COUR INTERNATIONALE DE JUSTICE
RECUEIL DES ARRÊTS,
AVIS CONSULTATIFS ET ORDONNANCES
AFFAIRE DU DROIT
D'A SILE
(COLOMBIE/PÉROU)
ARRÊT DU 20 NOVEMBRE1950
INTERNATIONAL COUOFJUSTICE
REPORTS OF JUDGMENTS,
ADVTSORY OPINIONS AND ORDERS
ASYLUM CASE
(COLOMBIA /PERU)
JUDGMENT OF NOVEMBER 20th1950 Le présent arrêt doit êtrecité comme suit :
«Agaire colombo-péruviennerelative au droit d'asile,
Arrêtdu20novembre 1950:I. JRecueil 19p.266.)!
This Judgment should be cas follows :
"Colombian-Peruvian asylum case,
Judgment of Novemberh 195:I.C. J. Refiorts 1950, fi. 266."
NOde vent:
1 .M,~ 5.0 1 In the Asylum case,
between
the Republic of Colombia,
represented by :
M. J. M. Yepes, Professor, Minister Plenipotentiary, Legal
Adviser to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, former
Senator, as Agent ;
assisted by
M. Alfredo Vasquez, Minister Plenipotentiary, Secretary-General
of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, as Advocate ;
and
the Republic of Peru,
represented by :
M. Carlos SayAnAlvarez, Barrister, Ambassador,former Minister,
former President of the Peruvian Chamber of Deputies, as Agent;
assisted by
M. Felipe Tudela y Barreda, Barrister, Professor of Coristi-
tutional Law at Lima,
M. Fernando Morales Macedo R., Parliamentary Interpreter,
M. Juan José Calle y Calle, Secretary of Embassy ;
and, as Counsel,
M. Georges Scelle, Honorary Professor of the University of Paris,
and
M. Julio Lopez Olivan, Ambassador,
composed as above,
delivers the following Judgment :
On August yst, 1949, an agreement called the "Act of Lima"
was signed at Lima in the name of the Colombian Government
and of the Peruvian Government. This Act is as follows :
"His Excellency Monsieur Victor Andrés Belaunde, Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary ad hoc of +liePeruvian Kepublic,
and His Excellency Monsieur Eduardo Zuleta Ançel, Ambassador
Estraordinary and Plenipotentiary ad hoc of Colombia, du157desig-
nated by tlieir respective Governments to negotiatc and draw up tlie
5 ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMENT OF 20 XI 50)
268
terms of an agreement to refer to the International Court of Justice
a dispute which arose following a request bythe Colombian Embassy
in Lima for delivery of a safe-conduct for Monsieur Victor Raul Haya
de la Torre, have met in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Public
Worship in Lima and, having exchanged their respective credentials,
make the following declaration in the spirit of cordial fnendship
which characterizes the relations between the two countries :
First:
They have examined in a spirit of understanding the existing
dispute which they agree to refer for decision to the International
Court of Justice, in accordance ~3h the agreement concluded by
the two Governments.
Second :
The Plenipotentianes of Peru and Colombia having been unable
to reach an agreement on the terms in which they might refer the
dispute jointly to the International Court of Justice, agree that
proceedings before the recognized junsdiction of the Court may be
instituted on the application of either of the Parties without this
being regarded as an unfnendly act toward the other, or as an act
likely to affect the good relations between the two countries. The
Party exercising this right shall, with reasonable advance notice,
announce in a friendly way to the other Party the date on which
the application is to be made.
Third :
They agree,here and now :(a) that the procedurein this caseshall
be the ordinary procedure ; (b) that, in accordance with Article 31,
paragraph 3, of the Statute of the Court, each of the Parties may
exercise its right to choose a judge of its nationality ; (c) that the
case shall be conducted in French.
Fourth :
This document, after it has been signed, shall be communicated
to the Court by the Parties."
On October 15th, 1949, an Application, referring to the Act of
Lima of August 31st, 1949, was filed in the Registry of the Court
in the name of the Colombian Government. After stating that
Colombia asserts :
"(a) that she is entitled in the case cf perçons who have claimed
asylum in her embassies, legations, warships, rnilitary camps or
military aircraft, io qualify the refugees, either as offenders for
common crimes or deserters from the army or navy, or as political
offenders ;
(b) that the territorial State,namely, in this case, Peru, is bound
to give 'the guarantees necessary for the departure of the refugee,
with due regard to the inviolability of his person, from the country",
6the Application concludes by requesting the Court :
"To pass judgment on and answer, whether the Government of
the Republic of Peru enters an appearance or not, and after such
time-limits as the Court may fix in the absence of an agreement
between the Parties, the followingquestion:
First Question.-Within the limits of the obligations resulting
in particular from the Eolivarian Agreement on Extradition of
July 18th, 1911,and the Convention on Asylum of February zoth,
1928,both in forcebetween ColombiaandPeru, and in general from
American international law,was Colombiacompetent,as the country
granting asylum, to qualify the offence for the purposes of said
asylum ?
Second Question.-In the specific case under consideration, was
Peru, asthe territorial State, bound to give the guarantees necessary
for the departure of the refugee from the country, with due regard
to the inviolability of his perso?"
Together with the Application, the Agent of the Colombian
Government filed in the Registry a certified true copy of the original
in Spanish, accompanied by a French translation, of the Act of
Lima. By letter of October 15th, 1949, received by the Registry
on ,the same day, the Agent of the Peruvian Government also
deposited a certified true translation of the Act of Lima.
The Application was notified, under Article 40, paragraph 3,
of the Statute of the Court, to the States entitled to appear before
the Court. It was also transmitted to the Secretary-General of the
'C'nited Nations.
As the Application \vas based upon the Convention on Asylum
signed at Havana on February zoth, 1928, and upon the Agreement
on Extradition signed at Caracason July 18th, 1911, the notification
prescribed by Article 63, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court
was addressed to the States other than those concerned in the
case which were parties to the foregoing Conventions.
The Pleadings having been deposited within the time-limits
prescribed in the Order of October zoth, 1949, as extended by
Orders of December 17th, 1949, and May gth, 1950, the casewas
ready for hearing on June 15th, 1950.
As the Court did not include upon the Bench any judge of the
nationality of the Parties, the latter availed themselves of the
right provided by Article 31, paragraph 3, of the Statute. The
Judges ad hoc designated were M. José Joaquin Caicedo Castilla,
Doctor of Law, Professor, former Deputy and former President
of the Senate, Ambassador, for the Government of Colombia, and
M. Luis Alayza y Paz SoldAn, Doctor of Law, Professor, former
Minister, Ambassador, for the Government of Peru.
The opening of the oral proceedings was fixedfor September 26th,
1950. Public sittings were held by the Court on September 26th,
27th, 28th and 29th and on October and, 3rd, 6th and gth, 1950.
7 In the course of the sittings, the Court heard statements by M. J.
M. Yepes, Agent, and M. Alfredo Vasquez, Advocate, on behalf of
the Republic of Colombia, and by M. Carlos SayAn Alvarez, Agent,
and M. Georges Scelle, Counsel, on behalf of the Republic of Peru.
At the end of the written proceedings the Parties had presented
the following submissions :
On behalf of Colombia (submissions contained in the Reply) :
"MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT
To dismiss the submissions of the Government of the Republic
of Peru,
TO ADJUDGE AND DECLARE :
In accordance with the submissions presented by the Government
of the Republic of Colombia in its Memorial of January ~oth, 1950,
which was submitted to the Court on the same date, and
Rejecting al1 contrary submissions,
1. That the Republic of Colombia, as the country granting
asylum, is competent to qualify the offence for the purpose of the
said asylum, within the limits of the obligations resultingin par-
ticular from the Bolivarian Agreement on Extradition of July 18th,
1911, and the Convention on Asylum of February zoth, 1928, and
of American international law in general ; ,
II. That the Republic of Peru, as the territorial State, is bound
in the case now before the Court to give the guarantees necessary
for the departure of M. Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre from the
country, with due regard to the inviolability of hisrson."
On behalf of Peru (submissions contained in the Rejoinder) :
"MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT
To set aside the submissions of the Government of the Republic
of Colombia;
As a counter-claim, under Article 63 of the Rules of Court, and
in the same decision, that the grant of asylum by the Colombian
Ambassador at Lima to Victor Raiil Haya de la Torre was made
in violation of Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article2,paragraph 2,
item I (ilzcisprimera), of the Convention on Asylum signed at
Havana in 1928."
Atthe end of the oral statements, the Agent for the Government
of Peru having made an addition to the submissions in the Plead-
ings, the following final submissions were presented to the Court
orally and confirmed in writing :
On behalf of Colombia
(on the claim) ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMENT OF 20 XI 50) 271
T0 ADJUDGE AND DECLARE :
1.-That the Republic of Colombia, as the country granting
asylum, is competent to qualify the offence for the purpose of
the said asylum, within the limits of the obligations resulting
in particular from the Bolivarian Agreement on Extradition of
July 18th, 1911, and the Havana Convention on Asylum of
February zoth, 1928, and of American international law in general ;
II.-That the Republic of Peru, as the territorial State, is
bound in the case now before the Court to give the guarantees
necessary for the departure of M. Victor Raul Haya de la Torre
from the country, with due regard to the inviolability of his
person."
(on the counter-claim)
"1. That the counter-claim presented by the Peruvian Govern-
ment on March z~st, 1950, is not admissible because of its lack
of direct connexion with the Application of the Colombian Govern-
ment ;
2. That the new counter-claim, irregularly presented on
October 3rd, 1950, in the form of a submission upon allegations
made during the oral debate, is not admissible on the grounds
that :
(a.)It was presented in violation of Article 63 of the Rules
of Court ;
(b) The Court has no jurisdiction to take cognizance of it ;
('c)It has no direct connexion with the Application of the
Colombian Government."
On behalf of Peru :
"MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT
To set aside submissions 1 and II of the Colombian Memorial.
To set aside the submissions which were presented by the Agent
of the Colombian Government at the end of his oral statement
on October 6th, 1950, in regard to the counter-claim of the Govern-
ment of Peru, and which were repeated in his letter of October 7th,
1950.
TO ADJUDGE AND DECLARE,
As a counter-claim, under Article 63 of the Rules of Court and
in the same decision, that the grant of asylum by the Colombian
Ambassador at Lima to Victor Raul Haya de la Torre was made
in violation of Article 1, paragraph 1, and of Artic2,paragraph 2,
item I (inciso primera), of the Convention on Asylum signed in
1928, and that in any case the maintenance of the asylum cons-
titutes at the present time a violation of that treaty." On October 3rd, 1948, a military rebellion broke out in Pen.
It was suppressed on the same day and investigations were at
once opened.
On October 4th, the President of the Republic issued a decree
in the recitals of which a political party, the American People's
Revolutionary Alliance, was charged with having organized and
directed the rebellion. The decree consequently enacted that this
party had placed itself outside the law, that it would henceforth
not be permitted to exercise any kind of.activity, and that its
leaders would be brought to justice in the national courts as
instigators of the rebellion. Simultaneously, the head of the Judicial
Department of the Navy issued an order requiring the Examining
Magistrate to open at once an enquiry as to the facts constituting
the crime of military rebellion.
On October 5th, the Minister of the Interior addressed to the
Minister for the Navy a "note of denunciation" against the leader
of the American People's Revolutionary Alliance, Victor Raul
Haya de la Torre, and other members of the party as responsible
for the rebellion. This denunciation was approved on the same day
by the Minister for the Navy and on October 10th by the Public
Prosecutor, who stated that the subject-matter of the proceedings
was the crime of military rebellion.
On October t th, the Examining Magistrate issued an order for
the opening of judicial proceedings against Haya de la Torre and
others "in respect of the crime of military rebellion with which
they are charged in the 'denunciation' ", and on October 25th he
ordered the arrest of the perçons "denounced" who had not yet
been detained.
On October 27th, a Military Junta made a coz@ d'étatand seized
the supreme power. This Military Junta of the Govèrnment issued
on November 4th a decree providing for Courts-Martialfor summary
procedure in cases of rebellion, sedition and rioting, fixing short
time-limits and severe punishment without appeal.
This decree was not applied to the judicial proceedings agabst
Haya de la Torre and others. These proceedings continued under
the same jurisdiction as theretofore. This is shown by a note of
November 8th from the Examining Magistrate requesting the
production of certain documents, by a note of November 13th
from the Head of the Investigation and Surveillance Service te
the Examining Magistrate stating that Haya de la Torre and others
were not arrested as they could not be found, and by an Order by
the Examining Magistrate of the same date requiring the defaulters
to be cited by public summons. On November 16th and the two
subsequent days, the summons was published in the officia1gazette
El Peruano, requiring "the accused persons who are in default" -
Haya de la Torre and others-to report to the office of the
Examining Magistrate to answer the accusation brought against
IOthem "for the crime of military rebellion". Haya de la Torre did
not report, and the factsbrought to the knowledge of the Court do
not show that any further measures were taken against him.
On October 4th, the day after the military rebellion, a state of
siege was declared, suspending certain constitutional rights ;it was
renewed on November and and December and, 1948, and on
January and, 1949.
On January 3rd, 1949, Haya de la Torre sought asylum in the
Colombian Embassy in Lima. On the next day, the Colombian
Ambassador sent the following note to the Peruvian hIinister for
Foreign Affairs and Public Worship :
"1 have the honour to inform Your Excellency, in accordance
with what is provided in Article 2, paragrapl-2, of the Convention
on Asylum signed by Our two countries in the city of Havana in
the year 1928, that Seiïor Victor Raul Haya de la Torre has been
given asylum at the seat of this mission as from g p.m. yesterday.
In view of the foregoing, andin view of the desire of this Embassy
that Sefior Haya de la Torre should leave Peru as early as possible,
1 request Your Excellency to be good enough to give orders for the
requisite safe-conduct to be issued, so that Sefior Haya de la Torre
may leave the country with the usual facilities attaching to the
right of diplomatic asylum."
On January 14th, the Ambassador sent to the Minister a further
note as follows :
"Pursiiant to instructions received from the Chancellery of my
country, 1 have the honour to inform Your Excellency that the
Government of Colombia, in accordance with the right conferred
upon it by Article 2 of the Convention on Political Asylum signed
by our two countries in the city of Montevideo on December 26th,
1933l,ias qualifieclSefiorVictor Rad Haya de la Torre as a political
refugee."
A diplomatic correspondence followed, leading up to the Act
of Lima of Aiigust 31st, 1949, whereby the dispute which had
arisen between the two Governments was referred to the Court.
The Colombian Government has presented two submissions, of
which the first asks the Court to adjudge and declare
"That the Republic of Colombia, as the country granting asylum,
iscompetent to qtialify the offencefor the purpose of the said asylum,
witliin the limits of the obligations resulting in particular from tlie
Bolivarian Agreement on Extradition of July ~Sth, 1911, and the
Convention on ilsylun of February zoth, 1928, and of -4merican
international law in gcnerrtl."
If the Colombian (;o\~eriîmcnt by this submission intended to
allege that Colombin, as the State granting asylum, is competentto qualify the offence only provisionally and without binding
effect for Peru, the solution would not remain a matter of doubt.
It is evident that the diplomatic representative who has to
determine whether a refugee is to be granted asylum or not must
have the competence to make such a provisional qualification
of any offence alleged to have been committed by the refugee.
He must in fact examine the question whether the conditions
required for granting asylum are fulfilled. The territorial State
would not thereby be deprived of its right to contest the quali-
fication. In case of disagreement between the two States, a dispute
would arise which might be settled by the methods provided
by the Parties for the settlement of their disputes.
This is not, however, the meaning which the Colombian Govern-
ment has put on its submission. It has not claimed the right of
qualification for the solepurpose of determining its own conduct.
The written and oral arguments submitted on behalf of that
Government show that its claim must be understood in the sense
that Colombia, as the State granting asylum, is competent to
qualify the nature of the offence by a unilateral and definitive
decision binding on Peru. Colombia has based this submission
partly on rules resulting from agreement, partly on an alleged
custom.
The Colombian Government has referred to the Bolivarian
Agreement of 1911, Article 18, which is framed in the following
terms :
"Aside from the stipulations of the present Agreement, the
signatory States recognizethe institutioof asylum in conformity
with the principles of internationlaw."
In recognizing "the institution of asylum", this article merely
refers to the principles of international law. But the principles
of international law do not recognize any rule of unilateral and
definitive qualification by the State granting diplomatic asylum.
The Colombian Government has also relied on Article 4 of this
Agreement concerning extradition of a criminal refugee from the
territory of the State in which he has sought refuge. The arguments
submitted in this respect reveal a confusion between territorial
asylum (extradition), on the one hand, and diplomatic asylum,
on the other.
In the case of extradition, the refugee is within the territory
of the State of refuge. A decision with regard to extradition
implies only the normal exercise of the territorial sovereignty.
The refugee is outside the territory of the State where the offence
was committed, and a decision to grant him asylum in no way
derogates from the sovereignty of that State.
In the case of diplomatic asylum, the refugee is within the
territory of the State where the offence was committed. A decision
to grant diplomatic asylum involves a derogation from thesovereignty of that State. It withdraws the offender from the
jurisdiction of the territorial State and constitutes an intervention
in matters which are exclusively within the competence of that
State. Such a derogation from territorial sovereignty cannot be
recognized unless its legal basis is established in each particular
case.
For these reasons, it is not possible to deduce from the provisions
of agreements concerning extradition any conclusion which would
apply to the question now under consideration.
The Colombian Government further relies on the Havana Con-
vention on Asylum of 1928. This Convention lays down certain
rules relating to diplomatic asylum, but does not contain any
provision conferring on the State granting asylum a unilateral
competence to qualify the offence with definitive. and binding
forcefor the territorial State. The Colombian Government contends,
however, that such a competence is implied in that Convention
and is inherent in the institution of asylum.
A competence of this kind is of an exceptional character. It
involves a derogation from the equal rights of qualification which,
in the absence of any contrary rule, must be attributed to each
of the States concerned ;it thus aggravates the derogation from
territorial sovereignty constituted by the exercise of asylum.
Such a competence is not inherent in the institution of diplomatic
asylum. This institution would perhaps be more effective if a
rule of unilateral and definitive qualification were applied. But
such a rule is not essential to the exercise of asylum.
These considerations show that the alleged right of uailateral
and definitive qualification cannot be regarded as recognized by
implication in the Havana Convention. Moreover, this Convention,
in pursuance of the desire expressed in its preamble of "fixing
the rules" which the Governments of the States of America must
observe for the granting of asylum, was concluded with the
manifest intention of preventing the abuses which had arisen in
the previous practice, by limiting the grant of asylum. It did so
in a number of ways and in terms which are unusually restrictive
and emphatic ("It is not permissible for States ....; "Asylum
may not be granted except in urgent cases and for the period of
time strictly indispensable....", etc.).
The Colombian Government has invoked Article 2, paragraph 1,
of the Havana Convention, which is framed in the following
terms :
military camps or military aircraft, shall be respected to thetent
in which allowed as a right or through humanitarian toleration,
by the usages, the conventions or the laws of the country in which
granted and in accordancewith the followingprovisions :" This provision has been interpreted by that Government in the
sense that the usages, conventions and laws of Colombia relating to
the qualification of the offence can be invoked against Peru. This
interpretation, which would mean that the extent of the obligation
.ofone of the signatory States would depend upon any modifications
which might occur in the law of another, cannot be accepted. Tfie
provision must be regarded as a limitation of the extent to which
asylum shall be respected. What the provision says in effect is that
the State of refuge shall not exercise asylum to a larger extent than
is warranted by its own usages, conventions or laws and that the
asylum granted must be respected by the territorial State only
where such asylum would be permitted according to the usages,
conventions or laws of the State of refuge. Nothing therefore
can be deduced from this provision in so far as qualification is
concerned.
The Colombian Government has further referred to the Monte-
video Convention on Political Asylum of 1933. It was in fact this
Convention which was invoked in the note of January 14th, 1949,
from the Colombian Ambassador to the Peruvian Minister for
Foreign Affairs. It is argued that, by Article 2 of that Convention,
the Havana Convention of 1928 is interpreted in the sense that the
qualification of a political offence appertains to the State granting
asylum. Articles 6 and 7 of the Montevideo Convention provide that
it shall be ratified and will enter into force as and when the ratifi-
cations are deposited. The Montevideo Convention has not been
ratified by Peru, and cannot be invoked against that State. The
fact that it was considered necessary to incorporate in that Conven-
tion an article accepting the right ofunilateral qualification, seemsto
indicate that this solution was regarded as a new rule not recognized
by the Havana Convention. Moreover, the preamble of the Monte-
video Convention States in its Spanish, French and Portuguese
texts that it modifies the Havana Convention. It cannot therefore
be considered as representing merely an interpretation of that
Convention.
The Colombian Government has finally invoked "American
international law in general". In addition to the rules arising from
agreements which have already been considered, it has relied on an
alleged regional or local custom peciiliar to Latin-American States.
The Party which relies on a custom of this kind must prove
that this custom is established insuch a rnanner that it has become
binding on the other Party. The Colombian Government must
prove that the rule invoked by it is in accordance with a constant
and uniform usage practised by the States in question, and that
this usage is the expression of a right appertaining to the State
granting asylum and a duty incumbent on the territorial State. This
follo\vs from Article 38 of the Statute of the Court, which refers tointernational custom "as evidence of a general practice accepted
as law".
In support of its contention concerning the existence ofsuch a
custom, the Colombian Government has referred to a large number
of extradition treatieswhich, as already explained, can have no
bearing on the question now under consideration. It has cited
conventions and agreements which do not contain any provision
concerning the alleged rule of unilateral and definitive qualification
such as the Montevideo Convention of 1889 on international penal
law, the Bolivarian Agreement of 1911 and the Havana Convention
of 1928 It has invoked conventions which have not been ratified by
Peru, such as the Montevideo Conventions of 1933 and 1939. The
Convention of 1933 ha, in fact, been ratified by not more than
eleven States and the Convention of 1939 by two States only.
It is particularly the Montevideo Convention of 1933 which
Counsel for the Colombian Government has also relied on in this
connexion. It is contended that this Convention has merely codified
principles which were already recognized by Latin-American
custom, and that it is valid against Peru as a proof of customary
law. The limited number of States which have ratified this Conven-
tion reveals the weakness of this argument, and furthermore, it is
invalidated by the preamble which states that this Convention
modifies the Havana Convention.
Finally, the Colombian Government has referred to a large
number of particular cases in which diplomatic asylum was in fact
granted and respected. But it has not shown that the alleged riile
of unilateral and definitive qualification was invoked or-in some
cases it was in fact invoked-that it was, apart from conventional
stipulations, exercised by the States granting asylum as a right
appertaining to them and respected by the territorial States as a
duty incumbent on them and not merely for reasons of political
expediency. The facts brought to the knowledge of the Court
disclose so much uncertainty and contradiction, so much fluctuation
and discrepancy in the exercise of diplomatic asylum and in the
officia1viewsexpressed on various occasions, therehas been so much
inconsistency in the rapid succession of conventions on asylum,
ratified by some States and rejected by others, and the practice
has been somuch influenced by considerations ofpoliticalexpediency
in the various cases, that it is not possible to discern in al1thiç any
constant and uniform usage, accepted as law, with regard to the
alleged rule of unilateral and definitive qualification of the offence.
The Court cannot therefore find that the Colombian Government
has proved the existence of such a custom. But even if it could be
supposed that such a custom existed between certain Latin-Ameri-
can States only, it could not be invoked against Peru which, far from having by its attitude adhered to it, has, on the contrary,
repudiated it by refraining from ratifying the Montevideo Conven-
tions of1933 and 1939, which were the first to include a rule concern-
ing the qualification of the offence in matters of diplomatic asylum.
In the written Pleadings and during the oral proceedings, the
Government of Colombiarelied upon officia1communiqués published
by the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 13th
and 26th, 1948, and the Government of Peru relied upon a Report
of the Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Colombia dated September znd, 1937 ; on the question of
qualification, these documents state views which are contrary to
those now maintained by these Governments. The Court, whose
duty it is to apply international law in deciding the present case,
cannot attach decisive importance to any of these documents.
For these reasons, the Court has arrived at the conclusion that
Colombia, as the State granting asylum, is not competent to
qualify the offence by a unilateral and definitive decision, binding
on Peru.
