Honduras, at a time when the Honduran Government is making preparations for the presidential elections which are due to take place on 29 November 2009." The application alleges breaches of the U.N. Charter and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Honduras requests that the Court "adjudge and declare that Brazil does not have the right to allow the premises of its Mission in Tegucigalpa to be used to promote manifestly illegal activities by Honduran citizens who have been staying within it for some time now and that it shall cease to do so. Just as Brazil rightly demands that the Honduran authorities guarantee the security and inviolability of the Mission premises, Honduras demands that Brazil’s diplomatic staff stationed in Tegucigalpa devote themselves exclusively to the proper functions of the Mission and not to actions constituting interference in the domestic affairs of another State." The ICJ press release is here.