Reflections on Russian Consular Diplomacy and the Consular Corps of the City of Boston as the U.S. and UN Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 United Nations Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
The recent Boston Marathon bombings ascribed to two suspects of Russian (Chechen) descent--although both permanent residents of the U.S.--and the resulting visit to Boston by Russian diplomats from the Russian Consulate in New York to investigate whether any Russian nationals were wounded in the attack, prompts a timely focus on Russian consular diplomacy as the U.S. and the UN observe the 50th anniversary of the 1963 UN Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
April 24th commemorated the 50th anniversary of the 1963 UN Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The Convention was held in Vienna, Austria, from March 4th to April 22th and was signed on April 24th. In attendance were delegates of 95 nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union. The Convention itself consists of 79 articles, and entered into force on March 19, 1967. As of April 19, 2013 there are forty-signatories to the Convention.
The Convention’s primary focus was the establishment and operation of consulates, outlining the functions of official consular diplomats, consular agents, and honorary consuls. It also addressed the subject of “privileges and diplomatic immunities” granted to consular officials posted abroad and the duties of a consular official when citizens of country face difficulties abroad. Article 36 specifically details authorities’ obligations in case of arrest or detention of a foreign national. The goal is to guarantee the inalienable rights to “counsel and due process” via consular notification to ensure consular protection. Consular protection of native citizens who are abroad is one of the hallmarks of the Convention.
The primary purpose of foreign consulates in the U.S., including Massachusetts--is protection of foreign nationals of their respective home states. Boston is one of seven major U.S. cities with a large consular corps, hosting approximately sixty consular and honorary consular diplomatic officials. While six other major American cities also host foreign consular corps (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and Miami), Boston is unique in that it is the sole U.S. consular corps city that is also a state capital. This potentially increases its interest to any militant terrorist seeking to attack a high profile U.S. target.
As one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia is critical to the world’s international distribution of power. Its vote in the UN Security Council coupled with its international influence impacts the success of U.S. global diplomatic objectives, and consequently those of the Massachusetts Commonwealth. The Russian Federation has been signatory (as the USSR) to the Convention since March 15, 1989, and will observe its 25th anniversary as a signatory in March 2014.
According to Russian diplomat Tatiana Zonova, author of the chapter on “The Consular Service in Russia: Past Problems, New Challenges” in Consular Affairs and Diplomacy (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2011): "From 1955 the Soviet Union played an active role in the codification of consular law within the UN Framework. A Soviet delegation, together with Ukrainians and Belarusians, attended the 1963 Vienna Conference on Consular Relations. The final Vienna Convention on Consular Relations was generally favourably accepted by the Soviet delegation, although the Soviet Union disagreed with some of the Conference’s findings... Consequently the USSR approved the Final Act of the Conference but at the time abstained from signing the Vienna Convention. Only in the age of perestroika did the USSR join the Convention."
In addition to the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington DC, the Russian Federation maintains four consulate generals in San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, and New York. The Consulate General of New York's consular district includes Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
The United States maintains over 120 consular diplomatic missions abroad, including its Moscow embassy and three consulate generals in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg. In 2007, these Russian diplomatic missions celebrated the bicentenary of U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations with, among other events, the dedication of a statue at the Moscow embassy of former U.S. President, Massachusetts Senator, Boston native son, and America’s first formally recognized minister to Russia John Quincy Adams--the first statue of an American diplomat erected in the Russian Federation.
HdG, Ambassadorial Fellow, Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe McConnell, is a former USAF Combat Intelligence Officer (Cold War, Pre-1991 Gulf War Era), an alumna with Distinction of the Oxford University Foreign Service Programme. She is Founder/Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and The New England Commission on Diplomacy; former Director of the 1961 UN Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 50th Anniversary Project; and Director of the 1963 UN Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 50th Anniversary Project. She is married to a former USMC Russian Intelligence Analyst, and writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
Photo: U.S. Department of State.