In its second submission, the Colombian Government asks the
Court to adjudge and declare :
"That the Republic of Peru, as the territorial State, is bound in
the case now before the Court, to give the guarantees necessary
for the departure of M. Victor Raul Haya de la Torre from the
country, with due regard to the inviolability of his person."
This alleged obligation of the Peruvian Government does not
entirely depend on the answer.given to the first Colombian sub-
mission relating to the unilateral and definitive qualification of
the offence. It follows from the first two articles of the Havana
Convention that, even if such a right of qualification is not
admitted, the Colombian Government is entitled to request a
safe-conduct under certain conditions.
The first condition is that asylum has been regularly granted
and maintained. It can be granted only to political offenders
who are not accused or condemned for coinmon crimes and only
in urgent cases and for the time strictly indispensable for the
safety of the refugee. These points relate to the Periivian counter-
claim and will be considered later to the estent necessary for
the decision of the present case.
The second condition is laid down in Article 2 of the Hnvana
Convention : "Third: The Government of the State may require that the
refugee be sent out of the national territory within the shortest
time possible; and the diplomatic agent of the country wl~ohas
granted asylum may in turn require the guarantees necessary for
the departure of the refugee from the country with due regard to
the inviolability of his person."
If regard is had, on the one hand, to the structure of this
provision which indicates a successive order, and, on the other
hand, to the natural and ordinary meaning of the words "in
turn", this provision can only mean that the territorial State
may require that the refugee be sent out of the country, and
that only after such a demand can the State granting asylum
require the necessary guarantees as a condition of his beiilg sent
out. The provision gives, in other words, the territorial State
an option to require the departure of the refugee, and that State
becomes bound to grant a safe-coilduct only if it fias exercised
this option.
A contrary interpretation would lead, in the case now before
the Court, to the conclusion that Colombia would be entitled
to decide alone whether the conditions provided by Articles I
and 2 of the Convention for the regularity of asyluin are fulfilled.
Such a consequence obviously would be incoinpatible with the
legal situation created by the Convention.
There exists undoubtedly a practice whereby the diplomatic
representative who grants asylum immediately requests a safe-
conduct without awaiting a request from the territorial State
for the departure of the refugee. This procedure meets certain
requirements :the diplomatic agent is naturally desirous that the
presence of the refugee on his premises should not be prolonged ;
and the goverilment of the country, for its part, desires in a great
number of cases that its political opponent who has obtained asylurn
should depart. This coilcordance of views suffices to explain the
practice which has been noted in this connexion, but this practice
does not and cannot mean that the State, to whom such a request
for a safe-conduct has been addressed, is legally bound to accede
to it.
In the present case, the Peruvian Government has not requested
that Haya de la Torre should leave Peru. It has contested the
legality of the asylum granted to him and has refused to deliver a
safe-conduct. In such circumstances the Colombian Government is
not entitled to claim that the Peruvian Government should give the
guarantees necessary for the departure of Haya delaTorre from the
country,with due regard to the inviolability of his person.
The counter-claim of the Government of Peru was stated in its
final form during the oral statement of October 3rd, 1950, in the
following terms : To adjudge and declare as a counter-claim under ilrticle 63
of the Rules of Court, and in the same decision, that the grant
of asylum by the Colombian Ambassador at Lima to Victor Rad
Haya de la Torre was made in violation of Article 1, paragraph 1,
and Article 2, paragraph z, item I (incis $orimerao )f,the Con-
vention on Asylum signed in 1928, and that in any case the
maintenance of the asylum constitutes at the present time a
violation of that treaty."
As has already been pointed out, the last part of this sentence :
"and that in any case the maintenance of the asylum constiiutes
at the present time a violation of that treaty", did not appear in
the counter-claim presented by the Government of Peru in the
Counter-Memorial. The addition was only made during the oral
proceedings. The Court u~ill.first consider the counter-claim in its
original form.
This counter-claim is intended,in substance, toput an end tothe
dispute by requesting the Court to declare that asylum was \i7rong-
fully given, the grant of asylum being contrary to certain provisions
of the Havana Convention. The object of the counter-claim is
simply to define for this purpose the legal relations which that
Convention has established between Colombia and Peru. The Court
observes in this connexion that the question of the possible surren-
der of the refugee to the territorial authorities is in no way raised
in the counter-claim. It points out that the Havana Convention,
which provides for the surrender to those authorities of persons
accused of or condemned for common crimes, contains no similar
provision in respect of political offenders. The Court notes, finally,
that this question was not raised either in the diplomatic correspon-
dence submitted by the Parties or at any moment in the procee-
dings before the Court, and in fact the Government of Peru has
not requested that the refugee should be surrendered.
It results from the final submissions of the Government of
Colombia, as formulated before the Court on October 6th, 1950,
that that Government did not contest the jurisdiction of the
Court in respect of the original counter-claim ; it did so only in
respect of the addition made during the oral proceedings. On the
other hand, relying upon Article 63 of the Rules of Court, the
Government of Colombia has disputed the admissibility of the
counter-claim by arguing that it is not directly connected with the
subject-matter ofthe Application. In its view, this lack of connexion
results from the fact that the counter-claim raises new problems and
thus tends to shift the erounds of the dis~ute.
The Court is unable tz accept this view.l~t emerges clearly from
the arguments of the Parties that the second submission of the
Government of Colombia, which concerns the demand for a safe-
conduct,rests largely on the alleged regularity of the asylum, which
is precisely what is disputed by the counter-claim. The connexion
is so direct that certain conditions which are required to exist
before a safe-conduct can be demanded depend precisely on factswhich are raised by the counter-claim. The direct connexion being
thus clearly established, the sole objection to the admissibility of
the counter-claim in its original form is therefore removed.
Before examining the question whether the counter-claim is well
founded, the Court must state in precise terms what meaning it
attaches to the words "the grant of asylum" which are used therein.
The grant of asylum is not an instantaneous act which terminates
with the admission, at a given moment, of a refugee to an embassy
or a legation. Any grant of asylum results in, and in consequence
logically implies, a state of protection ; the asylum is granted as
long as the continued presence of the refugee in the embassy
prolongs this protection. This view, which results from the very
nature of the institution of asylum, is further confirmed by the
attitude of the Parties during this case. The counter-claim, as it
appears in the Counter-Memorial of the Government of Peru,
refers expressly to Article2,paragraph 2,of the Havana Convention,
which provides that asylum may not be granted except "for the
period of time strictly indispensable". Such has also been the view
of the Government of Colombia ; its Reply shows that, in its opinion,
as in that of the Government of Peru, the reference to the above-
mentioned provision of the Havana Convention raises the question
of "the duration of the refuge".
The Govei-nment of Peru has based its counter-claim on two
different grounds which correspond respectively to Article 1, para-
graph 1, and Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Havana Convention.
Gnder Article 1,paragraph 1,"It is not permissible for States to
grant asylum ....to perçons accused or condrnined for common
crimes....". The onus of proving that Haya de la Torre had been
accused or conciemned for common crimes before the grant of
asylunl rested upon Peru.
The Court has no difficulty in finding, in the present case, that
the refugee was an "accused person" within the meaning of the
Havana Convention, inasmuch as the evidence presented by the
Government of Peru appears conclusive in this connexion. It
can hardly be agreed that the term "accused" occurring in a
multilateral treaty such as that of Havana has a precise and
technical connotation, ~vhich~vouldhave the effect of subordinating
the definition of "accused" to the completion of certain strictly
prescribed steps in procedure, which might differ from one legal
system to another.
On the other hand, the Court considers that the Government of
Peru has not proved that the acts of which the refugee was accused
before January 3rd/4th, 1949, constitute common crimes. From
the point of view of the application of the Havana Convention, it
is the terms of the accusation, as formulated by the legal authorities
before the grant of asylum, that must alone be considered. As has
been shown in the recital of the facts, the sole accusation contained
in al1the documents emanating from the Peruvian legal authorities
19 is that of military rebellion, and the Government of Peru has not
established that military rebellion in itself constitutes a common
crime. Article 248 of the Peruvian Code of Military Justice of
1939 even tends to prove the contrary, for it makes a distinction
between military rebellion and common crimes by providing that :
"Common crimes committed during the course of, and in connexion
with, a rebellion, shall be punishable in conformity with the laws,
irrespective of the rebellion."
These considerations lead to the conclusion that the first objection
made by the Government of Peru against the asylum is not jistified
and that on.this point the counter-claim is not well founded and
must be dismissed.
The Government of Peru relies, as a second basis for its counter-
claim, upon the alleged disregard of Article 2,paragraph 2, of the
Havana Convention, which provides as follows : "Asylum may
not be granted except in urgent cases and for the period of time
strictly indispensable for the person who has sought asylum to
ensure in some other way his safety."
Before proceeding to an examination of this provision, the
Court considers it necessary to make the following remark con-
cerning the Havana Convention in general and Article 2 in
particular.
The object of the Havaria Convention, which is the only agree-
ment relevant to the present case, was, as indicated in its preamble,
to fix the rules which the signatory States must observe for the
granting of asylum in their mutual relations. The intention was,
as has been stated above, to put an end to the abuses which
had arisen in the practice of asylum and which were likely to
impair its credit and usefulness. This is borne out by the wording
of Articles I and 2 of the Convention which is at times ~rohibitive
and at times clearly restrictive.
-Article2 refers to asylum granted to political offenders and
lays down in precise terms the conditions under which asylum
granted to such offenders shall be respected by the territorial
State. It is worthy of note that al1 these conditions are designed
to give guarantees to the territorial State and appear, in the
final analysis, as the consideration for the obligation which that
State assumes to respect asylum, that is, to accept its principle
and its consequenccs as long as it is regularly maintained.
At the head of the list of these conditions appears Article 2,
paragraph 2, quoted above. It is certainly the most important
of them, the essential justification for asylum being in the immi-
nence or persistence of a danger for the person of the refugee.
It was incumbent mon the Government of Colombia to submit
proof of facts to shhw that the above-mentioned condition uTas
fulfilled.
It his not been disputed by the Parties that asylum may be
granted on humanitarian grounds in order to protect political
offenders against the violent and disorderly action of irresponsiblesections of the population. It has not been contended by the
Government of Colombia that Haya de la Torre was in such a
situation at the time when he sought refuge in the Colombian
Embassy at Lima. At that time, three months had elapsed since
the military rebellion. This long interval gives the present case
a very special character. During those three months, Haya de la
Torre had apparently been in hiding in the country, refusing to
obey the summons to appear of the legal authorities which was
published on November 16th/18th, 1948, and refraining from
seeking asylum in the foreign embassies where several of his
CO-accused had found refuge beforé these dates. It was only on
January 3rd, 1949, that he sought refuge in the Colombian Em-
bassy. The Court considers that, firima yacie such circumstances
make it difficult to speak of urgency.
The diplomatic correspondence between the two Governments
does not indicate the nature of the danger which was alleged to
threaten the refugee. Likewise, the Memorial of the Government
of Colombia confines itself to stating that the refugee begged
the ,4mbassador to grant him the diplomatic protection of asylum
as his freedom and life were in jeopardy. It is only in the written
Reply that the Government of Colombia described in more precise
terms the nature of the danger against which the refugee intended
to request the protection of the Ambassador. It was then claimed
that this danger resulted in particular from the abnormal political
situation existing in Peru, following the state of siege proclaimed
on October 4th, 1948, and renewed successively on November znd,
December znd, 1948, and January end, 1949 ; that it further
resulted from the declaration of "a state of national crisis" made
on October 25th, 1938, containing various statements against the
Arnerican People's Revolutionary Alliance of w-hich the refugee
was the head; from the outlawing of this Party by the decree
of October 4th, 1948 ; from the Order issued by the acting
Examining Magistrate for the Navy on November 13th, 1948,
requiring the defaulters to be cited by public summons ; from
the decree of Xovember 4th, 1948, providing for Courts-Martial
to judge summarily, with the option of increasing the penalties
and vithout appeal, the authors, accomplices and others respon-
sible for the offences of rebellion, sedition or mutiny.
From these facts regarded as a whole the nature of the danger
now becomes clear, and it is upon the urgent character of such a
danger that the Goverilment of Coloinbia seeks to justify the
asylum-the danger of political justice by reason of the subordin-
ation of the Peruvian jiidicial aixthorities to the instructions of
the Executivc.
It is therefore necessary to csainine nhethcr, and, if so, to what
extent, a danger of tliis kirlclcar1 seri-eas ri bnsis for nsylum. In principle, it is inconceivable that the Havana Convention
could have intended the term "urgent cases" to include the danger
of regular prosecution to which the citizens of any country lay them-
selves open by attacking the institutions of that country ;nor can
it be admitted that in referring to "the period of tirne strictly
indispensable for the person who has sought asylum to ensure in
some other way his safety", the Convention envisaged protection
from the operation of regular legal proceedings.
It would be useless to seek an argument to the contrary in
Article I of the Havana Convention which forbids the grant of
asylum to persons "accused or condemned for common crimes" and
directs that such persons shall be surrendered immediately upon
request of the local government. It is not possible to infer from that
provision that, because a person is accused of political offences and
not of common crimes, he is, by that fact alone, entitled to asylum.
It is clear that such an inference would disregard the requirements
laid down by Article 2, paragraph 2, for the grant of asylum to
political offenders.
In principle, therefore, asylumcannot be opposed to the operation
of justice. An exception to this rule can occur only if, in the guise
of justice, arbitrary action is substituted for the rule of law. Such
would be the case if the administration of justice were corrupted by
measures clearly prompted by political aims. Asylum protects the
political offender against any measures of a manifestly extra-legal
character which a government might take or attemptto take against
its political opponents. The word "safety", which in Article 2,
paragraph 2, determines the specific effect of asylum granted to
political offenders, means that the refugee is protected against
arbitrary action by the government, and that he enjoys the benefits
of the law. On the otherhand, the safety which arises out of asylum
cannot be construed as a protection against the regular application
of the laws and against the jurisdiction of legally constituted tribu-
nals. Protection thus understood would authorize the diplomatic
agent to obstruct the application of the laws of the country whereas
it is his duty to respect them ;it would in fact become the equiva-
lent of an immunity, which was evidently not within the intentions
of the draftsmen of the Havana Convention.
Itis true that successive decrees promulgated by the Government
of Peru proclaimed and prolonged a state of siege in that country ;
but it has not been shown that the existence of a state of siege
implied the subordination of justice to the executive authority, or
that the suspension of certain constitutional guarantees entailed the
abolition of judicial guarantees. As for the decree of November 4th,
1948, providing for Courts-Martial, it contained no indication which
might be taken to mean that the new provisions would apply
retroactively to offences committed prior to the publication of the
said decree. In fact,this decree was not applied to the legal proceed-
ings against Haya de la Torre, as appears from the foregoing recitalof the facts. As regards the future, the Court places on record the
following declaration made on behalf of the Peruvian Government :
"The decree in question is dated November 4th, 1948, that
is, it was enacted one month after the events which led to the
institution of proceedings against Haya de la Torre. This decree
was intended to apply to crimes occurring after its publication,
and nobody in Peru would ever have dreamed of utilizing it in
the case to which the Colombian Government clumsily refers,
since the principle that laws have no retroactive effect, especially
in penal matters, is broadly admitted in that decree. If the
Colombian Government's statement on this point were true, the
Peruvian Goverilment would never have referred this case to
the International Court of Justice."
This declaration, ~vhichappears in the Rejoinder, was confirmed
by the Agent for the Government of Peru in his oral statement of
October znd, 1950.
The Court cannot admit that the States signatory to the Havana
Convention intended to substitute for the practice of the Latin-
American republics, in which considerations of courtesy, good-
neighbourliness and political expediency have alwaysheld a promi-
nent place, a legal system which would guarantee to their own
nationals accused of political offences the privilege of evading
national jurisdiction. Such a conception, moreover, would come into
conflict with one of the most firmly established traditions of Latin
America, namely, non-intervention. It was at the Sixth Pan-
American Conference of 1928, during which the Convention on
Asylum was signed, that the States of Latin America declared tlleir
resolute opposition to any foreign political intervention. It would
be difficult toconceive that these same States had consented, at the
very same moment, to submit to intervention in its least acceptable
form, one which implies foreign interference in the administration
of domestic justice and which could not manifest itself without
casting some doubt on the impartiality of that justice.
Indeed the diplomatic correspondence between the two Govern-
ments shows the constant anxiety of Colombia to remain, in this
field as elsewhere, faithful to the tradition of non-intervention.
Colombia did not depart from this attitude, even when she found
herself confronted with an emphatic declaration by the Perl~vian
Minister for Foreign Affairs asserting that the tribunal before which
Haya de la Torre had been summoned to appear was in conformity
with the general and permanent organization of Peruvian judicial
administration and under the control of the Supreme Court. This
assertion met with no contradiction or reservation on the part of
Colombia. It was only much later, following the presentation of the
Peruvian counter-claiin, that the Govern~nent of Colombia chose, in the Reply -and during the oral proceedings, to transfer the
defence of asylum to a plane on which the Havana Convention,
interpreted in the light of the most firmly established traditions of
Latin America, could provide it with no foundation.
The foregoing considerations lead us to reject the argument that
the Havana Convention was intended to afford a quite general
protection of asylum to any person prosecuted for political offences,
either in the course of revolutionary events, or in .the more or
less troubled times that follow, for the sole reason that it must be
assumed that such events interfere with the administration of
justice. Itis clear that the adoption of such a criterion would lead
to foreign interference of a particularly offensive natnre in the
domestic affairs of States ; besides which, no confirmation of this
criterion can be found in Latin-American practice, as this practice
has been explained to the Court.
In thus expressing itself, the Court does not lose sight of the
numerous cases of asylum which have been cited in the 14eply
of the Government of Colombia and during the oral state-
ments. In this connexion, the following observations shoiild be
made :
In the absence of precise data, it is difficult to assess the value
of such cases as precedents tending to establish the existence of
a legal obligation upon a territorial State to recognize the validity
of asylum which has been granted against proceedings instituted
by local judicial authorities. The facts which have been laid
before the Court show that in a number of cases the perçons who
have enjoyed asylum were not, at the moment at which asylum
was granted, the object of any accusation on the part of the
judicial authorjties. In a more general way, considerations of
convenience or simple political expediency seem to have led the
territorial State to recognize asylum without that decision being
dictated by any feeling of legal obligation.
If these remarks tend to reduce considerably the value as
precedents of the cases of asylum cited by the Government of
Colombia, they show, none the less, that asylum as practised in
Latin America is an institution which, to a very great extent,
owes its development to extra-legal factors. The good-neighbour
relations between the republics, the different political interests
of the governments, have favoured the mutual recognition of
asylum apart from any clearly defined juridical system. Even if
the Havana Convention, in particular, represents an indisputable
reaction against certain abuses in practice, it in no way tends to
limit the practice of asylum as it may arise from agreements
between interested governments inspired by mutual feelings of
toleration and goodwill. In conclusion, on the basis of the foregoing observations and
considerations, the Court considers that on January 3rd/4th, 1949,
there did not exist a danger constituting a case of urgency within
the meaning of Article 2,paragraph 2,of the Havana Convention.
This finding implies no criticism of the Ambassador of Colombia.
His decision to receive the refugee on the evening of January 3rd,
1949, may have been taken without the opportunity of lengthy
reflection ;it may have been influenced as much by the previous
grant of safe-conducts to perçons accused together with Haya de
la Torre as by the more general consideration of recent events in
Peru ; these events may have led him to believe in the existence
of urgency. But this subjective appreciation is not the relevant
element in the decision which the Court is called upon to take
concerning the validitv of the asylum ;the only important question
to be considered here is the objective existence of the facts, and it
is this which must determine the decision of the Court.
The notes of the Ambassador of Colombia of January 14th and
February ~zth, 1949,reflect theattitude of the Government towards
the asylum granted by its Ambassador. The first of these confirms
the asylum and claims to justify its grant by a unilateral qualifica-
tion of the refugee. The second formulates a demand for a safe-
conduct with a view to permitting the departure of the refugee,
and has based this demand expressly on the "international obliga-
tions" alleged to be binding on the Government of Peru. In thus
expressing itself, the Government of Colombia definitively pro-
claimed its intention of protecting Haya de la Torre, in spite of
the existence of proceedings instituted against him for military
rebellion. It has maintained this attitude and this protection by
continuing to insist on the grant of a safe-conduct, even when the
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Peru referred to the existence of
"a judicial prosecution, instituted by the sovereign power of the
State" against the refugee (notes of the Mïnister for Foreign Affairs
of Peru of March ~gth, 1949 ;of the Ambassador of Colombia of
March asth, 1949).
Thus, it is clearly apparent from this correspondence that the
Court, in its appraisal of the asylum, cannot be confined to the
date of January 3rd/4th, 1949, as the date on which it was granted.
The grant, as has been stated above, is inseparable from the pro-
tection to which it gives rise -a protection which has here assumed
the form of a defence against legal proceedings. It therefore results
that asylum has been granted for as long as the Government of
Colombia has relied upon it in support of its request for a safe-
conduct.
The Court is thus led to find that the grant of asylum from
January 3rd/4th, 1949, until the time when the two Governments
agreed to submit the dispute to its jurisdiction, has been prolonged
for a reason which is not recognized by Article 2, paragraph 2,
of the Havana Convention.
?j ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMEXT OF 20 XI 50) 288
This finding renders superfluous the addition to the counter-
claim submitted during the oral proceedings and worded as f01lo~vs :
"and that in any case the maintenance of the asylum constitutes
at the present time a violation of that treaty". This part of the
submission, as finally worded by the Government of Peru, was
intended as a substitution for the counter-claim in its original form
if the latter were rejected : it disappears with the allowance of
this counter-claim. Hence it will not be necessary for the Court to
consider either the objection on the ground of lack of jurisdiction
or the objections on the grounds of inadmissibility which the
Government of Colombia has based on an alleged disregard of
Article 63 of the Rules of Court or to consider the merits of the
claim thus submitted by the Government of Peru.
on the submissions of the Government of Colombia,
by fourteen votes to two,
Rejects the first submission in so far as it involves a right for
Colombia, as the country granting asylum, to qualify the nature
of the offence by a unilateral and definitive decision, binding on
Peru ;
by fifteen votes to one,
Rejects the second submission ;
on the counter-claim of the Goyernment of Peru,
by fifteen votes to one,
Rejects it in so far as it is founded on a violation of Arricle 1,
paragraph 1, of the Convention on Asylum signed at Havana in
1928 ;
by ten votes to six,
Finds that the grant oi asylum by the Colombian Government to
Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre was not made in conformity with
Article 2, paragraph 2 ("First"), of that Convention. Done in French and English, the French text being authoritative,
at the Peace Palace, The Hague, this twentieth day of November,
one thousand nine hundred and fift~7,in three copies, one of which
will be placed in the archives of the Court and the others trans-
mitted to the Governments of the Republic of Colombia and of the
Republic of Peru respectively.
(Sig~zed)BASDEVANT,
President .
(Signed) GARNIER-COIGNET,
Deputy-Registrar.
Judges ALVAREZ,BADAWI PASHA,READ and AZEVEDOa , nd
M. CAICEDO,Judge ad hoc, declaring that they are unable to
concur in certain points of the Judgment of the Court, have availed
themselves of the right conferred on them by Article 57 of the
Statute and appended to the Judgment statements of their dissent-
ing opinions.
Judge ZORIEIC,whilst accepting the first three points of the
operative part of the Judgment and the reasons given in support,
regrets to state that he isnable to agree with the last point of the
operative part, as he considers that asylum was granted in confor-
mity with Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Havana Convention.
On this point he shares the views expressed by Judge Read in his
dissenting opinion.
(Initialled)J. B. ANNEX
LIST OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED TO THE COURT
1.-ANNEXES DEPOSITED DURING THE WRITTEN PROCEEDINGS
A.-BY THE GOVERNMEN TF COLOMBIA
(a) Annexes to the Mernorial:
1.-1949, January 4th. No. 211. Letter from the Ambassador of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
2.-1949, January 14th. No. 812. Letter from the Ambaisador of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
3.-1949, February 12th. No. 2/64. Letter from the Ambassador of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
4.-1949, February aand. No. (D) 6-812. Letter from the Penivian
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Religion to the Ambassador of
Colombia at Lima.
5.-1949, March 4th. No. 4016.Letter from the Ambassador of Colom-
bia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
6.-1949, March 19th. No. (D) 6-814.Letter from the Peruvian Minister
for Foreign Affairs and Religion to the Ambassador of Colombia at
Lima.
7.-1949, March 28th. No. 7319. Letter from the Ambassador of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
S.-1949, April 6th. No. (D) 6-816.Letter from the Peruvian Minister
for Foreign Affairs andReligion to the Ambassador of Colombia at
Lima.
9.-1949. April 7th. Statements given to the press by the Colombian
Minister for Foreign Affairs.
IO.-1949, April 29th. No. (S) 6-8/7. Letter from the Peruvian Minister
for Foreign Affairs and Religion to the Ambassador of Colombia at
Lima.
II.-The Act of Lima, dated August yst, 1949.
12.-1949, August 31st. Letter from the Special Plenipotentiary of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Special Plenipotentiary.
13.-1949, August 31st. No. (D)6-8/14. Letter from the Peruvian Special
Plenipotentiary tothe Special Plenipotentiary of Colombiaat Lima.
14.-1949, August 31st. No. 300136 Letter from the Ambassador of
Colombia tothe Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs anà Religion.
12015.-1949, September 1st. Letter from the Peruvian Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Religion to the Ambassador of Colombia at Lima.
16.-1944, October 20th. Letter from the Peruvian Legation at Guate-
mala to the Military Junta of the Government.
17.-1948, October 28th. No. 5-20 Ml34 Letter from the Peruvian
Legation at Panama to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
18.-Extract from the Treaty on Private International Law, signed at
the Junta of American jurists which met at Lima in 1879.
19.-Extract from the Treaty on International Penal Law, signed at the
1st South-American Congress on Private International Law which
met at Montevideo in 1889.
20.-Bolivarian Agreement on Extradition, signed at Caracas on July
18th, 1911.
21.-Convention on Asylum, signed at the VIth Pan-American Confer-
ence.
22.-Convention on Political Asylum, signed at the VIIth Pan-American
Conference.
23.-Extract from the Treaty on Asylum and Political Refuge, signed at
the IInd South-American International Law Congress which met
at Montevideo in 1939.
24.-Excerpt from the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties
of Man, adopted at the IXth Pan-American Conference.
25.-Extract from the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, adopted
by the General Assembly of the U.N. on December ~oth, 1948.
(b) Annexes to the Reply :
1.-Documents concerning the asylum of MM. Manuel Gutiérrez
Aliaga and Luis Felipe Rodriguez in the Uruguayan Embassy at
Lima and the safe-conducts granted to them by the Peruvian
Government (five notes listed from A to E).
2.-Decree No. 4 of November 4th, 1948, creating a Court Martial for
the summary judgment of authors, accomplices and other perçons
responsible for rebellion, sedition or rioting.
(a) Annexes to the Counter-Mc.moria1:
1.-The Lima Act of August yst, 1949 (cf. Annex Ko. 1).
2.-The Public Prosecutor's indictment, dated September 7th, 1949,
in the proceedings concerning the crime of military rebellion and
other crimes (cf. Annexes Nos. 2, 4, 25).
3.-Folios 105 to 145 of Folder 8-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the report
of the Deputy-Inspector, head of the Bureau for special cases, on
the malicious damage caused to the Central Telephone Escliange
(cf. Annex No. 3).
4.-Copy of El Peruano, the Peruvian officia1gazette, of October 4th,
1948 (cf. Anneses Nos. 4 and 32). ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMENT OF 20 XI 50) 384
5.-Folios 27, 31 and 196 of Folder IO-Ain theproceedings concerning
the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
indictment, the inspection by eye-witnesses and the experts' report
on the explosivesfound at San Isidro (cf. Annex No. 5).
6.-Folio 708 of Folder IO-B of the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing note No. 290, of
October 3rd,. 1948, to the Inspector-General, head of the Tnvesti-
gations and Surveillance Service, on the bombs found in a taxi
(cf. Annex No. 6).
7.-Note of October 4th, 1948, to the Inspector-General, head of the
Investigations and Surveillance Service, concerning a dynamite
bomb found in the garden of the house of the secretary of the
Telephone Company ; Folder IO-A in the proceedings concerning
the crime of military rebellion and other crimes (cf. Annex No. 7).
8.-Folios 219 et sqq.of Folder IO-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing Report
No. 312, of October jth, 1948, to the Deputy-Inspector, head of
the Secretariat, on the explosion of bombs on the roofs of buildings
(cf. Annex No. 8).
9.-Folio 501 of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing communiqué
No. 201, of October 4th, 1948, addressed to the Inspector-General,
head of the Investigations and Surveillance Service, on the damage
caused to a branch of the People's Bank of Peru (cf.Annex No. 9).
IO.-Folios 215 to 217 of Folder IO-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing note
No. 465, of October 4th, 1948, and the report No. 1309, of October
qth, 1948, addressed tothe Inspector-General, head of the Investi-
gations and Surveillance Service,on the dynamite cartridges placed
near a petrol pump (cf. Annex No. IO), and note No. 211-R/Ia,
addressed to the said inspecter-general in regard to bombs found
near a barracks (cf.,Annex No. 24).
II.-Folios 516 et sqqof Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the docu-
ments relating to the bombs placed in the party wall of a glasç
factory (cf. Annex No. II).
12.-Folios 509 et sqqof Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing documents
relating to the dynamite bombs found in the garden of a house at
Miraflores (cf. Annex No. 12).
13.-Folios 523 et sqqof Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents relating to the bombs which exploded on the public
highway, injuring passers-by (cf. Annex No. 13).
14.-Folio 703 of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes,containing various documents
relating to the bomb and the incendiary bottle placed in the door-
way of a grocer's shop (cf. Annex No. 14).15.-Folios 221 to 223 of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents relating to the bomb found near the printing works of
the newspaper El Comercio (cf. Annex No. 15).
16.-Folios 512 et sqq.of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents relating to the bombs thrown at a house (cf. Annex
No. 16), and the bomb found at the foot of the Wall of a barracks
(cf. Annex No. 22).
17.-Folios 203 to 205, and overleaf, of Folder IO-A in the proceedings
concerning the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, contain-
ing various documents relating to a bomb placed on the tramway
(cf. Annex No. 17).
18.-Folder 210 of Folder IO-A in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing documents
relating to the bomb found in a motor bus (cf. Annex No. 18).
19.-Folio 229 of Foldef IO-A in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing documents
relating to the gelignite cartridge found in the premises of the
daily paper La Prensa (cf. Annex h'o. 19).
20.-Folios 201 and 202 of Fclder IO-A in the proceedings concerning
the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents relating to the twenty-eight dynamite bombs found on
the roof of an hotel (cf. Annex No. 20).
21.-Folios 740 et sqq.of Folder IO-E in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents concerning the bomb,hidden in the coal, which exploded
in a kitchen range (cf. Annex No. 21).
22.-Folio 700 of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the crime
ofmilitary rebellion and other crimes, containing various documents
relating to bombs found on the roof of a house adjoining the work-
shops of the Telephone Company (cf. Annex No. 23).
23.-Folios 21 and 22 of Folder II-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing a list of
documents and exhibits transmitted by the Prefecture to the
judicial department of the Navy with a ~iewto their being attached
to the prosecution opened in regard to the subversive movement of
October 3rd, 1948 (cf. Annexes Nos. 2j and 57).
24.-Folios 96 to 98 of Folio 8-A in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing Report No. jj of
October 8th, 1948, on the manufacture of explosives in a kitclieil
stove factory (cf. Annex No. 26).
25.-Folios go et sqq. of Folder 8-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the report
of the assistant chief of the Investigations and Surveillance Service
to the Inspector-General, chief of the Service, on the manufacture
of bombs by the Apnst Party (cf. Annex No. 27).
26.-Report by the examining magistrate on the malicious damage
caused to the Central Telephone Eschange and the manufacture
123 of explosive bombs by the n~embers of the Aprist Party ; this
report is contained in Folios 300etsqq.of Folder 8-A in the proceed-
ings concerning the crime of military rebellion and other crimes
(cf. Annex No. 28).
27.-Folio 847, and overleaf, of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
deposition of M. Alberto Benavides, who was asked by the Aprist
leaders to cast shells for explosivebombs (cf.Annex No. 29).
2s.-Five photographic reproductions of leaflets used by Apra in its
campaign of incitement preceding the rebellion of October 3rd,
1948 (cf. Annex No. 30).
29.-Copies of the Lima newspapers containing information published
after the rising on October 3rd, 1948 (cf. Annex No. 31).
30.-Volume containing the record of the prosecution for trade in drugs
instituted in a court of the United States of America (district of
Southern New York), against Edward Tampa, Miguel E. Gonzales
and Eduardo Balarezo, showing the connexion which existed
between the latter and the revolutionary movement of October 3rd,
1948, and also his connexion with Victor Raul Haya de la Torre,
the leader of Apra. This document is authenticated by the United
States authorities (cf. Annex No. 33).
31.-Photographic copies of documents communicated to the Peruvian
Ambassador at Washington by the Bureau of Narcotics of the
United States of America (cf. Annex No. 34).
32.-Letter addressed to M. Haya de la Torre by Major Aguila Pardo,
Folio 624 of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes. Photographic reproduction
of the document and authenticated copy (cf. Annex No. 35).
33.-Decree No. 23 of October 4th, 1948, by the Executive Power,
outlawing Apra (cf. Annex No. 36).
34.-Copy of the Penal Code of the Republic of Peru ; law NO.4868 of
January ~oth, 1924 (cf. Annex No. 37).
35.-Copy of the Code of Military Justice of the Republic of Peru ; law
No. 8991 of October 16th, 1939 (cf. Annex No. 37).
36.-Order made by the head of the Naval Judicial Department, dated
October 3rd, 1948, giving instructions for the opening of investiga-
tions bythe Permanent Examining Magistrate of the Navy, Folio 1,
and overleaf, in the proceedings concerning the crime of military
rebellion and other crimes (cf. Annex No. 38).
37.-Folios 8 and 9 of Folder I in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing a request by the
prosecutor to the Directorate of the Judicial Department of the
Navy for the issue of a forma1 order for the opening of the proceed-
ings, and an order dated October 4th, 1948, for the opening of a
military prosecution in accordance with the opinion given by tlie
prosecutor on the same date (cf. Annex No. 39).
12438.-Folios 22 to 24 of Folder I in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the institution of
the prosecu.tion of the persons responsible, the perpetrators and
accomplices (cf. Annex No. 40).
39.-A~cusation by the Minister of the Interior, transmitted by the
Minister of the Navy to the head of the Judicial Department of
the Navy ; this accusation appears in Folios I to 5, and on the
reverse of Folios j,IO and II, and on the reverse of Folder IO-A of
the proceedings concerning the crime of military rebellion and other
crimes (cf. Annex No. 41).
40.-Folios 16 to 23 of Folder IO-A concerning the crime of military
rebellion and other crimes, containing a certified true copy of the
examining magistrate's report (cf. Annex No. 42).
41.-Folio 170, and overleaf, of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
judicial order for the arrest of the accused persons who are not yet
in custody (cf. Annex No. 43).
42.-Folio 346, and overleaf, of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
note requesting the delivery of the documents found at the head-
quarters of the Aprist Party, in the premises of La Tribuna, and
in Haya de la Torre's private house, with a renewed order for the
arrest of the accused persons who have defaulted (cf.Annex No. 44).
43.-Folio 421, and overleaf, of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
note from the Inspector-General of the Investigations and Surveil-
lance Service to the judicial authority, informing the latter that
Haya de la Torre and other accused persons had not been found
(cf. Annex No. 43).
44.-Folio 414, and overleaf, of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
judge's order for the citation, by public summons, in accordance
with the law, of the accused persons who have defaulted (cf. Annex
No. 46).
45.-Copy of the Peruvian officia1gazetteEl Peruaflo, of November 16th,
1948, containing the first of the citations summoning the accused
persons to appear (cf. Annex No. 47).
46.-Note dated January 4th, 1949, from the Colombian Ambassador in
Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs (cf.Annex No. 48.)
47.-Note dated January 14th, 1949, from the Colombian Ambassador in
Lima.tothe Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs (cf.Annex No. 48.)
&.-Note dated February ~zth, 1949, from the Colombian Ambassador
in Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs (cf. Anne:<
No. 48).
49.-Officia1 publication containing the note No. (D) 6-812, dated
February zznd, 1949, from the Peruvian Minister for Foreign
Affairs to the Colombian Ambassador in Lima (cf. Annex No. 49).
12550.-Official publication containing the note No. (D) 6-814, dated
March 19th, 1949, from the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs
tothe Colombian Ambassador in Lima (cf.Annex No. 49).
51.-Officia1 publication containing the note No. (D) 6-816, dated
April 6th, 1949, from the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs to
the Colombian Ambassador in Lima (cf. Annex No. 49).
52.-Photographic copy of the pages of the Revista colombianade Derecho
internacional, containing a report by the advisory commission of the
Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (cf.Annex No. 50).
53.-Photographic copy of a page of the year-book of Peruvian legisla-
tion, containing the text of law No. 9048 (cf. Annex No. 54).
54.-Photographic copy contained in Folder IO-B in the proceedings
concerning the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, of the
Disciplinary Statute of the People's Party, together with an authen-
ticated copy of the same document (cf.Annex No. jj).
55.-Photographic copy contained in Folder IO-B in the proceedings
concerning the cnme of military rebellion and other crimes, of the
Code of Justice of the Aprist Advanced Guard, together with an
authenticated copy of that document (cf. Annex No. 56).
56.-Text of a cable from President Benavides, dated December 26th,
1938 (cf. Annex No. 58).
57.-Officia1 publication by the Peruvian Ministry of the Interior
containing President Bustamante y Rivero's message dated Febru-
ary zgth, 1948 (cf. Annex No. 59).
58.-Judgment delivered on December 5th, 1949, in the trial of Alfredo
Tello Salavarria and other persons for the murder of M. Francisco
Grafia Garland, in which orders were given for the institution of
proceedingsagainst Victor Rad Haya de la Torre and Carlos Boado
for the crimewhich was the subject of that trial (cf.Annex No. 60).
59.-The public prosecutor's indictment of Haya de la Torre and other
persons for the cnme of usurpation of authority (cf.Annex No. 61).
60.-Order for the institution of proceedings against Victor Raid Haya
de la Torre and other persons for the crime of usurpation of func-
tions to the prejudice of the State (cf. Annex No. 62).
(b) Annexes to the Rejoinder
1.-Extracts from the Peruvian Code of Military Law (documeilt
transmitted with the Counter-Memorial).
2.-Extracts from the resolution of the head of the Judicial Department
of the Navy which declares Mr. Haya de la Torre, among others, a
defaulting criminal. (Folios 24 to 54 of Folder II-C in the proceed-
ings concerning the crime of military rebellion and other crimes.)
3.-Extracts from the sentence pronounced on March zznd, 1950, by
the tribunal which tried the persons responsible for rebellion and
other crimes.
4.-Articles from the Military Penal Code of Colombia.
126 ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMENT OF 20 XI 50) 389
5.-Colombian decree extending the jurisdiction of the Courts Martial.
6.-Colombian decree increasing the penalties under the Penal Code.
?.-Extracts from the report of the examining magistrate in the
proceedings against Victor Ratil Haya de la Torre and others
concerning the crime of usurpation of authority.
(c) Justice with the RejoinderR:gistry of the Inter?zationalCourt of
1.-Folios 24 to 54 of Folder II-C in the proceedingsconcerning military
rebellion and other crimes, containing the resolution of the head of
the Judicial Department of the Navy, which declares M. Haya de la
Torre, among others, a defaulting criminal.
a.-Certified copy of the sentence pronounced on March zznd, 1950,
by the tribunal which tried the persons responsible for rebellion
and other crimes.
3.-Copy of the Military Penal Code of Colombia (law 3 a of 1945).
4.-Cutting from the Officia1 Journal of Colombia containing decree
No. 3562 of 1949.
5.-Copy of the Officia1Journal of Colombia containing decree No. 957
0i' 1950.
6.-Certified copy of the report of the examining magistrate in the
proceedings against Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre and others
concerning the crime of usurpation of authority.
II.-ANNEXES DEPOSITED DURING ORAL PROCEEDINGS
1.-Authentication of the signature of the Notary Public for the District
of Columbia by the Secretary of the Bureau des Commissaires of
that district.
2.-Letter from M. Serafino Romualdi to M. Francisco Urrutia, signed
before a notary at New York on 6th September, 1950.
3.-Copy of a letter from M. Serafino Romualdi to M. Edward G.
Miller Jr., dated 11th April, 1950.
4.-Photocopy of a letter from Mr. Edward G.Miller Jr., dated 1st May,
1950, in answer to M. Serafino Romualdi's letter.
5.-Photocopy of M. Victor Ratil Haya de la Torre's passport.
COUR INTERNATIONALE DE JUSTICE
RECUEIL DES ARRÊTS,
AVIS CONSULTATIFS ET ORDONNANCES
AFFAIRE DU DROIT
D'A SILE
(COLOMBIE/PÉROU)
ARRÊT DU 20 NOVEMBRE1950
INTERNATIONAL COUOFJUSTICE
REPORTS OF JUDGMENTS,
ADVTSORY OPINIONS AND ORDERS
ASYLUM CASE
(COLOMBIA /PERU)
JUDGMENT OF NOVEMBER 20th1950 Le présent arrêt doit êtrecité comme suit :
«Agaire colombo-péruviennerelative au droit d'asile,
Arrêtdu20novembre 1950:I. JRecueil 19p.266.)!
This Judgment should be cas follows :
"Colombian-Peruvian asylum case,
Judgment of Novemberh 195:I.C. J. Refiorts 1950, fi. 266."
NOde vent:
1 .M,~ 5.0 1 COUR INTERNATIONALE DE JUSTICE
ANNEE 1950
.e201novembre
Rôle général 20 novembre 1950
no 7
AFFAIRE DU DROIT
D'ASILE
(COLOMBIE / PÉROU)
Asile diplomatique. -Droit de qualification de la nature de l'in-
fraction, politique ou de droit communprétention à une qualification
unilatérale et définitive partat octroyant l'as-leDéfaut de fon-
dement d'une telle prétention en l'absence d'une règle conventionnelle
ou coutumière qui lastifie. -Accord bolivarien dI~II SUYl'extra-
dition; digérences entre l'asile territorial (extret l'asile diplo-
matique.- Convention de La Havane de 1928 relative à l'asile, Con.ven-
lion de Montevideo de 1933 sur l'asile politique ; coutume, éléments
et Qreuve de lacouturne- Garanties de libre sortie de l'asilé; condi-
tions requisesour l'exigence du sauf-conduit.
Demande reconventionnelle. Recevabilité : connexité directe avec
l'objet de la requête(orticle 63 du Règlemevzt de la Cour)Fond :
interprétation de l'article premier, paragraphe premier, de la Conven-
tion de La Havane ; interprétation de l'article z, paragra2,ede
la même convention : notion de l'urgence, naturedu danger dont
l'imminence est constitutive de l'urgence, poursuites judiciaires engagées
par les autoritésevq(itoria1esantérieuventent à l'octroi de l'asile, pour-
suitesrégulières, poursuitesmanifestement entachées d'arbitraire;
absence de cas d'urgence lors de l'octroi de l'asileion maintenue
à l'encontre de poursuites réguli;prolongation de l'asile contraire
à l'artic2, paragraphe 2, de la Conventiorc de 1.a Ilavaîzc.
Présents : M. BASDEVANT Président ; M. GUERRERO, Vice-Prési-
dent; MM.ALVAREZ ,ACKWORTW H,IXIARSKIZ ,ORIEIC,
DE VISSCHER,Sir Arnold MCNAIR,M. KLAESTAD,
BADAWI PACHA,MM. KRYLOVR , EAD,HSU MO,AZE-
VEDOj,uges ; M. ALAYZA Y PAZ SOLDAN et M. CAICEDO
CASTILLA, juges ad hoc ; M. GARNIER-COIGNE GT,effier
adioint. En l'affaire du droit d'asile,
entre
la République de la Colombie,
représentée par
M. J. M. Yepes, professeur, ministre plénipotentiaire, jurisconsulte
au ministère des Affaires étrangèresde la Colombie, ancien sénateur,
comme agent ;
assisté de
M. Alfredo Vasquez, ministre plénipotentiaire, secrétaire général
du ministère des Affaires étrangèresde la Colombie, comme avocat ;
la République du Pérou,
représentée par
M. Carlos SayAn Alvarez, avocat, ambassadeur, ancien ministre,
ancien président de la Chambre des Députés du Pérou, comme
agent ;
assisté de
M. Felipe Tudela y Barreda, avocat, professeur de droit constitu-
tionnel à Lima,
M. Fernando Morales Macedo R., interprète parlementaire,
M. Jxan José Calle y Calle, secrétaire d'ambassade ;
ainsi que, comme conseils, de
M. Georges Scelle, professeur honoraire de l'université de Paris,
M. Julio L6pez OlivAn, ambassadeur,
ainsi composée,
rend l'arrêt suivant :
A la date du 31 août 1949 ,n accord dit « Acte de Lima ))a été
signé à Lima au nom du Gouvernement de la Colombie et du
Gouvernement du Pérou. Cet acte est ainsi conçu :
«Son Excellence MonsieurVictor AndrésBelaunde,ambassadeur
et Son Excellence Monsieur Eduardo Zuleta Angel, ambassadeurou,
extraordinaire et plénipotentiaiad hoc de la Colombie, ayant été
désignéspar leurs Gouvernements respectifs pour négocierèt signer In the Asylum case,
between
the Republic of Colombia,
represented by :
M. J. M. Yepes, Professor, Minister Plenipotentiary, Legal
Adviser to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, former
Senator, as Agent ;
assisted by
M. Alfredo Vasquez, Minister Plenipotentiary, Secretary-General
of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, as Advocate ;
and
the Republic of Peru,
represented by :
M. Carlos SayAnAlvarez, Barrister, Ambassador,former Minister,
former President of the Peruvian Chamber of Deputies, as Agent;
assisted by
M. Felipe Tudela y Barreda, Barrister, Professor of Coristi-
tutional Law at Lima,
M. Fernando Morales Macedo R., Parliamentary Interpreter,
M. Juan José Calle y Calle, Secretary of Embassy ;
and, as Counsel,
M. Georges Scelle, Honorary Professor of the University of Paris,
and
M. Julio Lopez Olivan, Ambassador,
composed as above,
delivers the following Judgment :
On August yst, 1949, an agreement called the "Act of Lima"
was signed at Lima in the name of the Colombian Government
and of the Peruvian Government. This Act is as follows :
"His Excellency Monsieur Victor Andrés Belaunde, Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary ad hoc of +liePeruvian Kepublic,
and His Excellency Monsieur Eduardo Zuleta Ançel, Ambassador
Estraordinary and Plenipotentiary ad hoc of Colombia, du157desig-
nated by tlieir respective Governments to negotiatc and draw up tlie
5 les termes du document compromissoire par lequel devra être
soumis à la Cour internationale de Justice le différendqui a surgi à
l'occasion de la demande de l'ambassade de Colombie à Lima ten-
dant à obtenir la délivrance d'un sauf-conduit pour Monsieur
Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, se sont réunis au ministère des
Relations extérieures et du Culte, à Lima; après avoir échangé
leurs pouvoirs respectifs, et dans les sentiments d'amicale cordialité
qui unissent les deux pays, ils déclarent:
Primo
Qu'ils ont examiné, dans un esprit de compréhension, le diffé-
rend existant, qu'ils sont convenus de soumettre, en vertu de
l'accord intervenu entre les deux Gouvernements, à la décisionde
la Cour internationale de Justice.
Secwndo :
Que, vu l'impossibilité pour les plénipotentiaires du Pérou et
de la Colombie de parvenir à un accord sur les termes dans lesquels
ils pourraient soumettre conjointement à la Cour internationale
de Justice le cas en discussion, ils conviennent que la procédure
devant la juridiction reconnue de la Cour pourra être engagée
à la demande de l'une quelconque des deux Parties, sans que cela
constitue un acte inamical envers l'autre Partie ou un acte de
nature à porter atteinte aux bons rapports entre les deux pays.