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Reflections on U.S.-Russian Consular Diplomacy
May 19, 2013
Reflections on Russian Consular Diplomacy and the Consular Corps of the City of Boston as the U.S. and UN Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 United Nations Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
The recent Boston Marathon bombings ascribed to two suspects of Russian (Chechen) descent--although both permanent residents of the U.S.--and the resulting visit to Boston by Russian diplomats from the Russian Consulate in New York to investigate whether any Russian nationals were wounded in the attack, prompts a timely focus on Russian consular diplomacy as the U.S. and the UN observe the 50th anniversary of the 1963 UN Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
April 24th commemorated the 50th anniversary of the 1963 UN Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The Convention was held in Vienna, Austria, from March 4th to April 22th and was signed on April 24th. In attendance were delegates of 95 nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union. The Convention itself consists of 79 articles, and entered into force on March 19, 1967. As of April 19, 2013 there are forty-signatories to the Convention.
The Convention’s primary focus was the establishment and operation of consulates, outlining the functions of official consular diplomats, consular agents, and honorary consuls. It also addressed the subject of “privileges and diplomatic immunities” granted to consular officials posted abroad and the duties of a consular official when citizens of country face difficulties abroad. Article 36 specifically details authorities’ obligations in case of arrest or detention of a foreign national. The goal is to guarantee the inalienable rights to “counsel and due process” via consular notification to ensure consular protection. Consular protection of native citizens who are abroad is one of the hallmarks of the Convention.
The primary purpose of foreign consulates in the U.S., including Massachusetts--is protection of foreign nationals of their respective home states. Boston is one of seven major U.S. cities with a large consular corps, hosting approximately sixty consular and honorary consular diplomatic officials. While six other major American cities also host foreign consular corps (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and Miami), Boston is unique in that it is the sole U.S. consular corps city that is also a state capital. This potentially increases its interest to any militant terrorist seeking to attack a high profile U.S. target.
As one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia is critical to the world’s international distribution of power. Its vote in the UN Security Council coupled with its international influence impacts the success of U.S. global diplomatic objectives, and consequently those of the Massachusetts Commonwealth. The Russian Federation has been signatory (as the USSR) to the Convention since March 15, 1989, and will observe its 25th anniversary as a signatory in March 2014.
According to Russian diplomat Tatiana Zonova, author of the chapter on “The Consular Service in Russia: Past Problems, New Challenges” in Consular Affairs and Diplomacy (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2011): "From 1955 the Soviet Union played an active role in the codification of consular law within the UN Framework. A Soviet delegation, together with Ukrainians and Belarusians, attended the 1963 Vienna Conference on Consular Relations. The final Vienna Convention on Consular Relations was generally favourably accepted by the Soviet delegation, although the Soviet Union disagreed with some of the Conference’s findings... Consequently the USSR approved the Final Act of the Conference but at the time abstained from signing the Vienna Convention. Only in the age of perestroika did the USSR join the Convention."
In addition to the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington DC, the Russian Federation maintains four consulate generals in San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, and New York. The Consulate General of New York's consular district includes Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
The United States maintains over 120 consular diplomatic missions abroad, including its Moscow embassy and three consulate generals in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg. In 2007, these Russian diplomatic missions celebrated the bicentenary of U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations with, among other events, the dedication of a statue at the Moscow embassy of former U.S. President, Massachusetts Senator, Boston native son, and America’s first formally recognized minister to Russia John Quincy Adams--the first statue of an American diplomat erected in the Russian Federation.
HdG, Ambassadorial Fellow, Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe McConnell, is a former USAF Combat Intelligence Officer (Cold War, Pre-1991 Gulf War Era), an alumna with Distinction of the Oxford University Foreign Service Programme. She is Founder/Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and The New England Commission on Diplomacy; former Director of the 1961 UN Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 50th Anniversary Project; and Director of the 1963 UN Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 50th Anniversary Project. She is married to a former USMC Russian Intelligence Analyst, and writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
Photo: U.S. Department of State.