La Partie exerçant ce droit annoncera amicalement à l'autre,
avec un préavis raisonnable, la date du dépôt de sa requête.
Tertio:
Qu'ils conviennent, d'ores et déjà: a) que la procédure du litige
à engager sera la procédure ordinaire; b) que chacune des deux
Parties pourra faire usage du droit de désigner un juge de sa natio-
nalité, comme il est prévu à l'article 31, paragraphe 3, du Statut
de la Cour ;c) que la langue à employer sera le français.
Q,uarto:
Que la présente déclaration, une fois signée, sera communiquée
à la Cour par les Parties.))
Le 15 octobre 1949, une requête, qui se réfère à l'Acte de Lima
du 31 août 1949, était déposée au Greffe de la Cour au nom du
Gouvernement de la Colombie. Après avoir énoncéque la Colombie
soutient :
« a) qu'elle a le droit, dans le cas des personnes qui auraient
cherché asile dans ses ambassades, légations, navires de guerre,
camps ou aéronefs militaires, de qualifier ces «asilés», soit
comme délinquants de droit commun ou comme déserteurs de
terre ou de mer, soit comme .délinquants politiques ;
b) que l'État territorial, soit,en l'occurrence, le Pérou, doit
accorder «les garanties nécessaires pour que le réfugiésorte du
«pays, l'inviolabilité de sa personne étant respectée» »,
6 ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMENT OF 20 XI 50)
268
terms of an agreement to refer to the International Court of Justice
a dispute which arose following a request bythe Colombian Embassy
in Lima for delivery of a safe-conduct for Monsieur Victor Raul Haya
de la Torre, have met in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Public
Worship in Lima and, having exchanged their respective credentials,
make the following declaration in the spirit of cordial fnendship
which characterizes the relations between the two countries :
First:
They have examined in a spirit of understanding the existing
dispute which they agree to refer for decision to the International
Court of Justice, in accordance ~3h the agreement concluded by
the two Governments.
Second :
The Plenipotentianes of Peru and Colombia having been unable
to reach an agreement on the terms in which they might refer the
dispute jointly to the International Court of Justice, agree that
proceedings before the recognized junsdiction of the Court may be
instituted on the application of either of the Parties without this
being regarded as an unfnendly act toward the other, or as an act
likely to affect the good relations between the two countries. The
Party exercising this right shall, with reasonable advance notice,
announce in a friendly way to the other Party the date on which
the application is to be made.
Third :
They agree,here and now :(a) that the procedurein this caseshall
be the ordinary procedure ; (b) that, in accordance with Article 31,
paragraph 3, of the Statute of the Court, each of the Parties may
exercise its right to choose a judge of its nationality ; (c) that the
case shall be conducted in French.
Fourth :
This document, after it has been signed, shall be communicated
to the Court by the Parties."
On October 15th, 1949, an Application, referring to the Act of
Lima of August 31st, 1949, was filed in the Registry of the Court
in the name of the Colombian Government. After stating that
Colombia asserts :
"(a) that she is entitled in the case cf perçons who have claimed
asylum in her embassies, legations, warships, rnilitary camps or
military aircraft, io qualify the refugees, either as offenders for
common crimes or deserters from the army or navy, or as political
offenders ;
(b) that the territorial State,namely, in this case, Peru, is bound
to give 'the guarantees necessary for the departure of the refugee,
with due regard to the inviolability of his person, from the country",
6 la requête conclut à ce qu'il plaise à la Cour :
((Juger et résoudre,tant en présencequ'en l'absence du Gouver-
nement de la Républiquedu Pérou,et après tels délais que, sous
réserve d'un accord entre les Parties, il appartiendra à la Cour
de fixer, les questions suivante:
Premièrequestion. - Dans le cadre des obligations qui découlent,
en particulier, de l'Accord bolniarien sur l'extradition du
18 juillet 1911 et de la Convention sur l'asile du20 février1928,
tous deux en vigueur entre la Colombieet le Pérou,et, d'une façon
générale,du droit international américain, appartient-il ou non
à la Colombie, en tant que pays accordant l'asile, de qualifier la
nature du délit aux fins du susdit asi?e
Deuxièmequestion. Dans le cas concret matière du litige, le
Pérou,en sa qualitédJEtat territorial, est-il ou non obligéd'accor-
der les garanties nécessairespour que le réfugiésorte du pays,
l'inviolabilitéde sa personne étant respecté? ))
En mêmetemps que la requête, l'agent du Gouvernement de
la Colombie a déposéau Greffe le texte de l'Acte de Lima, dans
une copie certifiée conforme de l'original en espagnol, accompagnée
d'une traduction en français. Par lettre du 15 octobre 1949, reçue
au Greffe le même jour, l'agent du Gouvernement du Pérou a
également déposéune traduction certifiée conforme de l'Acte de
.Lima.
Conformément à l'article 40, paragraphe 3, du Statut de la Cour,
la requête fut communiquée aux États admis à ester en justice
devant la Cour. Elle fut également transmise au Secrétaire général
des Nations Unies.
La requêtese fondant sur la Convention relative au droit d'asile
signée à La Havane le 20 février 1928 ainsi que sur l'Accord sur
l'extradition signé à Caracas le 18 juillet 1911, la notification
prévqe à l'article 63, paragraphe 1, du Statut de la Cour, fut faite
aux Etats, autres que les Parties, qui avaient participé aux actes
précités.
Les pièces de la procédure écrite ayant étédéposéesdans les
délais fixés par une ordonnance du 20 octobre 1949 et prorogés
par les ordonnances du 17 décembre 1949 et du g mai 1950, l'affaire
s'est trouvée en état le 15 juin 1950.
La Cour ne comptant sur le siège aucun juge de la nationalité
des Parties, chacune d'elles s'est prévalue du droit prévu à I'arti-
cle 31, paragraphe 3, du Statut. Ont étéainsi désignésen qualité
de juges ad hoc : par le Gouvernement de la Colombie, M. José
Joaquin Caicedo Castilla, docteur en droit, professeur, ancien
députéet ancien président du Sénat, ambassadeur ; par le Gouver-
nement du Pérou, M. Luis Alayza y Paz Soldan, docteur en droit,
professeur, ancien ministre, ambassadeur.
La date d'ouverture de la procédure orale fut fixée au 26 sep-
tembre 1950. Des audiences publiques furent tenues les -26, 27,
28 et 29 septembre, et les 2,3, 6 et g octobre 1950. Au cours dethe Application concludes by requesting the Court :
"To pass judgment on and answer, whether the Government of
the Republic of Peru enters an appearance or not, and after such
time-limits as the Court may fix in the absence of an agreement
between the Parties, the followingquestion:
First Question.-Within the limits of the obligations resulting
in particular from the Eolivarian Agreement on Extradition of
July 18th, 1911,and the Convention on Asylum of February zoth,
1928,both in forcebetween ColombiaandPeru, and in general from
American international law,was Colombiacompetent,as the country
granting asylum, to qualify the offence for the purposes of said
asylum ?
Second Question.-In the specific case under consideration, was
Peru, asthe territorial State, bound to give the guarantees necessary
for the departure of the refugee from the country, with due regard
to the inviolability of his perso?"
Together with the Application, the Agent of the Colombian
Government filed in the Registry a certified true copy of the original
in Spanish, accompanied by a French translation, of the Act of
Lima. By letter of October 15th, 1949, received by the Registry
on ,the same day, the Agent of the Peruvian Government also
deposited a certified true translation of the Act of Lima.
The Application was notified, under Article 40, paragraph 3,
of the Statute of the Court, to the States entitled to appear before
the Court. It was also transmitted to the Secretary-General of the
'C'nited Nations.
As the Application \vas based upon the Convention on Asylum
signed at Havana on February zoth, 1928, and upon the Agreement
on Extradition signed at Caracason July 18th, 1911, the notification
prescribed by Article 63, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court
was addressed to the States other than those concerned in the
case which were parties to the foregoing Conventions.
The Pleadings having been deposited within the time-limits
prescribed in the Order of October zoth, 1949, as extended by
Orders of December 17th, 1949, and May gth, 1950, the casewas
ready for hearing on June 15th, 1950.
As the Court did not include upon the Bench any judge of the
nationality of the Parties, the latter availed themselves of the
right provided by Article 31, paragraph 3, of the Statute. The
Judges ad hoc designated were M. José Joaquin Caicedo Castilla,
Doctor of Law, Professor, former Deputy and former President
of the Senate, Ambassador, for the Government of Colombia, and
M. Luis Alayza y Paz SoldAn, Doctor of Law, Professor, former
Minister, Ambassador, for the Government of Peru.
The opening of the oral proceedings was fixedfor September 26th,
1950. Public sittings were held by the Court on September 26th,
27th, 28th and 29th and on October and, 3rd, 6th and gth, 1950.
7ces audiences, la Cour entendit dans leurs plaidoiries : pour la
République de la Colombie, M. J. M. Yepes, agent, et M. Alfredo
Vasquez, avocat ; pour la République du Pérou, M. Carlos SayAn
Alvarez, agent, et M. Georges Scelle, conseil.
A la fin de la procédure écrite, les Parties avaient énoncéles
conclusions suivantes :
Pour la Colombie (conclusions contenues dans la Réplique) :
«PLAISE A LA COUR
Débouter le Gouvernement de la République du Pérou de ses
conclusions,
DIRE ET JUGER :
Conformément aux conclusions formulées par le Gouvernement
de la Républiquede Colombiedans son Mémoiredu IOjanvier 1950,
soumis à la Cour à la mêmedate, et
Rejetant toute conclusion contraire,
1. Que la République de Colombie a le droit, en tant que pays
accordant l'asile, de qualifier la nature du délitaux fins du susdit
asile, dans le cadre des obligations qui découlent en particulier de
l'Accord bolivarien sur l'extradition du 18 juillet 1911 et de la
Convention de La Havane sur l'asile du 20 février1928 et, d'une
façon générale, dudroit international américain ;
II. Que la République du Pérou, ensa qualité d'État territorial,
est obligée, dans le cas concret matière du litige, d'accorder les
garanties nécessairespour que M. Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre
sorte du pays, l'inviolabilité de sa personne étant respectée.1)
Pour le Pérou (conclusions contenues dans la Duplique) :
(PLAISE A LA COUR
Débouter le Gouvernement de la République de Colombie de ses
conclusions;
DIRE ET JUGER :
A titre reconventionnel, aux termes de l'article 63 du Règlement
de la Cour, et par un seul et mêmearrêt,que l'octroi de l'asile par
l'ambassadeur de Colombie à Lima à Victor Rad1 Haya de la Torre
a étéfait en violation de l'article 1, paragraphe,et de l'article 2,
paragraphe 2, premièrement (incisofirimero),de la Convention sur
l'asile signàeLa Havane en 1928. ))
A l'issue des plaidoiries, au cours desquelles l'agent du Gouver-
nement du Pérou a apporté une addition aux conclusions telles
qu'elles avaient étéformulées lors de la procédure écrite, la Cour
a été saisie des conclusions finales suivantes, telles que les Parties
les avaient formulées en audience, puis confirmées par écrit :
Pour la Colombie :
(sur la demande principale)
8 In the course of the sittings, the Court heard statements by M. J.
M. Yepes, Agent, and M. Alfredo Vasquez, Advocate, on behalf of
the Republic of Colombia, and by M. Carlos SayAn Alvarez, Agent,
and M. Georges Scelle, Counsel, on behalf of the Republic of Peru.
At the end of the written proceedings the Parties had presented
the following submissions :
On behalf of Colombia (submissions contained in the Reply) :
"MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT
To dismiss the submissions of the Government of the Republic
of Peru,
TO ADJUDGE AND DECLARE :
In accordance with the submissions presented by the Government
of the Republic of Colombia in its Memorial of January ~oth, 1950,
which was submitted to the Court on the same date, and
Rejecting al1 contrary submissions,
1. That the Republic of Colombia, as the country granting
asylum, is competent to qualify the offence for the purpose of the
said asylum, within the limits of the obligations resultingin par-
ticular from the Bolivarian Agreement on Extradition of July 18th,
1911, and the Convention on Asylum of February zoth, 1928, and
of American international law in general ; ,
II. That the Republic of Peru, as the territorial State, is bound
in the case now before the Court to give the guarantees necessary
for the departure of M. Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre from the
country, with due regard to the inviolability of hisrson."
On behalf of Peru (submissions contained in the Rejoinder) :
"MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT
To set aside the submissions of the Government of the Republic
of Colombia;
As a counter-claim, under Article 63 of the Rules of Court, and
in the same decision, that the grant of asylum by the Colombian
Ambassador at Lima to Victor Raiil Haya de la Torre was made
in violation of Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article2,paragraph 2,
item I (ilzcisprimera), of the Convention on Asylum signed at
Havana in 1928."
Atthe end of the oral statements, the Agent for the Government
of Peru having made an addition to the submissions in the Plead-
ings, the following final submissions were presented to the Court
orally and confirmed in writing :
On behalf of Colombia
(on the claim) DIRE ET JUGER :
1.- Que la République de Colombie a le droit, en tant que
pays accordant l'asile, de qualifier la nature du délit aux fins du
susdit asile, dans le cadre des obligations qui découlent en parti-
culier de l'Accord bolivarien sur l'extradition du 18 juillet 1911
et de la Convention de La Havane sur l'asile du 20 février 1928,
et, d'une façon générale, du droit international américain ;
II.- Que la République du Pérou, en sa qualité d'État terri-
torial, est obligée,dans le cas concret matière du litige, d'accorder
les garanties nécessaires pour que M. Victor Raul Haya de la
Torre sorte du pays, l'inviolabilité de sa personne étant respectée.»
(sur la demande reconventionnelle)
I. Que la demande reconventionnelle présentée par le Gou-
vernement du Pérou le 21 mars 1950 n'est pas recevable par son
manque de connexité directe avec la requête du Gouvernement
colombien ;
z. Que la nouvelle demande reconventionnelle, indûment pré-
sentée le 3 octobre 1950 SOUS forme de conclusion aux allégations
du débat oral, n'est pas recevable parce que :
a) Elle a étéprésentée en violation de l'article63 du Règlement
de la Cour ;
b) La Cour n'est pas compétente pour en connaître ;
c,JElle manque de connexité directe avec la requête du Gou-
vernement colombien. »
Pour le Pérau :
(PLAISE A LA COUR
Rejeter les conclusions 1 et II du Mémoire colombien.
Rejeter les conclusions présentées par M. l'agent du Gouver-
nement colombien à la fin de sa plaidoirie du 6 octobre 1950 au
sujet de la demande reconventionnelle du Gouvernement du Pérou
et renouvelées dans sa lettre du 7 octobre 1950.
DIRE ET JUGER,
A titre reconventionnel, aux termes de l'article 63 du Règlement
de la Cour et par un seul et mêmearrêt, que l'octroi de l'asile par
l'ambassadeur de Colombie à Lima à Victor Ra61 Haya de la
Torre a été fait en violation de l'article premier, paragraphe
premier, et de l'article 2, paragraphe 2, premièrement (incisa
$rimera,), de la Convention sur l'asile signée en 1928, et qu'en
tout cas le maintien de l'asile constitue actuellement une violation
dudit traité.)) ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMENT OF 20 XI 50) 271
T0 ADJUDGE AND DECLARE :
1.-That the Republic of Colombia, as the country granting
asylum, is competent to qualify the offence for the purpose of
the said asylum, within the limits of the obligations resulting
in particular from the Bolivarian Agreement on Extradition of
July 18th, 1911, and the Havana Convention on Asylum of
February zoth, 1928, and of American international law in general ;
II.-That the Republic of Peru, as the territorial State, is
bound in the case now before the Court to give the guarantees
necessary for the departure of M. Victor Raul Haya de la Torre
from the country, with due regard to the inviolability of his
person."
(on the counter-claim)
"1. That the counter-claim presented by the Peruvian Govern-
ment on March z~st, 1950, is not admissible because of its lack
of direct connexion with the Application of the Colombian Govern-
ment ;
2. That the new counter-claim, irregularly presented on
October 3rd, 1950, in the form of a submission upon allegations
made during the oral debate, is not admissible on the grounds
that :
(a.)It was presented in violation of Article 63 of the Rules
of Court ;
(b) The Court has no jurisdiction to take cognizance of it ;
('c)It has no direct connexion with the Application of the
Colombian Government."
On behalf of Peru :
"MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT
To set aside submissions 1 and II of the Colombian Memorial.
To set aside the submissions which were presented by the Agent
of the Colombian Government at the end of his oral statement
on October 6th, 1950, in regard to the counter-claim of the Govern-
ment of Peru, and which were repeated in his letter of October 7th,
1950.
TO ADJUDGE AND DECLARE,
As a counter-claim, under Article 63 of the Rules of Court and
in the same decision, that the grant of asylum by the Colombian
Ambassador at Lima to Victor Raul Haya de la Torre was made
in violation of Article 1, paragraph 1, and of Artic2,paragraph 2,
item I (inciso primera), of the Convention on Asylum signed in
1928, and that in any case the maintenance of the asylum cons-
titutes at the present time a violation of that treaty." Le 3 octobre 1948, une rébellionmilitaire éclatait au Pérou. Elle
fut réprimée le mêmejour et une enquête fut immédiatement
ouverte.
Le 4 octobre, le Président de la République publiait un décret
dont les considérants relevaient à la charge d'un parti politique,
l'Alliance populaire révolutionnaire américaine, le fait d'avoir
préparéet dirigéla rébellion. Il décrétait,en conséquence, que ce
parti s'était mis hors la loi, que dorénavant l'exercice d'aucune
sorte d'activité ne lui serait permis, et que ses dirigeants seraient
soumis à la justice nationale comme instigateurs de la rébellion.
En mêmetemps, le chef de la zone judiciaire de la Marine rendait
une ordonnance prescrivant au juge d'instruction de la Marine
d'ouvrir immédiatement une enquête sur les faits constituant le
délit de rébellion militaire.
Le 5 octobre, le ministre de l'Intérieur adressait au ministre de
la Marine une « note de dénonciation »contre le chef de l'Alliance
populaire révolutionnaire américaine, Victor Rad1 Haya de la
Torre, et d'autres membres du parti, comme responsables de la
rébellion. Cette dénonciation fut approuvée le mêmejour par le
ministre de la Marine, et, le IO octobre, par l'auditeur, qui indiqua
que l'objet des poursuites était le délit de rébellion militaire.
Le II octobre, le juge d'instruction rendit une ordonnance
décidant l'ouverture d'une instruction contre Haya de la Torre
et autres ((pour le délit de rébellion militaire qui leur est imputé
dans la dénonciation »,et, le 25 octobre, il ordonna l'arrestation
des personnes accusées qui n'avaient pas encore étéappréhendées.
Le 27 octobre, une Junte militaire opéra un coup d'État et
s'empara du pouvoir suprême. Cette Junte militaire de gouver-
nement publia le 4 novembre un décret prévoyant l'institution
de Cours martiales pour juger sommairement dans les cas de
rébellion, sédition et émeute, et qui fixait des délais réduits et
des peines sévèressans appel.
Ce décret ne fut pas appliqué à la procédure judiciaire engagée
contre Haya de la Torre et autres. Cette procédure se poursuivit
devant la mêmejuridiction qu'auparavant. Ceci ressort d'une note
du 8 novembre émanant du juge d'instruction et demandant la
remise de certains documents, d'une note du 13 novembre du chef
du «corps d'investigation et de la sûreté » au juge d'instruction,
déclarant que Haya de la Torre et autres n'étaient pas arrêtésdu
fait qu'ils ne pouvaient êtredécouverts, et d'une ordonnance de
la mêmedate par laquelle le juge d'instruction prescrivait de citer
les défaillants par sommations publiques. Le 16 novembre et les
deux jours suivants, les sommations furent publiéesdans lejournal
officielEl Peruano, ordonnant aux «accusésdéfaillants 1- Haya
de la Torre et autres- de se présenter au cabinet du juge d'instruc-
tion pour se défendre contre les charges portées contre eux « pour On October 3rd, 1948, a military rebellion broke out in Pen.
It was suppressed on the same day and investigations were at
once opened.
On October 4th, the President of the Republic issued a decree
in the recitals of which a political party, the American People's
Revolutionary Alliance, was charged with having organized and
directed the rebellion. The decree consequently enacted that this
party had placed itself outside the law, that it would henceforth
not be permitted to exercise any kind of.activity, and that its
leaders would be brought to justice in the national courts as
instigators of the rebellion. Simultaneously, the head of the Judicial
Department of the Navy issued an order requiring the Examining
Magistrate to open at once an enquiry as to the facts constituting
the crime of military rebellion.
On October 5th, the Minister of the Interior addressed to the
Minister for the Navy a "note of denunciation" against the leader
of the American People's Revolutionary Alliance, Victor Raul
Haya de la Torre, and other members of the party as responsible
for the rebellion. This denunciation was approved on the same day
by the Minister for the Navy and on October 10th by the Public
Prosecutor, who stated that the subject-matter of the proceedings
was the crime of military rebellion.
On October t th, the Examining Magistrate issued an order for
the opening of judicial proceedings against Haya de la Torre and
others "in respect of the crime of military rebellion with which
they are charged in the 'denunciation' ", and on October 25th he
ordered the arrest of the perçons "denounced" who had not yet
been detained.
On October 27th, a Military Junta made a coz@ d'étatand seized
the supreme power. This Military Junta of the Govèrnment issued
on November 4th a decree providing for Courts-Martialfor summary
procedure in cases of rebellion, sedition and rioting, fixing short
time-limits and severe punishment without appeal.
This decree was not applied to the judicial proceedings agabst
Haya de la Torre and others. These proceedings continued under
the same jurisdiction as theretofore. This is shown by a note of
November 8th from the Examining Magistrate requesting the
production of certain documents, by a note of November 13th
from the Head of the Investigation and Surveillance Service te
the Examining Magistrate stating that Haya de la Torre and others
were not arrested as they could not be found, and by an Order by
the Examining Magistrate of the same date requiring the defaulters
to be cited by public summons. On November 16th and the two
subsequent days, the summons was published in the officia1gazette
El Peruano, requiring "the accused persons who are in default" -
Haya de la Torre and others-to report to the office of the
Examining Magistrate to answer the accusation brought against
IOdélit de rébellion militaire 1).Haya de la Torre ne se présenta pas
et les faits portésà la connaissance de la Cour n'indiquent pas que
des mesures ultérieures aient été prises contre lui.
Le 4 octobre, lendemain de la rébellion militaire, l'état de siège
avait été déclaré, suspendant certains droits constitutionnels ; il
fut prorogé les 2 novembre et 2 décembre 1948, et le 2 janvier
1949-
Le 3 janvier 1949 , aya de la Torre chercha asile à l'ambassade
de Colombie à Lima. Le jour suivant, l'ambassadeur de Colombie
envoya la lettre suivante au ministre péruvien des Affaires étran-
gères et du Culte :
(J'ai l'honneur de porter à la connaissance de Votre Excellence,
en conformité de ce qui est prévu à l'article 2, paragraphe 2,
de la Convention sur l'asile, signéepar nos deux pays en la ville de
La Havane en 1928, que M.Victor Raiil Haya de la Torre se trouve
depuis hier à 21 heures asilé au siège de la mission que je dirige.
En raison de ce qui précède,et vu le désirde cette ambassade
que l'asilé,M. Haya de la Torre, sorte du Pérou le plustôt possible,
je prie Votre Excellence de bien vouloir faire établir le sauf-conduit
qui lui permette de quitter le pays avec les facilités d'usageétablies
par le droit d'asile diplomatique))
Le 14 janvier, l'ambassadeur envoya au ministre une nouvelle
lettre ainsi conpe :
(En exécution des instructions que j'ai reçues de la chancellerie
de mon pays, j'ai l'honneur de faire connaître à Votre Excellence
que le Gouvernement de la Colombie, en conformité du droit que
lui reconnaît l'article de la Convention sur l'asile politique signée
par nos deux pays dans la ville de Montevideo le 26 décembre1933,
a qualifiéM. 'S7ictorRaiil Haya de la Torre comme asilé politique))
Une correspondance diplomatique s'ensuivit, pour aboutir à
l'Acte de Lima du 31 août 1949 par l'effet et à la suite duquel le
différend qui s'était élevéentre les deux Gouvernements fut renvoyé
devant la Cour.
* * *
Le Gouvernement de la Colombie a présenté deux conclusions,
dont la première prie la Cour de dire et juger
(Que la République de Colombie a le droit, en tant que pays
accordant l'asile, de qualifier la nature du délit aux fins du susdit
asile, dans le cadre des obligations qui découlent en particulier
de l'Accord bolivarien sur l'extradition du 18 juillet 1911 et de
la Convention de La Havane sur l'asile du 20 février1928 et, d'une
façon générale,du droit international américain. 1)
Si, par cette conclusion, le Gouvernement de la Colombie avait
entendu prétendre que la Colombie, en tant qu'Etat octroyantthem "for the crime of military rebellion". Haya de la Torre did
not report, and the factsbrought to the knowledge of the Court do
not show that any further measures were taken against him.
On October 4th, the day after the military rebellion, a state of
siege was declared, suspending certain constitutional rights ;it was
renewed on November and and December and, 1948, and on
January and, 1949.
On January 3rd, 1949, Haya de la Torre sought asylum in the
Colombian Embassy in Lima. On the next day, the Colombian
Ambassador sent the following note to the Peruvian hIinister for
Foreign Affairs and Public Worship :
"1 have the honour to inform Your Excellency, in accordance
with what is provided in Article 2, paragrapl-2, of the Convention
on Asylum signed by Our two countries in the city of Havana in
the year 1928, that Seiïor Victor Raul Haya de la Torre has been
given asylum at the seat of this mission as from g p.m. yesterday.
In view of the foregoing, andin view of the desire of this Embassy
that Sefior Haya de la Torre should leave Peru as early as possible,
1 request Your Excellency to be good enough to give orders for the
requisite safe-conduct to be issued, so that Sefior Haya de la Torre
may leave the country with the usual facilities attaching to the
right of diplomatic asylum."
On January 14th, the Ambassador sent to the Minister a further
note as follows :
"Pursiiant to instructions received from the Chancellery of my
country, 1 have the honour to inform Your Excellency that the
Government of Colombia, in accordance with the right conferred
upon it by Article 2 of the Convention on Political Asylum signed
by our two countries in the city of Montevideo on December 26th,
1933l,ias qualifieclSefiorVictor Rad Haya de la Torre as a political
refugee."
A diplomatic correspondence followed, leading up to the Act
of Lima of Aiigust 31st, 1949, whereby the dispute which had
arisen between the two Governments was referred to the Court.
The Colombian Government has presented two submissions, of
which the first asks the Court to adjudge and declare
"That the Republic of Colombia, as the country granting asylum,
iscompetent to qtialify the offencefor the purpose of the said asylum,
witliin the limits of the obligations resulting in particular from tlie
Bolivarian Agreement on Extradition of July ~Sth, 1911, and the
Convention on ilsylun of February zoth, 1928, and of -4merican
international law in gcnerrtl."
If the Colombian (;o\~eriîmcnt by this submission intended to
allege that Colombin, as the State granting asylum, is competentl'asile, a compétence pour qualifier le délit seulement de façon
provisoire et sans effet obligatoire pour le Pérou, la solution ne
serait pas douteuse. Il est évident que le représentant diplomatique
à qui il appartient d'apprécier si l'asile doit ou non êtreoctroyé
à un réfugié,doit avoir compétence pour opérer cette qualification
provisoire du délit imputé au réfugié. Il doit, en effet, examiner
si les conditions requises pour l'octroi de l'asile se trouvent remplies.
L'Etat territorial ne saurait être privé par là de son drojt de
contester la qualification. En cas de désaccordentre les deux Etats,
un différend s'élèveraitqui serait susceptible d'êtreréglé selonles
méthodes prévues par les Parties pour le règlement de leurs dif-
férends.
Tel n'est pas, cependant, le sens que le Gouvernement de la
Colombie attache à sa prétention. Il n'a pas revendiqué le droit de
qualification en vue seulement de fixer sa ligne de conduite. Les
arguments écrits et oraux présentésau nom de ce Gouvernement
indiquent qu'il convient-d'interpréter sa conclusion en ce sens que
la Colombie, en tant qix'Etat octroyant l'aqile, a le droit de qualifier
la nature du délitpar une décisionunilatérale et définitive, obliya-
toire pour le Pérou. La Colombie a fondécette conclusion en partie
sur des règlesconventionnelles, et en partiesur l'existence prétendue
d'une coutume.
Le Gouvernement de la Colombie s'est référé àl'Accord bolivarien
de 1911, article 18, qui est conçu dans les termes suivants :
(En dehors des stipulations du présent accord,les États signa-
taires reconnaissent l'institution de l'asile, conformément aux
principes du droit international.))
En reconnaissant o l'institution de l'asile»,cet article se borne
à renvoyer aux principes du droit international. Mais les principes
du droit international ne conn?issent aucune règle de qualification
unilatérale et définitive par 1'Etat accordant l'asile diplomatique,
Le Gouvernement de la Colombie s'est aussi fondésur l'article 4
de cet accord, relatif à l'extradition d'un criminel par 1'Etat sur
le territoire duquel il a cherché refuge. Les arguments présentésà
cet égard révèlent une confusion entre l'asile territorial (extradi-
tion) d'une part, et l'asile diplomatique d'autre part.
Dans le cas de l'extradition, le réfugiése trouve sur le territoire
de 1'Etat de refuge. Une décisionrelative à l'extradition implique
seulement l'exercice normal de la souveraineté territoriale. Le
réfugiése trouve en dehors du territoire de 1'Etat où a étécommis
le délit et une décision de,lui octroyer asile ne déroge nullement
à la souveraineté de cet Etat.
Dans le cas de l'asile diplomatique, le réfugiése trouve sur le
territoire de YEtat dans lequel il a commis le délit. La décision
d'octroyer l'asile diplomatique comporte une dérogation à la
12to qualify the offence only provisionally and without binding
effect for Peru, the solution would not remain a matter of doubt.
It is evident that the diplomatic representative who has to
determine whether a refugee is to be granted asylum or not must
have the competence to make such a provisional qualification
of any offence alleged to have been committed by the refugee.
He must in fact examine the question whether the conditions
required for granting asylum are fulfilled. The territorial State
would not thereby be deprived of its right to contest the quali-
fication. In case of disagreement between the two States, a dispute
would arise which might be settled by the methods provided
by the Parties for the settlement of their disputes.
This is not, however, the meaning which the Colombian Govern-
ment has put on its submission. It has not claimed the right of
qualification for the solepurpose of determining its own conduct.
The written and oral arguments submitted on behalf of that
Government show that its claim must be understood in the sense
that Colombia, as the State granting asylum, is competent to
qualify the nature of the offence by a unilateral and definitive
decision binding on Peru. Colombia has based this submission
partly on rules resulting from agreement, partly on an alleged
custom.
The Colombian Government has referred to the Bolivarian
Agreement of 1911, Article 18, which is framed in the following
terms :
"Aside from the stipulations of the present Agreement, the
signatory States recognizethe institutioof asylum in conformity
with the principles of internationlaw."
In recognizing "the institution of asylum", this article merely
refers to the principles of international law. But the principles
of international law do not recognize any rule of unilateral and
definitive qualification by the State granting diplomatic asylum.
The Colombian Government has also relied on Article 4 of this
Agreement concerning extradition of a criminal refugee from the
territory of the State in which he has sought refuge. The arguments
submitted in this respect reveal a confusion between territorial
asylum (extradition), on the one hand, and diplomatic asylum,
on the other.
In the case of extradition, the refugee is within the territory
of the State of refuge. A decision with regard to extradition
implies only the normal exercise of the territorial sovereignty.
The refugee is outside the territory of the State where the offence
was committed, and a decision to grant him asylum in no way
derogates from the sovereignty of that State.
In the case of diplomatic asylum, the refugee is within the
territory of the State where the offence was committed. A decision
to grant diplomatic asylum involves a derogation from thesouveraineté de cet État. Elle soustrait le délinquant à la justice
de celui-ci et constitue une intervention dans un domaine qui
relève exclusivement de la compétence de 1'Etat territorial. Une
telle dérogation à la souveraineté territoriale ne saurait être admise,
à moins que le fondement juridique n'en soit établi dans chaque
cas particulier.
Pour ces motifs, il n'est pas possible de tirer, des règles conven-
tionnelles relatives à l'extradition, une conclusion qui s'appliquerait
à la question considérée ici.
Le Gouvernement de la Colombie s'appuie en outresur la Conven-
tion de La Havane de 1928 relative à l'asile. Cette convention
pose certaines règles relatives à l'asile diplomatique, mais elle ne
contient aucune disposition qui confère à 1'Etat accordant l'asile
une compétence unilatérale pour qualifier le délit d'une façon
définitive et qui serait obligatoire pour 1'Etat territorial. Le Gou-
vernement de la Colombie soutient cependant que cette compétence
est implicitement contenue dans la convention et qu'elle est inhé-
rente à l'institution de l'asile.
Une compétence de cet ordre est d'une nature exceptionnelle.
Elle comporte une dérogation aux droits égaux de qualification qui,
à défaut de toute règle contraire, doivent êtrereconnus à chacundes
Etats ; elle aggrave ainsi la dérogation à la souveraineté territo-
riale que constitue l'exercice de l'asile. Une telle compétence n'est
pasinhérente à l'institution de l'asile diplomatique. Cette institution
serait peut-être plus efficace si une règle de qualification unilaté-
rale et définitive était appliquée. Mais une règle de cette nature
n'est pas nécessaire à l'exercice de l'asile.
Ces considérations montrent que le prétendu droit à la quali-
fication unilatérale et définitive ne saurait être considéré comme
implicitement reconnu par la Convention de La Havane. Aussi
bien cette convention, qui répond au désir énoncépar son préam-
bule de «fixer les règles» que les Gouvernements des Etats d'Amé-
rique doivent observer en matière d'asile, a-t-elle étéconclue dans
le but manifeste de prévenir les abus que la pratique antérieure
avait révélése ,n limitant l'octroi de l'asile. Elle l'a fait de plusieurs
manières et en des termes exce~tionnellement restrictifs et éner-
giques («Il n'est pas permis a;x Etats ...)); (L'asile ne pourra
êtreaccordé sauf dans les cas d'urgence et pour la période de temps
strictement indispensable. ... »etc.).
Le Gouvernement de la Colombie a invoqué l'article 2, para-
graphe premier, de la Convention de La Havane, qui est rédigé
dans les termes suivants :
«L'asile des criminelspolitiques dans les légations,sur les navires
de guerre, dans les campements ou sur les aéronefsmilitaires sera
respecté dans la mesure dans laquelle, comme un droit ou par
tolérance humanitaire, l'admettraient la coutume, les co?ventions
ou les lois du pays de refuge et d'accord avec les dispositions
suivantes : »sovereignty of that State. It withdraws the offender from the
jurisdiction of the territorial State and constitutes an intervention
in matters which are exclusively within the competence of that
State. Such a derogation from territorial sovereignty cannot be
recognized unless its legal basis is established in each particular
case.
For these reasons, it is not possible to deduce from the provisions
of agreements concerning extradition any conclusion which would
apply to the question now under consideration.
The Colombian Government further relies on the Havana Con-
vention on Asylum of 1928. This Convention lays down certain
rules relating to diplomatic asylum, but does not contain any
provision conferring on the State granting asylum a unilateral
competence to qualify the offence with definitive. and binding
forcefor the territorial State. The Colombian Government contends,
however, that such a competence is implied in that Convention
and is inherent in the institution of asylum.
A competence of this kind is of an exceptional character. It
involves a derogation from the equal rights of qualification which,
in the absence of any contrary rule, must be attributed to each
of the States concerned ;it thus aggravates the derogation from
territorial sovereignty constituted by the exercise of asylum.
Such a competence is not inherent in the institution of diplomatic
asylum. This institution would perhaps be more effective if a
rule of unilateral and definitive qualification were applied. But
such a rule is not essential to the exercise of asylum.
These considerations show that the alleged right of uailateral
and definitive qualification cannot be regarded as recognized by
implication in the Havana Convention. Moreover, this Convention,
in pursuance of the desire expressed in its preamble of "fixing
the rules" which the Governments of the States of America must
observe for the granting of asylum, was concluded with the
manifest intention of preventing the abuses which had arisen in
the previous practice, by limiting the grant of asylum. It did so
in a number of ways and in terms which are unusually restrictive
and emphatic ("It is not permissible for States ....; "Asylum
may not be granted except in urgent cases and for the period of
time strictly indispensable....", etc.).
The Colombian Government has invoked Article 2, paragraph 1,
of the Havana Convention, which is framed in the following
terms :
military camps or military aircraft, shall be respected to thetent
in which allowed as a right or through humanitarian toleration,
by the usages, the conventions or the laws of the country in which
granted and in accordancewith the followingprovisions :" Cette disposition a été interprétéepar ledit Gouvernement dans
le sens que la coutume, les conventions et les lois de la Colombie
relativesà la qualification du délit peuvent êtreinvoquées à l'en-
contredu Pérou.Cette interprétation, qui impliquerait que l'étendue
des obligations de l'un des Etats signataires dépendrait des modi-
fications qui pourraient intervenir dans le droit d'un autre, ne
saurait être admise. La disposition doit être considérée comme
une limitation de la mesure dans taquelle l'asile devra être respecté.
Ce qu'elle dit en fait est que 1'Etat de refuge ne pratiquera pas
l'asile dans une mesure plus large que ne le lui permettent ses
propres coutumes, conventions et lois, et que l'asile octroyé sera
respecté par 1'Etat territorial seulement là où il serait autorisé
par les coutumes, conventions et lois du pays de refuge. Il n'y a
donc rien à tirer de cette disposition pour ce qui regarde la quali-
fication.
Le Gouvernement de la Colombie a en outre fait état de la
Convention de Montevideo sur l'asile politique, de 1933. C'est en
fait cette convention qui a étéinvoquée dans la lettre du 14 janvier
1949 de l'ambassadeur de la Colombie au ministre des Affaires
étrangères du Pérou. Il a été prétendu quel'article 2 de cette
convention interprète la Convention de La Havane de 1928 dans
le sens que la qualification d'un délit politique appartientà 1'Etat
qui octroie l'asile. Les articles 6 e7 de la Convention de Monte-
video disposent que celle-ci sera ratifiée et entrera en vigueur à
mesure que les ratifications sont déposées.La Convention de
Montevideo n'a pas rétératifiée par le Pérou, et ne saurait être
invoquée contre cet Etat. Le fait que l'on a jugénécessaire d'incor-
porer dans cette convention un article admettant le droit de
qualification unilatérale paraît indiquer que cette solution était
considérée commeune règle nouvelle, non reconnue parla Conven-
tion de La Havane. En outre, il est dit dans le préambule de la
Convention de Montevideo (textes espagnol, français et portugais)
que cette dernière modifie la Convention de La Havane. Elle ne
saurait donc êtreconsidérée commereprésentant simplement une
interprétation de cette convention.
Le Gouvernement de la Colombie s'est finalement prévalu,
<(d'une façon générale,du droit international américain ».En plus
des règles conventionnelles déjà examinées, il s'est fondé,sur une
prétendue coutume régionale ou locale, propre aux Etats de
l'Amérique latine.
La Partie qui invoque une coutume de cette nature doit prouver
qu'elle s'est constituée de telle manière qu'elle est devenue obliga-
toire pour l'autre Partie. Le Gouvernement de la Colombie doit
prouver que la règle dont il se prévaut -est conforme à un usage
constant et uniforme, pratiqué par les Etats en question, et que
cet usage traduit un droit appartenant à 1'Etat octroyant l'asile
et un devoir incombant à 1'Etat territorial. Ceci découle de l'ar-
ticle 38 du Statut de la Cour, qui fait mention de la coutume
14 This provision has been interpreted by that Government in the
sense that the usages, conventions and laws of Colombia relating to
the qualification of the offence can be invoked against Peru. This
interpretation, which would mean that the extent of the obligation
.ofone of the signatory States would depend upon any modifications
which might occur in the law of another, cannot be accepted. Tfie
provision must be regarded as a limitation of the extent to which
asylum shall be respected. What the provision says in effect is that
the State of refuge shall not exercise asylum to a larger extent than
is warranted by its own usages, conventions or laws and that the
asylum granted must be respected by the territorial State only
where such asylum would be permitted according to the usages,
conventions or laws of the State of refuge. Nothing therefore
can be deduced from this provision in so far as qualification is
concerned.
The Colombian Government has further referred to the Monte-
video Convention on Political Asylum of 1933. It was in fact this
Convention which was invoked in the note of January 14th, 1949,
from the Colombian Ambassador to the Peruvian Minister for
Foreign Affairs. It is argued that, by Article 2 of that Convention,
the Havana Convention of 1928 is interpreted in the sense that the
qualification of a political offence appertains to the State granting
asylum. Articles 6 and 7 of the Montevideo Convention provide that
it shall be ratified and will enter into force as and when the ratifi-
cations are deposited. The Montevideo Convention has not been
ratified by Peru, and cannot be invoked against that State. The
fact that it was considered necessary to incorporate in that Conven-
tion an article accepting the right ofunilateral qualification, seemsto
indicate that this solution was regarded as a new rule not recognized
by the Havana Convention. Moreover, the preamble of the Monte-
video Convention States in its Spanish, French and Portuguese
texts that it modifies the Havana Convention. It cannot therefore
be considered as representing merely an interpretation of that
Convention.
The Colombian Government has finally invoked "American
international law in general". In addition to the rules arising from
agreements which have already been considered, it has relied on an
alleged regional or local custom peciiliar to Latin-American States.
The Party which relies on a custom of this kind must prove
that this custom is established insuch a rnanner that it has become
binding on the other Party. The Colombian Government must
prove that the rule invoked by it is in accordance with a constant
and uniform usage practised by the States in question, and that
this usage is the expression of a right appertaining to the State
granting asylum and a duty incumbent on the territorial State. This
follo\vs from Article 38 of the Statute of the Court, which refers tointernationale :comme preuve d'une pratique généraleacceptée
comme étant le droit ».
A l'appui de sa thèse touchant l'existence d'une telle coutume,
le Gouvernement de la Colombie a citéun grand nombre de traités
d'extradition qui, comme il a été déjàdit, sont sans pertinence
pour la question qui est considéréeici. Il a cité des conventions
et accords qui ne contiennent aucune disposition relative à la
prétendue règle de qualification unilatérale et définitive, tels que
la Convention de Montevideo de 1889 sur le droit pénal inter-
national, l'Accord bolivarien de 1911et la Convention de La Havane
de 1928. Il a invoqué des conventions qui n'ont pas étératifiées
par le Pérou, telles que les Conventions de Montevideo de 1933
et de 1939. En,fait, la Convention de 1933 n'a pas étératifiéepar
plus de onze Etats et la Convention de 1939 l'a été par deux
Etats seulement.
C'est en particulier sur la Convention de Montevideo de 1933
que le conseil du Gouvernement de la Colombie s'est fondé, à cet
égard également. On a soutenu que cette convention n'a fait que
codifier des principes déjàreconnus par la coutume de l'Amérique
latine et qu'elle pouvait êtreopposéeau Pérou comme constituant
la preuve du droit coutumier. Le nombre limité d'Etats qui ont
ratifié cette convention révèlela faiblesse de cette thèse, qui est
en outre infirmée par le préambule de la convention, où il est dit
que celle-ci modifie la Convention de La Havane.
Enfin, le Gouvernement de la Colombie a cité un grand
nombre de cas particuliers dans lesquels l'asile diplomatique a,
en fait, étéaccordé et respecté. Mais il n'a pas établi que la règle
prétendue de la qualification unilatérale et définitive ait étéinvo-
quéeou que - si, dans certains cas, elle a, en fait, étéinvoquée-
elle ait $téappliquée, en dehors des stipulations conventionnelles,
par les Etats qui accordaient l'asile, en tant que droit appartenant
à ceux-ci, et respectée par les États territoriaux en tant que devoir
leur incombant, et pas seulement pour des raisons d'opportunité
politique. Les faits soumis à la Cour révèlent tant d'incertitude
et de contradictions, tant de fluctuations et de discordances dans
l'exercice de l'asile diplomatique et dans les vues officiellement
exprimées à diverses occasions ; ily a eu un tel manque de consis-
tance dans la succession rapide des textes conventionnels relatifs
à l'asile, ratifiés par certains États et rejetés par d'autres, et la
pratique a étéinfluencéeà tel point par des considérations d'oppor-
tunité politique dans les divers cas, qu'il n'est pas possible de dégager
de tout cela une coutume constante et uniforme acceptée comme
étant le droit en ce qui concerne la prétendue règle de la qualifi-
cation unilatérale et définitivedu délit.
La Cour ne saurait donc admettre que le Gouvernement de la
Colombie ait prouvé l'existence d'une telle coutume. A supposer
que cette coutume existât entre certains Etats seulement de 1'Amé-
rique latine, elle ne pourrait pas êtreopposée au Pérou qui, loininternational custom "as evidence of a general practice accepted
as law".
In support of its contention concerning the existence ofsuch a
custom, the Colombian Government has referred to a large number
of extradition treatieswhich, as already explained, can have no
bearing on the question now under consideration. It has cited
conventions and agreements which do not contain any provision
concerning the alleged rule of unilateral and definitive qualification
such as the Montevideo Convention of 1889 on international penal
law, the Bolivarian Agreement of 1911 and the Havana Convention
of 1928 It has invoked conventions which have not been ratified by
Peru, such as the Montevideo Conventions of 1933 and 1939. The
Convention of 1933 ha, in fact, been ratified by not more than
eleven States and the Convention of 1939 by two States only.
It is particularly the Montevideo Convention of 1933 which
Counsel for the Colombian Government has also relied on in this
connexion. It is contended that this Convention has merely codified
principles which were already recognized by Latin-American
custom, and that it is valid against Peru as a proof of customary
law. The limited number of States which have ratified this Conven-
tion reveals the weakness of this argument, and furthermore, it is
invalidated by the preamble which states that this Convention
modifies the Havana Convention.
Finally, the Colombian Government has referred to a large
number of particular cases in which diplomatic asylum was in fact
granted and respected. But it has not shown that the alleged riile
of unilateral and definitive qualification was invoked or-in some
cases it was in fact invoked-that it was, apart from conventional
stipulations, exercised by the States granting asylum as a right
appertaining to them and respected by the territorial States as a
duty incumbent on them and not merely for reasons of political
expediency. The facts brought to the knowledge of the Court
disclose so much uncertainty and contradiction, so much fluctuation
and discrepancy in the exercise of diplomatic asylum and in the
officia1viewsexpressed on various occasions, therehas been so much
inconsistency in the rapid succession of conventions on asylum,
ratified by some States and rejected by others, and the practice
has been somuch influenced by considerations ofpoliticalexpediency
in the various cases, that it is not possible to discern in al1thiç any
constant and uniform usage, accepted as law, with regard to the
alleged rule of unilateral and definitive qualification of the offence.
The Court cannot therefore find that the Colombian Government
has proved the existence of such a custom. But even if it could be
supposed that such a custom existed between certain Latin-Ameri-
can States only, it could not be invoked against Peru which, far d'y avoir adhéré par son attitude, l'a au contraire répudiée en
s'abstenant de ratifier les Conventions de Montevideo de 1933 et
1939, les premières qui aient inclus une règle concernant la qualifi-
cation du délit en matière d'asile diplomatique.
Dans leurs écritures et au cours de la procédure orale, les deux
Gouvernements se sont prévalus respectivement, le Gouvernement
de la Colombie de communiqués officiels publiés par le ministère
des Affaires étrangères du Pérou les 13 et 26 octobre 1948, le
Gouvernement du Pérou d'un rapport de la Commission consul-
tative du ministère des Affaires étrangères de la Colombie en date
du 2 septembre 1937, lesquels, sur la question de la qualification,
énoncent des vues opposées à celles que ces Gouvernements sou-
tiennent aujourd'hui. La Cour, dont la mission est d'appliquer au
jugement de la présente affaire le droit international, ne saurait
attacherune importance décisive à aucun de ces documents.
Pour ces motifs, la Cour arrive à ce résultat que la Colombie,
en tant qu'Etat octroyant l'asile, n'a pas le droit de qualifier la
nature du délit par une décision unilatérale et définitive obliga-
toire pour le Pérou.
Dans sa seconde conclusion, le Gouvernement de la Colombie
prie la Cour de dire et juger:
«Que la Républiquedu Pérou,en sa qualité d'État territorial,
est obligée,dans le cas concret matière du litige, d'accorder les
garanties nécessairespour que M. Victor Raiil Haya de la Torre
sorte du pays, l'inviolabilitéde sa personne étant respecté))
Cette obligation prétendue, à la charge du Gouvernement du
Pérou, ne dépend pas entièrement de la réponse donnée à la
première conclusion de la Colombie relative à la qualification
unilatérale et définitive du délit. Des deux premiers articles de la
Convention de La Havane, il résulte que, mêmesi un tel droit de
qualification n'est pas admis, le Gouvernement de la Colombie est
fondé,sous certaines conditions, à demander un sauf-conduit.
La première condition est que l'asile ait étérégulièrement accordé
et maintenu. L'asile ne peut êtreaccordéqu'aux criminels politiques
qui ne sont pas accusés ou condamnés pour délits communs, et
seulement dans les cas d'urgence, et pour le temps strictement
indispensable pour que le réfugiése mette en sûreté. Ces points se
rattachent à la demande reconventionnelle du Pérou ; ils seront
donc examinés plus tard, dans la mesure nécessaire au règlement de
la présente affaire.
La seconde condition est énoncée à l'article2 de la Convention
de La Havane : from having by its attitude adhered to it, has, on the contrary,
repudiated it by refraining from ratifying the Montevideo Conven-
tions of1933 and 1939, which were the first to include a rule concern-
ing the qualification of the offence in matters of diplomatic asylum.
In the written Pleadings and during the oral proceedings, the
Government of Colombiarelied upon officia1communiqués published
by the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 13th
and 26th, 1948, and the Government of Peru relied upon a Report
of the Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Colombia dated September znd, 1937 ; on the question of
qualification, these documents state views which are contrary to
those now maintained by these Governments. The Court, whose
duty it is to apply international law in deciding the present case,
cannot attach decisive importance to any of these documents.
For these reasons, the Court has arrived at the conclusion that
Colombia, as the State granting asylum, is not competent to
qualify the offence by a unilateral and definitive decision, binding
on Peru.
In its second submission, the Colombian Government asks the
Court to adjudge and declare :
"That the Republic of Peru, as the territorial State, is bound in
the case now before the Court, to give the guarantees necessary
for the departure of M. Victor Raul Haya de la Torre from the
country, with due regard to the inviolability of his person."
This alleged obligation of the Peruvian Government does not
entirely depend on the answer.given to the first Colombian sub-
mission relating to the unilateral and definitive qualification of
the offence. It follows from the first two articles of the Havana
Convention that, even if such a right of qualification is not
admitted, the Colombian Government is entitled to request a
safe-conduct under certain conditions.
The first condition is that asylum has been regularly granted
and maintained. It can be granted only to political offenders
who are not accused or condemned for coinmon crimes and only
in urgent cases and for the time strictly indispensable for the
safety of the refugee. These points relate to the Periivian counter-
claim and will be considered later to the estent necessary for
the decision of the present case.
The second condition is laid down in Article 2 of the Hnvana
Convention : «Troisièmement :Le Gouvernement de l'État pourra exiger que
le réfugiésoit mis hors du territoire national dans le plus bref
délaipossible ;et l'agent diplomatique du pays qui aurait accordé
l'asile pourraà son tour exiger les garanties nécessaires pour que
le réfugiésorte du pays, l'inviolabilitéde sa personne étant res-
pectée.))
Si l'on tient compte, d'une part, de la structure de cette disposi-
tion qui indique un ordre successif et, d'autre part, du sens naturel
et ordinaire deçmots ((à son tour »,cette disposition peut seulement
signifier que 1'Etat territorial pourra exiger que le réfugiésoit mis
hors dupays et que ce n'est que par aprèsque l'État accordant l'asile
peut exiger les garanties nécessaires comme une condition de cette
mise hors du territoire. En d'autres termes, cette disposition donne
à 1'Etat territorial l'option de demander le départ du réfugié,cet
Etat n'étant tenu d'accorder un sauf-conduit qu'après avoir exercé
ladite option.
L'interprétation opposéeconduirait, dans le cas soumis à la Cour,
à cette conclusion qu'il appartiendrait à la Colombie de juger seule
si toutes les conditionsprescrites par les articles I et2 de la Conven-
tion pour la régularité de l'asile sont remplies. Ce serait là une
conséquence manifestement incompatible avec le régime institué
par la convention.
Il existe assurément une pratique selon laquelle l'agent diploma-
tique accordant l'asile sollicite immédiatement un sauf-conduit
sans attendre que l'État territorial demande le départ du réfugié.
Cette manière d'agir est conforme à certains besoins : l'agent
diplomatique a naturellement le désir de ne pas voir se pro-
longer la présence chez lui du réfugié ; de son côté, le gouverne-
ment du pays a, dans un très grand nombre de cas, le désir de voir
s'éloignerl'adversaire politique qui a obtenu l'asile. Cette concor-
dance de vues suffit à expliquer la pratique ici constatée, mais cette
pratique ne signifie pas et ne saurait signifier que lJEtat, auquel une
telle demande de sauf-conduit est adressée,soit juridiquement tenu
d'y faire droit.
Dans la présente espèce, le Gouvernement du Pérou n'a pas
demandé que Haya de la Torre quittât le Pérou. Ce Gouvernement
a contesté la légalité del'asile qui avait étéaccordé et il a refusé
de délivrer un sauf-conduit. Dans ces conditions, le Gouvernement
de la Colombie n'est pas fondé à réclamer, de la part du Gouverne-
ment du Pérou, les garanties nécessaires pour que Haya de la
Torre sorte du pays, l'inviolabilité de sa personne étant respectée.
La demande reconventionnelle du Gouvernement du Pérou, en
sa forme définitive,fut énoncéeau cours de l'exposéoral du 3 octobre
1950 dans les termes suivants : "Third: The Government of the State may require that the
refugee be sent out of the national territory within the shortest
time possible; and the diplomatic agent of the country wl~ohas
granted asylum may in turn require the guarantees necessary for
the departure of the refugee from the country with due regard to
the inviolability of his person."
If regard is had, on the one hand, to the structure of this
provision which indicates a successive order, and, on the other
hand, to the natural and ordinary meaning of the words "in
turn", this provision can only mean that the territorial State
may require that the refugee be sent out of the country, and
that only after such a demand can the State granting asylum
require the necessary guarantees as a condition of his beiilg sent
out. The provision gives, in other words, the territorial State
an option to require the departure of the refugee, and that State
becomes bound to grant a safe-coilduct only if it fias exercised
this option.
A contrary interpretation would lead, in the case now before
the Court, to the conclusion that Colombia would be entitled
to decide alone whether the conditions provided by Articles I
and 2 of the Convention for the regularity of asyluin are fulfilled.
Such a consequence obviously would be incoinpatible with the
legal situation created by the Convention.
There exists undoubtedly a practice whereby the diplomatic
representative who grants asylum immediately requests a safe-
conduct without awaiting a request from the territorial State
for the departure of the refugee. This procedure meets certain
requirements :the diplomatic agent is naturally desirous that the
presence of the refugee on his premises should not be prolonged ;
and the goverilment of the country, for its part, desires in a great
number of cases that its political opponent who has obtained asylurn
should depart. This coilcordance of views suffices to explain the
practice which has been noted in this connexion, but this practice
does not and cannot mean that the State, to whom such a request
for a safe-conduct has been addressed, is legally bound to accede
to it.
In the present case, the Peruvian Government has not requested
that Haya de la Torre should leave Peru. It has contested the
legality of the asylum granted to him and has refused to deliver a
safe-conduct. In such circumstances the Colombian Government is
not entitled to claim that the Peruvian Government should give the
guarantees necessary for the departure of Haya delaTorre from the
country,with due regard to the inviolability of his person.
The counter-claim of the Government of Peru was stated in its
final form during the oral statement of October 3rd, 1950, in the
following terms : Dire et juger à titre reconventionnel, aux termes de l'articl63
du Règlementde la Cour, et par un seul et mêmearr&t,que l'octroi
de l'asile par l'ambassadeur de Colombie à Lima à Victor Raul
Haya de la Torre a étéfait en violation de l'article premier,
paragraphe premier, et de l'article2, paragraphe 2, premièrement
(i!zciserinzero),de la Convention sur l'asile signée en 192s et
qu'en tout cas le maintien de l'asile constitue actuellement une
violation dudit traité»
Ainsi qu'il a déjà étédit, le dernier membre de phrase : ((et
qu'en tout cas le maintien de l'asile constitue actuellement une
violation dudit traité )ne figurait pas dans la demande reconven-
tionnelle présentee par le Gouvernement du Pérou dans le Contre-
Mémoire. L'adjonction n'en a étéfaitequ'au cours de la procédure
orale. La Cour examinera tout d'abord la demande reconvention-
nelle en sa forme primitive.
La demande reconventionnelle tend essentiellement à mettre un
terme au litige, en invitant la Cour à déclarer que l'asile a étémal
donné, son octroi étant contraire à certaines dispositions de la
Convention de La Havane. Son objet est exclusivement de définir
à cette fin les rapports de droit que ladite convention a établis
entre la Colombie et le Pérou. La Cour observe à ce sujet que la
question de la remise éventuelle du réfugiéaux autorités territo-
riales n'est aucunement posée dans la demande reconventionnelle.
Elle relève que la Convention de La Havane, qui prescrit la remise
à ces autorités des personnes accusées ou condamnées pour délits
communs. ne contient aucune disposition semblable pour les
criminels politiques. Elle constate enfin que ni dans la correspon-
dance diplomatique produite par les Parties, ni à un moment
quelconque de la présente instance, cette question n'a étésoulevée,
et, en fait, le Gouvernement du Pérou n'a pas demandé la remise
du réfuqié
Tlressort des conclusions finales du Gouvernement de la Colombie,
telles qu'elles ont étéformulées devant la Cour, le 6 octobre 1950,
que ce Gouvernement n'a pas conteçté la compétence de la Cour
relativement à la demande reconventionnelle en sa forme primitive ;
il ne l'a fait que relativement 5 l'adjonction faite au cours de la
procédure orale. Il a, par contre, s'appuyant sur l'article 63 du
Règlement de la Cour, contesté la recevabilité de la demande
reconventionnelle en faisant valoir son défaut de connexité directe
avec l'objet de la requête. Ce défaut de connexité résulterait, selon
lui, du fait que la demande reconventionnelle poserait des pro-
blèmes nouveaux et tendrait ainsi5.déplacer la matière du litige.
La Cour ne peut se ranger à cette manière de voir. Il ressort
clairement de l'argumentation des Parties quela deuxième conclu-
sion du Gouvernement de la Colombie, relative à l'exigence d'un
sauf-conduit, s'appuie largement sur la régularité prétendue de
l'asile,r6gularitC qui pr6cisément est contestée par la demande
reconventionnelle. La connexité est si directe que certaines condi-
tions requises pour l'exigence d'un sauf-conduit dépendent précisé-
1s To adjudge and declare as a counter-claim under ilrticle 63
of the Rules of Court, and in the same decision, that the grant
of asylum by the Colombian Ambassador at Lima to Victor Rad
Haya de la Torre was made in violation of Article 1, paragraph 1,
and Article 2, paragraph z, item I (incis $orimerao )f,the Con-
vention on Asylum signed in 1928, and that in any case the
maintenance of the asylum constitutes at the present time a
violation of that treaty."
As has already been pointed out, the last part of this sentence :
"and that in any case the maintenance of the asylum constiiutes
at the present time a violation of that treaty", did not appear in
the counter-claim presented by the Government of Peru in the
Counter-Memorial. The addition was only made during the oral
proceedings. The Court u~ill.first consider the counter-claim in its
original form.
This counter-claim is intended,in substance, toput an end tothe
dispute by requesting the Court to declare that asylum was \i7rong-
fully given, the grant of asylum being contrary to certain provisions
of the Havana Convention. The object of the counter-claim is
simply to define for this purpose the legal relations which that
Convention has established between Colombia and Peru. The Court
observes in this connexion that the question of the possible surren-
der of the refugee to the territorial authorities is in no way raised
in the counter-claim. It points out that the Havana Convention,
which provides for the surrender to those authorities of persons
accused of or condemned for common crimes, contains no similar
provision in respect of political offenders. The Court notes, finally,
that this question was not raised either in the diplomatic correspon-
dence submitted by the Parties or at any moment in the procee-
dings before the Court, and in fact the Government of Peru has
not requested that the refugee should be surrendered.
It results from the final submissions of the Government of
Colombia, as formulated before the Court on October 6th, 1950,
that that Government did not contest the jurisdiction of the
Court in respect of the original counter-claim ; it did so only in
respect of the addition made during the oral proceedings. On the
other hand, relying upon Article 63 of the Rules of Court, the
Government of Colombia has disputed the admissibility of the
counter-claim by arguing that it is not directly connected with the
subject-matter ofthe Application. In its view, this lack of connexion
results from the fact that the counter-claim raises new problems and
thus tends to shift the erounds of the dis~ute.
The Court is unable tz accept this view.l~t emerges clearly from
the arguments of the Parties that the second submission of the
Government of Colombia, which concerns the demand for a safe-
conduct,rests largely on the alleged regularity of the asylum, which
is precisely what is disputed by the counter-claim. The connexion
is so direct that certain conditions which are required to exist
before a safe-conduct can be demanded depend precisely on facts ment defaits qui sont mis en jeu par la demande reconventionnelle.
La connexité directe étant ainsi clairement établie, la seule excep-
tion opposée à la recevabilité de la demande reconventionrielle en
sa forme primitive se trouve écartée.
Avant d'examiner le bien-fondé de la demande reconventionnelle,
la Cour doit préciser le sens qu'elle attache aux termes :((l'octroi
de l'asile1que l'on y relève. Octroyer asile n'est pas un acte instan-
tanb, qui prendrait fin avec l'accueil fait, à un moment donné,
à un réfugiédans une ambassade ou dans une légation. Tout octroi
d'asile engendre, et, par conséquent, implique logiquement un état
de protection ; l'asile est octroyé aussi longtemps que la présence
continuée du réfugiédans l'ambassade prolonge cette protection.
Cette facon de voir, imposée par la nature de l'institution de
l'asile, est d'ailleurs confirmée par l'attitude des Parties au cours
de l'instance. La demande reconventionnelle, telle clu'elle figure
au Contre-l'il6moire du Gouvernemeiit du Pirou, se réfèreexpres-
sément 2 l'article2, paragraphe 2, de la Convention de La Havanc,
teste qui dispose que l'asile ne pourra êtreaccordé que ((pour le
temps strictement indispensable 1)Le Gouvernement de la Colombie
n'a pas entendu autrement les choses ; sa Réplique indique que,
pour lui comme pour le Gouvernement du Pérou, la rFf5rence à
la disposition susdite de la Convention de La Havane pose la
question de (la diir5e du refuge 1).
Le Gouvernemcilt du Pi'rou a fond6 sa demande rcconverîtionnelle
sur deux bases diçtinctes qui correspondcnt respectivement à
l'article premier, paragraphe premier, et ril'article2, paragraphe 2,
de la Convention de La Havane.
Aux termes de l'articlc premier, paragraphe premier, ((Il n'est
pas permis aux Etats de donner aiile. .. ails personnes accu-
sées ou conda1nni.e~ pour d<lits communs )).La preuve que Haya
de la Torre a i'ti', pri:alablemciltA l'asile, accusé ou condamné
pour di'lits de clroit commun incombe au Perou.
La Cotr i1'6prouve pas de difficulté à admettre que, dans l'espèce,
le réfugié setrouvait être un ((accilsi'1)au sens de la Convention
de La Havane, les pitces produites par le Gouvernement di1 Pérou
lui paraissant concluantes à cet égard On ne saurait guère admettre
que le terme ,accusé ))comporte, dans un traité multilatéral, tel
que celui de La Havane, une signification technique précise,
subordonnant la qualification d'caccusé 1)à l'accomplissement de
formalités strictement définies et qui pourraient différer d'une
législation à une autre.
En revanche, la Cour estime que le Gouvernement du Pérou n'a
pas démontré que les faits dont le réfugiéa étéaccusé avant les
3-4 janvier 1949 sont des délits de droit commun. Ilu point de vue
de l'application de la Convention de La Havane, c'est le libellé
de l'accusation, telle qu'elle a étéformulée par les autorités judi-
ciaires avant l'octroi de l'asile, qui entre seul en ligne de compte.
Or, comme il ressort de l'exposé des faits, toutes les pièces émanant
de la justice péruvienne portent comme unique chef d'accusationwhich are raised by the counter-claim. The direct connexion being
thus clearly established, the sole objection to the admissibility of
the counter-claim in its original form is therefore removed.
Before examining the question whether the counter-claim is well
founded, the Court must state in precise terms what meaning it
attaches to the words "the grant of asylum" which are used therein.
The grant of asylum is not an instantaneous act which terminates
with the admission, at a given moment, of a refugee to an embassy
or a legation. Any grant of asylum results in, and in consequence
logically implies, a state of protection ; the asylum is granted as
long as the continued presence of the refugee in the embassy
prolongs this protection. This view, which results from the very
nature of the institution of asylum, is further confirmed by the
attitude of the Parties during this case. The counter-claim, as it
appears in the Counter-Memorial of the Government of Peru,
refers expressly to Article2,paragraph 2,of the Havana Convention,
which provides that asylum may not be granted except "for the
period of time strictly indispensable". Such has also been the view
of the Government of Colombia ; its Reply shows that, in its opinion,
as in that of the Government of Peru, the reference to the above-
mentioned provision of the Havana Convention raises the question
of "the duration of the refuge".
The Govei-nment of Peru has based its counter-claim on two
different grounds which correspond respectively to Article 1, para-
graph 1, and Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Havana Convention.
Gnder Article 1,paragraph 1,"It is not permissible for States to
grant asylum ....to perçons accused or condrnined for common
crimes....". The onus of proving that Haya de la Torre had been
accused or conciemned for common crimes before the grant of
asylunl rested upon Peru.
The Court has no difficulty in finding, in the present case, that
the refugee was an "accused person" within the meaning of the
Havana Convention, inasmuch as the evidence presented by the
Government of Peru appears conclusive in this connexion. It
can hardly be agreed that the term "accused" occurring in a
multilateral treaty such as that of Havana has a precise and
technical connotation, ~vhich~vouldhave the effect of subordinating
the definition of "accused" to the completion of certain strictly
prescribed steps in procedure, which might differ from one legal
system to another.
On the other hand, the Court considers that the Government of
Peru has not proved that the acts of which the refugee was accused
before January 3rd/4th, 1949, constitute common crimes. From
the point of view of the application of the Havana Convention, it
is the terms of the accusation, as formulated by the legal authorities
before the grant of asylum, that must alone be considered. As has
been shown in the recital of the facts, the sole accusation contained
in al1the documents emanating from the Peruvian legal authorities
19la rébellion militaire, et le Gouvernement du Pérou n'a pas établi
que la rébellionmilitaire constitue en soi un crime de droit commun.
L'article 248 du Code de justice militaire péruvien de 1939 tend
même à démontrer le contraire, car il établit une distinction entre
la rébellionmilitaire et les crimes de droit commun en prescrivant :
((Les délits de droit commun commis pendant le cours et à l'occa-
sion de la rébellion seront punis en conformité des lois, indépen-
damment de la rébellion. ))
Ces constatations autorisent à dire que le premier grief adressé
à l'asile par le Gouvernement du Pérou n'est pas justifié et que,
sur ce point, la demande reconventionnelle est mal fondée et doit
êtrerejetée.
Le Gouvernement du Pérou assigne comme deuxième base à
sa demande reconventionnelle la méconnaissance prétendue de
l'article 2, paragraphe 2, de la Convention deLa Havane, disposition
ainsi conçue : ((L'asile ne pourra être accordé sauf dans les cas
d'urgence et pour le temps strictement indispensable pour que le
réfugiése mette en sûreté d'une autre manière. 1)
Avant de procéderà l'examen de cette disposition, la Cour estime
devoir faire les remarques suivantes au sujet de la Convention de
La Havane en général,et plus particulièrement au sujet de son
article 2.
La Convention de La Havane, qui est le seul instrument conven-
tionnel pertinent en la présente affaire, a eu pou; objet, comme
l'indique son préambule, de fixer les règles que les Etats signataires
sont tenus d'observer pour la concession de l'asile dans leurs
relations mutuelles. On a entendu par là, ainsi qu'il a étédit plus
haut, mettre un terme à des abus engendrés par la pratique de
l'asile et de nature à compromettre son crédit et son utilité. C'est
ce que confirme la tournure tantôt prohibitive, tantôt nettement
restrictive des articles I et 2 de la convention.
L'article 2 traite de l'asile des criminels politiques et fixe avec
précision les conditions auxquelles est subordonné le respect par
l'État territorial de l'asile qui leur serait octroyé. Il eàtremarquer
que toutes ces conditions tendent à donner des garanties à l'État
territorial et se présentent, en définitive, comme la contre-partie de
l'obligation qu'il assumederespecterl'asile, c'est-à-dire d'en accepter
le principe et les conséquencestant qu'il est régulièrement maintenu.
En tête des conditions énoncées figurela disposition précitée
de l'article2, paragraphe 2. Elle en est assurément la plus impor-
tante, la justification essentielle de l'asile se trouvant dans l'immi-
nence ou la persistance d'un danger pour la personne du réfugié.
C'est au Gouvernement de la Colombie qu'il appartenait de faire
la preuve des éléments defait qui répondent à la condition ainsi
énoncée.
Il n'est pas contesté entre Parties que l'asile peut êtreaccordé
dans un but humanitaire pour protéger les criminels politiques
contre l'action violente et désordonnéed'éléments irresponsables
20 is that of military rebellion, and the Government of Peru has not
established that military rebellion in itself constitutes a common
crime. Article 248 of the Peruvian Code of Military Justice of
1939 even tends to prove the contrary, for it makes a distinction
between military rebellion and common crimes by providing that :
"Common crimes committed during the course of, and in connexion
with, a rebellion, shall be punishable in conformity with the laws,
irrespective of the rebellion."
These considerations lead to the conclusion that the first objection
made by the Government of Peru against the asylum is not jistified
and that on.this point the counter-claim is not well founded and
must be dismissed.
The Government of Peru relies, as a second basis for its counter-
claim, upon the alleged disregard of Article 2,paragraph 2, of the
Havana Convention, which provides as follows : "Asylum may
not be granted except in urgent cases and for the period of time
strictly indispensable for the person who has sought asylum to
ensure in some other way his safety."
Before proceeding to an examination of this provision, the
Court considers it necessary to make the following remark con-
cerning the Havana Convention in general and Article 2 in
particular.
The object of the Havaria Convention, which is the only agree-
ment relevant to the present case, was, as indicated in its preamble,
to fix the rules which the signatory States must observe for the
granting of asylum in their mutual relations. The intention was,
as has been stated above, to put an end to the abuses which
had arisen in the practice of asylum and which were likely to
impair its credit and usefulness. This is borne out by the wording
of Articles I and 2 of the Convention which is at times ~rohibitive
and at times clearly restrictive.
-Article2 refers to asylum granted to political offenders and
lays down in precise terms the conditions under which asylum
granted to such offenders shall be respected by the territorial
State. It is worthy of note that al1 these conditions are designed
to give guarantees to the territorial State and appear, in the
final analysis, as the consideration for the obligation which that
State assumes to respect asylum, that is, to accept its principle
and its consequenccs as long as it is regularly maintained.
At the head of the list of these conditions appears Article 2,
paragraph 2, quoted above. It is certainly the most important
of them, the essential justification for asylum being in the immi-
nence or persistence of a danger for the person of the refugee.
It was incumbent mon the Government of Colombia to submit
proof of facts to shhw that the above-mentioned condition uTas
fulfilled.
It his not been disputed by the Parties that asylum may be
granted on humanitarian grounds in order to protect political
offenders against the violent and disorderly action of irresponsible de la population. Il n'a pas étéalléguépar le Gouvernement de la
Colombie que Haya de laTorre se soit trouvé dans unetelle situation
au moment où il a cherché refuge dans l'ambassade de la Colombie
à Lima. A ce moment, trois mois s'étaient écoulésdepuis la rébel-
lion militaire. Ce long intervalle donne à la présente affaire un
aspect tout à fait particulier. Durant ces trois mois, Haya de la
Torre avait apparemment vécu caché dans le pays, refusant
d'obtempérer à la sommation judiciaire à comparaître publiée les
16-18 novembre 1948, s'abstenant de demander asile dans les
ambassades étrangères où plusieurs de ses CO-accusésavaient
trouvé refuge avant ces dates. Ce n'est que le 3 janvier 1949 qu'il
s'est fait asiler dans l'ambassade de la Colombie. La Cour estime
que, prima facie, de telles circonstances autorisent difficilement
à parler d'urgence.
La correspondance diplomatique échangéeentre les deux Gou-
vernements n'indique pas la nature du danger dont le réfugiése
serait trouvé menacé. Pareillement, le Mémoiredu Gouvernement
de la Colombie se borne à dire que le réfugiéa demandé àl'ambas-
sadeur de lui accorder la protection diplomatique de l'asile, sa
liberté et sa vie étant en danger. C'est seulement dans sa réplique
que le Gouvernement de la Colombie a préciséla nature du
danger contre lequel le réfugié avait entendu lui demander
protection. Ce danger aurait étécelui résultant pour le réfugié
en particulier de la situation politique anormale existant au Pérou
à la suite de l'état de siège déclaréle 4 octobre 1948, et prorogé
successivement le 2 novembre, le 2 décembre 1948 et le 2 janvier
1949 ;de la déclaration de (crise nationale ))du 25 octobre 1948
contenant diverses affirmations contre l'Alliance populaire révo-
lutionnaire américaine, parti politique dont le réfugiéavait la
direction ; de la mise hors la loi de ce mêmeparti par le décret
du 4 octobre 1948 ; de l'ordonnance du juge d'instruction suppléant
de la Marine en date du 13 novembre 1948, prescrivant de citer
les défaillants par sommation publique ;du décret du 4 novembre
1948prévoyant l'institution de cours martiales pour juger sommai-
rement, avec faculté d'aggravation des peines et suppression du
droit d'appel, les auteurs, complices et autres responsables des
délits de rébellion, sédition ou mutinerie.
De l'ensemble des faits ainsi alléguésse dégage,cette fois claire-
ment, la nature du danger dont le caractère urgent aurait, selon
le Gouvernement de la Colombie, justifié l'asile : ce danger serait
celui d'une justice politique par l'effet de la subordination des
autorités judiciaires péruviennes aux injonctions de l'exécutif.
Il convient donc d'examiner si, et éventuellement dans quelle
mesure, un danger de cette nature peut servir de fondement à
l'asile.sections of the population. It has not been contended by the
Government of Colombia that Haya de la Torre was in such a
situation at the time when he sought refuge in the Colombian
Embassy at Lima. At that time, three months had elapsed since
the military rebellion. This long interval gives the present case
a very special character. During those three months, Haya de la
Torre had apparently been in hiding in the country, refusing to
obey the summons to appear of the legal authorities which was
published on November 16th/18th, 1948, and refraining from
seeking asylum in the foreign embassies where several of his
CO-accused had found refuge beforé these dates. It was only on
January 3rd, 1949, that he sought refuge in the Colombian Em-
bassy. The Court considers that, firima yacie such circumstances
make it difficult to speak of urgency.
The diplomatic correspondence between the two Governments
does not indicate the nature of the danger which was alleged to
threaten the refugee. Likewise, the Memorial of the Government
of Colombia confines itself to stating that the refugee begged
the ,4mbassador to grant him the diplomatic protection of asylum
as his freedom and life were in jeopardy. It is only in the written
Reply that the Government of Colombia described in more precise
terms the nature of the danger against which the refugee intended
to request the protection of the Ambassador. It was then claimed
that this danger resulted in particular from the abnormal political
situation existing in Peru, following the state of siege proclaimed
on October 4th, 1948, and renewed successively on November znd,
December znd, 1948, and January end, 1949 ; that it further
resulted from the declaration of "a state of national crisis" made
on October 25th, 1938, containing various statements against the
Arnerican People's Revolutionary Alliance of w-hich the refugee
was the head; from the outlawing of this Party by the decree
of October 4th, 1948 ; from the Order issued by the acting
Examining Magistrate for the Navy on November 13th, 1948,
requiring the defaulters to be cited by public summons ; from
the decree of Xovember 4th, 1948, providing for Courts-Martial
to judge summarily, with the option of increasing the penalties
and vithout appeal, the authors, accomplices and others respon-
sible for the offences of rebellion, sedition or mutiny.
From these facts regarded as a whole the nature of the danger
now becomes clear, and it is upon the urgent character of such a
danger that the Goverilment of Coloinbia seeks to justify the
asylum-the danger of political justice by reason of the subordin-
ation of the Peruvian jiidicial aixthorities to the instructions of
the Executivc.
It is therefore necessary to csainine nhethcr, and, if so, to what
extent, a danger of tliis kirlclcar1 seri-eas ri bnsis for nsylum. En principe, on ne peut concevoir qu'en parlant de cccas
d'urgence D,la Convention de La Havane ait englobé dans ces
termes le danger des poursuites régulièresauxquelles s'expose le
citoyen d'un pays en attentant aux institutions de ce pays ; on
ne peut davantage admettre qu'elle ait songé à la protection contre
l'action régulière de la justice en parlant du temps strictement
indispensable ((pour que le réfugiése mette en sûreté d'une autre
manière )).
Vainement voudrait-on tirer argument en sens contraire de
l'article ~remier de la Convention de La Havane aui interdit de
donner asile aux personnes ((accusées ou condamnées pour délits
communs 1) et a11 nrescrit de remettre ces mêmesDersonnes au
gouvernement local aussitôt que celui-ci l'exige. On ne peut en
déduire qu'une personne, parce qu'elle est accusée de crimes
politiques et non de délits de droit commun, a qualité, par cela
seulement, pour être asilée. Il est clair qu'une telle déduction
méconnaîtrait les conditions auxquelles l'article 2, paragraphe 2,
a subordonné l'octroi de l'asile aux criminels politiques.
En principe donc, l'asile ne peut être opposé à l'action de la
justice. Il n'y a d'exception à ce principe que si, sous le couvert de
la justice, l'arbitraire se substitue au règne de la loi. Tel serait le
cas si l'administration de la justice se trouvait viciée par des
mesures clairement inspirées par l'esprit politique. L'asile protèboe
le criminel politique contre toutes mesures que le pouvoir prendrait
ou tenterait de prendre contre ses adversaires politiques et dont le
caractère extra-lésa" serait manifeste. Le terme « sûreté », aL ,.
dans l'article 2, paragraphe 2, détermine l'effet propre de l'asile
accordé aux criminels politiques, signifie protection contre l'arhi-
traire du pouvoir, bénéficede la légalité. Aucontraire, la sûreté
découlant de l'asile ne saurait êtreentendue comme une protection
contre lJapp!ication régulièredes lois et !a juridiction des tribu-
naux légalement constitués. Une protection ainsi entendue auto-
riserait l'agent diplomatique à mettre obstacle à l'application des
lois du pays alors qu'il a l'obligation de les respecter ;elle devien-
drait en fait l'équivalent d'une immunité, ce qui est évidemment
en dehors des intentions qui ont inspiréla Convention de La Havane.
Il est vrai que des décrets successivement promulgués par le
Gouvernement du Pérou avaient établi et prorogé l'état de siège
dans ce pays; mais il n'a pas étédémontréque l'existence de
l'état de siège impliquait la subordination de la justiceà l'exécutif,
ni que la siispension de certaines garanties constitutionnelles
entraînait l'abolition des garanties judiciaires. Quant au décret
du 4 novembre 1948 prévoyant l'institution de Cours martiales,
il ne contenait aucune indication pouvant faire croire que les
nouvelles prescriptions s'appliqueraient rétroactivement aux délits
perpétrés antérieurement à la publication dudit décret. En fait,
ce décret n'a pas étéappliqué à la procédure judiciaire poursuivie In principle, it is inconceivable that the Havana Convention
could have intended the term "urgent cases" to include the danger
of regular prosecution to which the citizens of any country lay them-
selves open by attacking the institutions of that country ;nor can
it be admitted that in referring to "the period of tirne strictly
indispensable for the person who has sought asylum to ensure in
some other way his safety", the Convention envisaged protection
from the operation of regular legal proceedings.
It would be useless to seek an argument to the contrary in
Article I of the Havana Convention which forbids the grant of
asylum to persons "accused or condemned for common crimes" and
directs that such persons shall be surrendered immediately upon
request of the local government. It is not possible to infer from that
provision that, because a person is accused of political offences and
not of common crimes, he is, by that fact alone, entitled to asylum.
It is clear that such an inference would disregard the requirements
laid down by Article 2, paragraph 2, for the grant of asylum to
political offenders.
In principle, therefore, asylumcannot be opposed to the operation
of justice. An exception to this rule can occur only if, in the guise
of justice, arbitrary action is substituted for the rule of law. Such
would be the case if the administration of justice were corrupted by
measures clearly prompted by political aims. Asylum protects the
political offender against any measures of a manifestly extra-legal
character which a government might take or attemptto take against
its political opponents. The word "safety", which in Article 2,
paragraph 2, determines the specific effect of asylum granted to
political offenders, means that the refugee is protected against
arbitrary action by the government, and that he enjoys the benefits
of the law. On the otherhand, the safety which arises out of asylum
cannot be construed as a protection against the regular application
of the laws and against the jurisdiction of legally constituted tribu-
nals. Protection thus understood would authorize the diplomatic
agent to obstruct the application of the laws of the country whereas
it is his duty to respect them ;it would in fact become the equiva-
lent of an immunity, which was evidently not within the intentions
of the draftsmen of the Havana Convention.
Itis true that successive decrees promulgated by the Government
of Peru proclaimed and prolonged a state of siege in that country ;
but it has not been shown that the existence of a state of siege
implied the subordination of justice to the executive authority, or
that the suspension of certain constitutional guarantees entailed the
abolition of judicial guarantees. As for the decree of November 4th,
1948, providing for Courts-Martial, it contained no indication which
might be taken to mean that the new provisions would apply
retroactively to offences committed prior to the publication of the
said decree. In fact,this decree was not applied to the legal proceed-
ings against Haya de la Torre, as appears from the foregoing recitalcontre Haya de la Torre, ainsi qu'il ressort de l'exposé des faits
ci-dessus. En ce qui concerne l'avenir, la Cour a pris acte de la
déclaration suivante faite au nom du Gouvernement du Pérou :
(Le décret-loien question porte la date du 4 novembre 1948,
c'est-à-dire qu'il fut promulgué un mois après l'accomplissement
des faits qui ont causél'ouverture du procès contre Haya de la
Torre. Ce décret fut promulgué afin d'être appliqué aux délits
qui auraient pu se perpétrer après sa publication, et personne
au Péroun'aurait jamais songé à l'utiliser pour juger le cas auquel
la défense colombiennefait maladroitement allusion, puisque le
principe selon lequel les lois n'ont pas d'effets rétroactifs, surtout
en matière pénale,y est largement reconnu. Si l'affirmation lancée
en ce sens par le Gouvernement de la Colombie avait été vraie,
jamais le Gouvernement du Péroune se serait permis de soumettre
le cas à la Cour internationale de Justice.))
Cette déclaration, qui figure dans la Duplique, a étéconfirmée
par l'agent du Gouvernement du Pérou dans son exposé oral du
2 octobre 1950.
La Cour ne saurait admettre que les États signataires de la
Convention de La Havane eussent entendu substituer à la pratique
des républiques de l'Amérique latine, pratique dans laquelle les
considérations de courtoisie, de bon voisinage et d'opportunité
politique ont toujours tenu une très large place, un régime juri-
dique qui garantirait à leurs propres nationaux accusés de crimes
politiques le privilège d'échapper à la juridiction nationale. Une
telle conception se heurterait, au surplus, à l'une des traditions
les mieux établies dans l'Amérique latine, celle de la non-inter-
vention. La Sixième Conférence panaméricaine de 1928, au cours
de laquelle fut signée la Convention sur l'asile, fut aussi celle
où les Etats de l'Amérique latine affirmèrent leur opposition
résolue à toute politique d'intervention étrangère. Il serait diffi-
cile de concevoir que ces mêmes Etats eussent consenti en ce
même moment à se soumettre à l'intervention sous sa forme la
moins acceptable, celle qui implique immixtion de l'étranger dans
le fonctionnement de la justice interne et qui ne saurait guère
se manifester sans jeter quelque soupçon sur l'impartialité de
celle-ci.
Aussi bien la correspondance diplomatique échangéeentre les
deux Gouvernements témoigne-t-elle du constant souci de la
Colombie de rester, sur ce terrain comme ailleurs, fidèle à la
tradition de la non-intervention. Elle ne s'est pas départie de
cette attitude même quand elle s'est trouvée placée en face d'une
déclaration catégorique du ministre des Affaires étrangères du
Pérou affirmant que le tribunal devant lequel était cité Haya de
la Torre était conforme à l'organisation générale et permanente
du pouvoir judiciaire péruvien et sous le contrôle de la Cour
suprême. Cette affirmation n'a appelé de sa part ni contestation
ni réserve. Ce n'est que beaucoup plus tard, à la suite de l'intro-
duction de la demande recoizventionnelle du Pérou que, dans laof the facts. As regards the future, the Court places on record the
following declaration made on behalf of the Peruvian Government :
"The decree in question is dated November 4th, 1948, that
is, it was enacted one month after the events which led to the
institution of proceedings against Haya de la Torre. This decree
was intended to apply to crimes occurring after its publication,
and nobody in Peru would ever have dreamed of utilizing it in
the case to which the Colombian Government clumsily refers,
since the principle that laws have no retroactive effect, especially
in penal matters, is broadly admitted in that decree. If the
Colombian Government's statement on this point were true, the
Peruvian Goverilment would never have referred this case to
the International Court of Justice."
This declaration, ~vhichappears in the Rejoinder, was confirmed
by the Agent for the Government of Peru in his oral statement of
October znd, 1950.
The Court cannot admit that the States signatory to the Havana
Convention intended to substitute for the practice of the Latin-
American republics, in which considerations of courtesy, good-
neighbourliness and political expediency have alwaysheld a promi-
nent place, a legal system which would guarantee to their own
nationals accused of political offences the privilege of evading
national jurisdiction. Such a conception, moreover, would come into
conflict with one of the most firmly established traditions of Latin
America, namely, non-intervention. It was at the Sixth Pan-
American Conference of 1928, during which the Convention on
Asylum was signed, that the States of Latin America declared tlleir
resolute opposition to any foreign political intervention. It would
be difficult toconceive that these same States had consented, at the
very same moment, to submit to intervention in its least acceptable
form, one which implies foreign interference in the administration
of domestic justice and which could not manifest itself without
casting some doubt on the impartiality of that justice.
Indeed the diplomatic correspondence between the two Govern-
ments shows the constant anxiety of Colombia to remain, in this
field as elsewhere, faithful to the tradition of non-intervention.
Colombia did not depart from this attitude, even when she found
herself confronted with an emphatic declaration by the Perl~vian
Minister for Foreign Affairs asserting that the tribunal before which
Haya de la Torre had been summoned to appear was in conformity
with the general and permanent organization of Peruvian judicial
administration and under the control of the Supreme Court. This
assertion met with no contradiction or reservation on the part of
Colombia. It was only much later, following the presentation of the
Peruvian counter-claiin, that the Govern~nent of Colombia chose,Réplique et au cours des exposés oraux, le Gouvernement de la
Colombie a choisi de porter la défense de l'asile sur un terrain
où la Convention de La Havane, interprétée à la lumière des
traditions les mieux assises de l'Amérique latine, ne lui donnait
pas de fondement.
Les considérations qui précèdent conduisent à écarter la thèse
selon laquelle la Convention de La Havane aurait voulu assurer,
de façon tout à fait générale, la protection de l'asile à toute
personne poursuivie pour crimes ou délits politiques soit au cours
d'événements révolutionnaires, soit pendant les temps plus ou
moins troublés qui les suivent, pour cette seule raison que l'on
doit présumer que l'administration de la justice s'en trouve altérée.
11 est clair que l'adoption d'un tel critère conduirait à des ingé-
rences étrangère?, particulièrement blessantes, dans les affaires
intérieures des Etats ; on ne lui trouve d'ailleurs pas de confir-
mation dans la pratique de l'Amérique latine telle qu'elle a été
exposée à la Cour.
La Cour, en s'exprimant ainsi, ne perd pas de vue les nombreux
cas d'asile qui ont étécités dans la Réplique du Gouvernement
de la Colombie et en termes de plaidoiries. Il y a lieu de faire
à ce sujet les remarques suivantes :
Faute de données de fait précises, il est difficile de se former
une idéede la portée de ces cas, en tant que précédents-de nature
à établir l'existence d'une obligation juridique pour 1'Etat terri-
torial de reconnaître la validité d'un asile octroyé à l'encontre
des poursuites engagées par la justice locale. Les faits portés à
la connaissance de la Cour montrent que dans nombre de cas,
les personnalités qui ont bénéficiéde l'asile n'avaient, au moment
de l'octroi, étél'objet d'aucune accusation émanant des autorités
judiciaires. De façon plus générale, des considérationsde conve-
nance qu de simple opportunité politique semblent avoir déter-
miné 1'Etat territoriaà reconnaître l'asile sans que cette décision
lui fût dictée par le sentiment d'un devoir juridique quelconque.
Ces remarques, si elles tendent à réduire considérablement la
portée, en tant que précédents, des cas d'asile signalés par le
Gouvernement de la Colombie, démontrent, en revanche, que
l'asile, tel qu'il a étépratiqué dans l'Amérique latine, est une
institution qui, dans unemesure très large, doit son développement
à des facteurs extra-juridiques. Les relations de bon voisinage
des républiques, les intérêtspolitiques divers des gouvernements
ont favorisé la reconnaissance mutuelle de l'asile en dehors de
toute réglementation juridique nettement définie. En particulier,
la Convention de La Havane, si elle représente incontestablement
une réaction contre des pratiques abusives, ne tend aucunement
à limiter la pratique de l'asile en tant que celle-ci procède de
l'accord des gouvernements intéressés,s'inspirant de sentiments
mutuels de tolérance et de bonne volonté.
24 in the Reply -and during the oral proceedings, to transfer the
defence of asylum to a plane on which the Havana Convention,
interpreted in the light of the most firmly established traditions of
Latin America, could provide it with no foundation.
The foregoing considerations lead us to reject the argument that
the Havana Convention was intended to afford a quite general
protection of asylum to any person prosecuted for political offences,
either in the course of revolutionary events, or in .the more or
less troubled times that follow, for the sole reason that it must be
assumed that such events interfere with the administration of
justice. Itis clear that the adoption of such a criterion would lead
to foreign interference of a particularly offensive natnre in the
domestic affairs of States ; besides which, no confirmation of this
criterion can be found in Latin-American practice, as this practice
has been explained to the Court.
In thus expressing itself, the Court does not lose sight of the
numerous cases of asylum which have been cited in the 14eply
of the Government of Colombia and during the oral state-
ments. In this connexion, the following observations shoiild be
made :
In the absence of precise data, it is difficult to assess the value
of such cases as precedents tending to establish the existence of
a legal obligation upon a territorial State to recognize the validity
of asylum which has been granted against proceedings instituted
by local judicial authorities. The facts which have been laid
before the Court show that in a number of cases the perçons who
have enjoyed asylum were not, at the moment at which asylum
was granted, the object of any accusation on the part of the
judicial authorjties. In a more general way, considerations of
convenience or simple political expediency seem to have led the
territorial State to recognize asylum without that decision being
dictated by any feeling of legal obligation.
If these remarks tend to reduce considerably the value as
precedents of the cases of asylum cited by the Government of
Colombia, they show, none the less, that asylum as practised in
Latin America is an institution which, to a very great extent,
owes its development to extra-legal factors. The good-neighbour
relations between the republics, the different political interests
of the governments, have favoured the mutual recognition of
asylum apart from any clearly defined juridical system. Even if
the Havana Convention, in particular, represents an indisputable
reaction against certain abuses in practice, it in no way tends to
limit the practice of asylum as it may arise from agreements
between interested governments inspired by mutual feelings of
toleration and goodwill. En conclusion, sur la base des constatations et considérations
énoncéesci-dessus, la Cour estime qu'à la date des 3-4 janvier 1949,
il n'existait pas un danger constituant un cas d'urgence, au sens
de l'article 2, paragraphe 2, de la Convention de La Havane.
Cette apprCciation ne comporte aucune critique à l'égard de
l'ambassadeur de la Colombie. Sa décision d'accueillir, le 3 janvier
1949 au soir, le réfugiépeut avoir été prise sans possibilité de
longues réflexions ;elle peut avoir été influencée tant par l'octroi
des sauf-conduits accordés précédemment à des CO-accusés de
Haya de la Torre que par la considération plus générale des événe-
ments récents qui s'étaient déroulçs au Pérou, événements qui
peuvent l'avoir porté à croire à un cas d'urgence. Mais cette appré-
ciation subjective n'est pas l'élémentpertinent dans la décision
que la Cour est appelée à rendre au sujet de la validité de l'asile ;
seule importe ici la realité objective des faits : c'est elle qui doit
déterminer la décision de la Cour.
Les lettres de l'ambassadeur de la Colombie du 14 janvier et du
12 février 1949 font apparaître l'attitude du Gouvernement de la
Colombie à l'égard de l'asile accordé par son ambassadeur. La
première confirme l'asile et prétend en justifier l'octroi par une
qualification unilatérale du réfugié.La seconde formule l'exigence
de l'établissement d'un sauf-conduit en vue de permettre le départ
du réfugiéet a appuyé expressément cette exigence sur ((les obli-
gations internationales » qui s'imposeraient au Gouvernement
du Pérou. En s'exprimant ainsi, le Gouvernement de la Colombie
a définitivement affirmé sa volonté de protéger Haya de la Torre
malgré l'existence de poursuites engagées contre lui du chef de
rébellion militaire. Il a maintenu cette attitude et cette protection
en persistant dans l'exigence du sauf-conduit, alors même que le
miliistre des Affaires étrangères du Pérou lui rappelait ccle procès
judiciaire instauré sous la souveraineté nationale )) à charge du
réfugié(lettres du ministre des Affaires étrangères du Pérou du
19 mars 1949 ;de l'ambassadeur de la Colombie du 28 mars 1949).
Il ressort donc clairement de cette correspondance que la Cour
ne saurait être limitée dans son appréciation de l'asile à la date
des 3-4 janvier 1949 comme date de son octroi. L'octroi, ainsi
qu'il a étédit plus haut, est inséparable de la protection qu'il
engendre, protection qui a revêtuici la forme d'une défensecontre
l'action judiciaire. Il en résulte que l'asile a étéoctroyé aussi
longtemps que le Gouvernement de la Colombie s'en est prévalu
à l'appui de sa demande de sauf-conduit.
La Cour est amenée ainsi à constater que l'octroi de l'asile, à
partir des 3-4 janvier 1949 jusqu'au moment où les deux Gouver-
nements sont tombés d'accord pour lui soumettre leur différend,
a Ctéprolongé pour une raison que l'article 2,paragraphe 2, de la
Convention de La Havane ne reconnaît pas.
25 In conclusion, on the basis of the foregoing observations and
considerations, the Court considers that on January 3rd/4th, 1949,
there did not exist a danger constituting a case of urgency within
the meaning of Article 2,paragraph 2,of the Havana Convention.
This finding implies no criticism of the Ambassador of Colombia.
His decision to receive the refugee on the evening of January 3rd,
1949, may have been taken without the opportunity of lengthy
reflection ;it may have been influenced as much by the previous
grant of safe-conducts to perçons accused together with Haya de
la Torre as by the more general consideration of recent events in
Peru ; these events may have led him to believe in the existence
of urgency. But this subjective appreciation is not the relevant
element in the decision which the Court is called upon to take
concerning the validitv of the asylum ;the only important question
to be considered here is the objective existence of the facts, and it
is this which must determine the decision of the Court.
The notes of the Ambassador of Colombia of January 14th and
February ~zth, 1949,reflect theattitude of the Government towards
the asylum granted by its Ambassador. The first of these confirms
the asylum and claims to justify its grant by a unilateral qualifica-
tion of the refugee. The second formulates a demand for a safe-
conduct with a view to permitting the departure of the refugee,
and has based this demand expressly on the "international obliga-
tions" alleged to be binding on the Government of Peru. In thus
expressing itself, the Government of Colombia definitively pro-
claimed its intention of protecting Haya de la Torre, in spite of
the existence of proceedings instituted against him for military
rebellion. It has maintained this attitude and this protection by
continuing to insist on the grant of a safe-conduct, even when the
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Peru referred to the existence of
"a judicial prosecution, instituted by the sovereign power of the
State" against the refugee (notes of the Mïnister for Foreign Affairs
of Peru of March ~gth, 1949 ;of the Ambassador of Colombia of
March asth, 1949).
Thus, it is clearly apparent from this correspondence that the
Court, in its appraisal of the asylum, cannot be confined to the
date of January 3rd/4th, 1949, as the date on which it was granted.
The grant, as has been stated above, is inseparable from the pro-
tection to which it gives rise -a protection which has here assumed
the form of a defence against legal proceedings. It therefore results
that asylum has been granted for as long as the Government of
Colombia has relied upon it in support of its request for a safe-
conduct.
The Court is thus led to find that the grant of asylum from
January 3rd/4th, 1949, until the time when the two Governments
agreed to submit the dispute to its jurisdiction, has been prolonged
for a reason which is not recognized by Article 2, paragraph 2,
of the Havana Convention.
?j Cette constatation rend sans objet l'adjonction à la demande
reconventionnelle présentée au cours de la procédure orale et
énoncéepar ces mots : ccet qu'en tout cas le maintien de l'asile
constitue actuellement une violation dudit traité ». Cette partie
de la conclusion finalement énoncéepar le Gouvernement du
Pérou était destinée à se substituer à la demande reconventionnelle
en sa forme primitive si celle-ci était écartée : elle disparaît par
le fait que cette demande a étéadmise. Dès lors, il n'y a pas lieu
pour la Cour d'examiner ni l'exception d'incompétence ni les
exceptions d'irrecevabilité que le Gouvernement de la Colombie
a déduites de l'inobservation de l'article 63 du Règlement de la
Cour, ni la valeur au fond de la prétention ainsi présentée par le
Gouvernement du Pérou.
sur les conclusions du Gouvernement de la Colombie,
par quatorze voix contre deux,
Rejette la première conclusion en tant que celle-ci impliquerait
un droit pour la Colombie, comme pays accordant l'asile, de
qualifier la nature du délit par une décisionunilatérale, définitive
et obligatoire pour le Pérou ;
par quinze voix contre une,
Rejette la deuxième conclusion ;
sur la demande reconventionnelle du Gouvernement du Pérou,
par quinze voix contre une,
La rejette en tant qu'elle est fondée sur une violation de l'ar-
ticle premier, paragraphe premier, de la Convention sur l'asile
signée à La Havane en 1928 ;
par dix voix contre six,
Dit que l'octroi de l'asile par le Gouvernement de la Colombie
à Victor Raul Haya de la Torre n'a pas été fait en conformité
de l'article2,paragraphe 2, «premièrement », de ladite convention. ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMEXT OF 20 XI 50) 288
This finding renders superfluous the addition to the counter-
claim submitted during the oral proceedings and worded as f01lo~vs :
"and that in any case the maintenance of the asylum constitutes
at the present time a violation of that treaty". This part of the
submission, as finally worded by the Government of Peru, was
intended as a substitution for the counter-claim in its original form
if the latter were rejected : it disappears with the allowance of
this counter-claim. Hence it will not be necessary for the Court to
consider either the objection on the ground of lack of jurisdiction
or the objections on the grounds of inadmissibility which the
Government of Colombia has based on an alleged disregard of
Article 63 of the Rules of Court or to consider the merits of the
claim thus submitted by the Government of Peru.
on the submissions of the Government of Colombia,
by fourteen votes to two,
Rejects the first submission in so far as it involves a right for
Colombia, as the country granting asylum, to qualify the nature
of the offence by a unilateral and definitive decision, binding on
Peru ;
by fifteen votes to one,
Rejects the second submission ;
on the counter-claim of the Goyernment of Peru,
by fifteen votes to one,
Rejects it in so far as it is founded on a violation of Arricle 1,
paragraph 1, of the Convention on Asylum signed at Havana in
1928 ;
by ten votes to six,
Finds that the grant oi asylum by the Colombian Government to
Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre was not made in conformity with
Article 2, paragraph 2 ("First"), of that Convention. Fait en français et en anglais, le texte français faisant foi, au
Palais de la Paix, à La Haye, le vingt novembre mil neuf cent
cinquante, en trois exemplaires, dont l'un restera déposéaux
archives de la Cour et dont les autres seront transmis respective-
ment au Gouvernement de la République de la Colombie et au
Gouvernement de la République du Pérou.
Le Président,
(Signé) BASDEVANT.
Le Greffier adjoint,
(Signé) GARNIER-COIGXET.
M. ALVAREZB , ADAWIPACHA,MM. READet AZEVEDOj,uges, et
M. CAICEDOj,uge ad hoc, déclarant ne pas pouvoir, sur certains
points, se rallieà l'arrêt dela Cour et se prévalant du droit que
leur confère l'article7 du Statut, joignent audit arrêt les exposés
de leur opinion dissidente.
Il. ZORIEIC,juge, tout en se déclarant d'accord sur les trois
premiers points du dispositif et sur les motifs afférents, regrette
de ne pouvoir se rallier au dernier point du dispositif, vu qu'il
considère que l'asile a étéoctroyé conformément à l'article2,
paragraphe 2, de la Convention de La Havane. II partage à ce
sujet les vues expriméesdans l'opinion dissidente deM. Read, juge.
(Paraphé) J. B.
(Paraphé) G.-C. Done in French and English, the French text being authoritative,
at the Peace Palace, The Hague, this twentieth day of November,
one thousand nine hundred and fift~7,in three copies, one of which
will be placed in the archives of the Court and the others trans-
mitted to the Governments of the Republic of Colombia and of the
Republic of Peru respectively.
(Sig~zed)BASDEVANT,
President .
(Signed) GARNIER-COIGNET,
Deputy-Registrar.
Judges ALVAREZ,BADAWI PASHA,READ and AZEVEDOa , nd
M. CAICEDO,Judge ad hoc, declaring that they are unable to
concur in certain points of the Judgment of the Court, have availed
themselves of the right conferred on them by Article 57 of the
Statute and appended to the Judgment statements of their dissent-
ing opinions.
Judge ZORIEIC,whilst accepting the first three points of the
operative part of the Judgment and the reasons given in support,
regrets to state that he isnable to agree with the last point of the
operative part, as he considers that asylum was granted in confor-
mity with Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Havana Convention.
On this point he shares the views expressed by Judge Read in his
dissenting opinion.
(Initialled)J. B. ANNEXE
LISTE DES DOCUMENTS SOUMIS A LA COUR
1. - PIÈCES DÉPOSÉES AU COURS DE LA PROCÉDURE ÉCRITE
a) Annexes azt Mémoire.
I. - 1949, janvier 4. No 211. Lettre de l'ambassadeur de Colombie à
Lima au ministre des Affaires étrangères et du Culte du Pérou.
2. - 1949, janvier 14. No 812. Lettre de l'ambassadeur de Colombie à
Lima au ministre des Affaires étrangères et du Culte du Pérou.
3. - 1949, février 12. No 2/64. Lettre de l'ambassadeur de Colombie
à Lima au ministre des Affaires étrangèreset du Culte du Pérou.
4. - 1949, février 22. No (D) 6-812. Lettre du ministre des Affaires
étrangères et du Culte du Pérou à l'ambassadeur de Colombie à
Lima.
5. - 1949, mars 4. No 40/6. Lettre de l'ambassadeur de Colombie à
Lima au ministre des Affaires étrangères et du Culte du Pérou.
6. - 1949, mars 19. No (D) 6-814. Lettre du ministre des Affaires
étrangères et du Culte du Pérou à l'ambassadeur de Colombie
à Lima.
7. - 1949, mars 28. No 73/13.Lettre de l'ambassadeur de Colombie à
Lima au ministre des Affaires étrangères et du Culte du Pérou.
8. - 1949, avril 6. No (D) 6-816. Lettre du ministère des Affaires
étrangères et du Culte du Pérou à l'ambassadeur de Colombie
à Lima.
9. - 1949, avril7. Déclarations du ministre des Affaires étrangères de
Colombie à la presse.
IO. - 1949, avril 29. No (S) 6-817. Lettre du ministre des Affaires
étrangères et du Culte du Pérou à l'ambassadeur de Colombie
à Lima.
II. - Acte de Lima du 31 août, 1949.
12. - 1949, août 31. Lettre du plénipotentiaire spécial de la Colombie
à Lima au plénipotentiaire spécial du Pérou.
13. - 1949, août 31. No (D) 6-8/14. Lettre du pléilipotentiaire spécial
du Pérou au plénipotentiaire spécial de la Colombie à Lima.
14. - 1949, août 31. No 300136. Lettre de l'ambassadeur de Colombie
au ministre des Relations extérieures et du Culte du Pérou.
120 ANNEX
LIST OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED TO THE COURT
1.-ANNEXES DEPOSITED DURING THE WRITTEN PROCEEDINGS
A.-BY THE GOVERNMEN TF COLOMBIA
(a) Annexes to the Mernorial:
1.-1949, January 4th. No. 211. Letter from the Ambassador of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
2.-1949, January 14th. No. 812. Letter from the Ambaisador of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
3.-1949, February 12th. No. 2/64. Letter from the Ambassador of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
4.-1949, February aand. No. (D) 6-812. Letter from the Penivian
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Religion to the Ambassador of
Colombia at Lima.
5.-1949, March 4th. No. 4016.Letter from the Ambassador of Colom-
bia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
6.-1949, March 19th. No. (D) 6-814.Letter from the Peruvian Minister
for Foreign Affairs and Religion to the Ambassador of Colombia at
Lima.
7.-1949, March 28th. No. 7319. Letter from the Ambassador of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Religion.
S.-1949, April 6th. No. (D) 6-816.Letter from the Peruvian Minister
for Foreign Affairs andReligion to the Ambassador of Colombia at
Lima.
9.-1949. April 7th. Statements given to the press by the Colombian
Minister for Foreign Affairs.
IO.-1949, April 29th. No. (S) 6-8/7. Letter from the Peruvian Minister
for Foreign Affairs and Religion to the Ambassador of Colombia at
Lima.
II.-The Act of Lima, dated August yst, 1949.
12.-1949, August 31st. Letter from the Special Plenipotentiary of
Colombia at Lima to the Peruvian Special Plenipotentiary.
13.-1949, August 31st. No. (D)6-8/14. Letter from the Peruvian Special
Plenipotentiary tothe Special Plenipotentiary of Colombiaat Lima.
14.-1949, August 31st. No. 300136 Letter from the Ambassador of
Colombia tothe Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs anà Religion.
120Ij. - 1949, septembre Ier. Lettre du ministre des Affaires étrangères
et du Culte du Pérou à l'ambassadeur de Colombie à Lima.
16. - 1914, octobre 20. Lettre de la légation du Pérou au Guatemala
à la Junte militaire de gouvernement.
17. - 1948, octobre 28. No 5-20 Ml34 Lettre de la légation du Pérou
à Panama au ministre des Affaires étrangères.
18. - Extrait du Traité de droit international privé, signé à la Junte
de jurisconsultes américains réunie à Lima en 1879.
19. - Extrait du Traité de droit pénal international, signé au
IcrCongrès sud-américain de droit international privé réuni
à Xontevideo en 1889.
20. - Accord bolivarien sur l'extradition, signéà Caracas le 18 juillet
1911.
21. - Convention sur l'asile, signéeà la VIme Conférence panaméri-
caine.
22. - Convention sur l'asile politique, signée à la VIImc Conférence
panaméricaine.
23. - Extrait du traité sur l'asile et le refuge politique, signé au
IImr Congrès sud-américain de droit international réuni à
Xontevideo en 1939.
24. - Extrait de la Déclaration américaine des droits et devoirs de
l'homme, adoptée à la IXmeConférencepanaméricaine.
25. - Extrait de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme,
adoptée à l'Assemblée générale des N. U. le IO décembre 1948.
b) Annexes à la Réplique:
I. - Documents relatifs à l'asile de MM. Manuel Gutiérrez Aliaga et
Luis Felipe Rodriguez à l'ambassade de l'Uruguay à Lima et aux
sauf-conduits qui leur ont étéaccordés par le Gouvernement
péruvien (cinq notes désignéesde A à E).
2. - Décret-loi no 4 du 4 novembre 1948 créant une Cour martiale
pour juger sommairement les auteurs, complices et autres respon-
sables des délits derébellion,séditionou émeute.
B. - Ar! NOM DU GOUVERNEMEK DU PÉROU
a) A~z,zexes au Contre-Mémoire.
I. - 1'roci.s-verbal (Acte) de Lima du 31 août 1949 (cf. annexe no 1).
z. - Kcquisitoire du Procureur du 7 septembre 1949 dans le procès
pour d6lit de rkbel!ion militaire et autres (cf. annexes 2,4, 25).
3. - Folios 105 à 145 du cahier 8-A du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenantle rapport du sous-inspecteur. chef
du bureau des Affaires spéciales,sur le sabotage de la Centrale
des téléphones (cf. annexe no 3).
4. - Exemplaire du journal officiel du Pérou El Peruano du 4 octo-
bre 1948 (cf. annexes nos3 et 92).
12115.-1949, September 1st. Letter from the Peruvian Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Religion to the Ambassador of Colombia at Lima.
16.-1944, October 20th. Letter from the Peruvian Legation at Guate-
mala to the Military Junta of the Government.
17.-1948, October 28th. No. 5-20 Ml34 Letter from the Peruvian
Legation at Panama to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
18.-Extract from the Treaty on Private International Law, signed at
the Junta of American jurists which met at Lima in 1879.
19.-Extract from the Treaty on International Penal Law, signed at the
1st South-American Congress on Private International Law which
met at Montevideo in 1889.
20.-Bolivarian Agreement on Extradition, signed at Caracas on July
18th, 1911.
21.-Convention on Asylum, signed at the VIth Pan-American Confer-
ence.
22.-Convention on Political Asylum, signed at the VIIth Pan-American
Conference.
23.-Extract from the Treaty on Asylum and Political Refuge, signed at
the IInd South-American International Law Congress which met
at Montevideo in 1939.
24.-Excerpt from the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties
of Man, adopted at the IXth Pan-American Conference.
25.-Extract from the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, adopted
by the General Assembly of the U.N. on December ~oth, 1948.
(b) Annexes to the Reply :
1.-Documents concerning the asylum of MM. Manuel Gutiérrez
Aliaga and Luis Felipe Rodriguez in the Uruguayan Embassy at
Lima and the safe-conducts granted to them by the Peruvian
Government (five notes listed from A to E).
2.-Decree No. 4 of November 4th, 1948, creating a Court Martial for
the summary judgment of authors, accomplices and other perçons
responsible for rebellion, sedition or rioting.
(a) Annexes to the Counter-Mc.moria1:
1.-The Lima Act of August yst, 1949 (cf. Annex Ko. 1).
2.-The Public Prosecutor's indictment, dated September 7th, 1949,
in the proceedings concerning the crime of military rebellion and
other crimes (cf. Annexes Nos. 2, 4, 25).
3.-Folios 105 to 145 of Folder 8-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the report
of the Deputy-Inspector, head of the Bureau for special cases, on
the malicious damage caused to the Central Telephone Escliange
(cf. Annex No. 3).
4.-Copy of El Peruano, the Peruvian officia1gazette, of October 4th,
1948 (cf. Anneses Nos. 4 and 32). - Folios 27, 3r et 196 du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant la dénonciation, l'inspec-
tion oculaire et l'expertise d'explosifs trouvés à San Isidro
(cf. annexe no 5).
- Folio 708 du cahier IO-B du procts Four délit de rébellion miIi-
taire et autres, contenant la note no 290, du 3 octobre 1948,
à l'inspecteur général,chef du Corps d'Investigations et Surveil-
lance, à propos de bombes trouvées dansun taxi (cf.annexe no 6).
- Note du 4 octobre 1948, à l'inspecteur général. chef du Corps
d'Investigations et Surveillance, à propos d'une bombe de dyna-
mite trouvée dans le jardin de la maison du secrétaire de la
Compagnie des téléphones ; cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres (cf. annexe no 7).
- Folios 219 et suivants du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant le rapport no 312, du
5 octobre 194U,au sous-inspecteur, chef de Cabinet, à propos de
l'explosion de bombes sur les toits d'immeubles (cf.annexe no 8).
- Folio 501 du cahier IO-B du procès pour délit de rébellion mili-
9.
taire et autres, contenant lecommuniquéno 201..du4 octobre 1948,
adressé à l'inspecteur général,chef du Corps d'Investigations et
Surveillance, sur l'attentat commis contre une succursale de la
Banque populaire du Pérou (cf. annexe no 9).
IO. - Folios 21 j à 217 du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant la note no 465, du 4 octobre 1948,
et le rapport no 1309, du 14 octobre 1948, adressésà l'inspecteur
général,chef du Corps d'Investigations et Surveillance, sur les
pétards de dynamite déposésdansun poste distributeur d'essence
(cf. annexe no IO), et note no 211-R/Ia, adresséeau mêmeinspec-
teur généralà propos de bombes trouvées près d'une caserne
(cf. annexe no 24).
II. - Folios 516 et suivants du cahier IO-B du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant les documents se rappor-
tant aux bombes trouvées encastrées dans le mur mitoyen d'une
fabrique de verre (cf. annexe no II).
12. - Folios 509 et suivants du cahier IO-B du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant les documents se rappor-
tant aux bombes de dynamite trouvées dans le jardin d'une
maison de Miraflores (cf. annexe no 12).
13. - Folios 523 et suivants du cahier IO-B du procès pour délit de-
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant divers documents se
rapportant aux bombes dont l'explosion sur la voie publique
a causé des blessures (cf. annexe no 13).
- Folio 703 du cahier IO-B du procès pour délit de rébellion
14.
militaire et autres, contenant diverses pièces à propos de la
bombe et de la bouteille incendiaire déposées à la porte d'une-
épicerie (cf. annexe no 14). ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMENT OF 20 XI 50) 384
5.-Folios 27, 31 and 196 of Folder IO-Ain theproceedings concerning
the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
indictment, the inspection by eye-witnesses and the experts' report
on the explosivesfound at San Isidro (cf. Annex No. 5).
6.-Folio 708 of Folder IO-B of the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing note No. 290, of
October 3rd,. 1948, to the Inspector-General, head of the Tnvesti-
gations and Surveillance Service, on the bombs found in a taxi
(cf. Annex No. 6).
7.-Note of October 4th, 1948, to the Inspector-General, head of the
Investigations and Surveillance Service, concerning a dynamite
bomb found in the garden of the house of the secretary of the
Telephone Company ; Folder IO-A in the proceedings concerning
the crime of military rebellion and other crimes (cf. Annex No. 7).
8.-Folios 219 et sqq.of Folder IO-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing Report
No. 312, of October jth, 1948, to the Deputy-Inspector, head of
the Secretariat, on the explosion of bombs on the roofs of buildings
(cf. Annex No. 8).
9.-Folio 501 of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing communiqué
No. 201, of October 4th, 1948, addressed to the Inspector-General,
head of the Investigations and Surveillance Service, on the damage
caused to a branch of the People's Bank of Peru (cf.Annex No. 9).
IO.-Folios 215 to 217 of Folder IO-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing note
No. 465, of October 4th, 1948, and the report No. 1309, of October
qth, 1948, addressed tothe Inspector-General, head of the Investi-
gations and Surveillance Service,on the dynamite cartridges placed
near a petrol pump (cf. Annex No. IO), and note No. 211-R/Ia,
addressed to the said inspecter-general in regard to bombs found
near a barracks (cf.,Annex No. 24).
II.-Folios 516 et sqqof Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the docu-
ments relating to the bombs placed in the party wall of a glasç
factory (cf. Annex No. II).
12.-Folios 509 et sqqof Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing documents
relating to the dynamite bombs found in the garden of a house at
Miraflores (cf. Annex No. 12).
13.-Folios 523 et sqqof Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents relating to the bombs which exploded on the public
highway, injuring passers-by (cf. Annex No. 13).
14.-Folio 703 of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes,containing various documents
relating to the bomb and the incendiary bottle placed in the door-
way of a grocer's shop (cf. Annex No. 14).I j. - Folios 2 2 à 223 du cahier IO-Adu procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant divers documents concernant la
bombe trouvée près de l'imprimerie du journal El Comercio
(cf. annexe no I5).
16. - Folios 512 et suivants du cahier 10-R du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant divers documents se
rapportant aux bombes lancées contre une maison (cf. annexe
no 16), et à la bombe trouvée au pied du mur d'une caserne
(cf. annexe no 22).
17. - Folio 207 à 205 et verso du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit
de rébellion militaire et autres, contenant diverses pièces se
rapportant à une bombe déposéesur la voie du tramway (cf.
annexe no 17).
18. - Folio 210 du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant les documents sur la bombe
trouvée dans un autobus (cf. annexe no 18).
19. - Folio 229 du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant les documents se rapportant à
la cartouche de gélinite trouvée dans les locaux du quotidien
La Prensa (cf. annexe no 19).
20. - Folios 201 et 202 du cahier IO-h du procès pour délitde rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant plusieurs docun~ents se rapportant
aux vingt-huit bombes de dynamite trouvées sur le toit d'un
hôtel (cf. annexe no 20).
21. - Folios 740 et suivants du cahier IO-R du procès pour délit
de rébellion militaire et autres, où figurent divers documents
concernant la bombe mêléeà du charbon qui explosa dans le
foyer d'un fourneau de cuisine (cf. annexe no 21).
22. - Folio 700 du cahier IO-B du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant divers documents se rapportant
aux bombes trouvées sur le toit de la maison voisine de l'atelier
de la Compagnie des téléphones (cf. annexe no 23).
23. - Folios 21 et 22 du cahier II-A du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, où figure la liste des documents et preuves
remis par la préfecture à la zone judiciaire de la Marine pour
être ajoiités à l'instruction ouverte à la suite du mouvement
subversif du 3 octobre 1948 (cf. annexes nos 25 et 57).
24. - Folios 96 à 98 du cahier 8-A du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant le rapport no 55, du 8 octobre
1948, sur la préparation d'explosifs dans une fabrique de
cuisinières (cf. annexe no 26).
25. - Folios 90 et suivants du cahier 8-A du procès pour délit de rébel-
lion militaire et autres, où figure le rapport de l'officieren second
du Corps d'Investigations et Surveillance, à l'inspecteur général,
chef du corps, sur la fabrication de bombes par le Parti apriste
(cf.annexe no 27).
26. - Rapport du juge d'instruction sur le sabotage de la Centrale des
téléphoneset la fabrication de bombes explosives par des mem-15.-Folios 221 to 223 of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents relating to the bomb found near the printing works of
the newspaper El Comercio (cf. Annex No. 15).
16.-Folios 512 et sqq.of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents relating to the bombs thrown at a house (cf. Annex
No. 16), and the bomb found at the foot of the Wall of a barracks
(cf. Annex No. 22).
17.-Folios 203 to 205, and overleaf, of Folder IO-A in the proceedings
concerning the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, contain-
ing various documents relating to a bomb placed on the tramway
(cf. Annex No. 17).
18.-Folder 210 of Folder IO-A in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing documents
relating to the bomb found in a motor bus (cf. Annex No. 18).
19.-Folio 229 of Foldef IO-A in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing documents
relating to the gelignite cartridge found in the premises of the
daily paper La Prensa (cf. Annex h'o. 19).
20.-Folios 201 and 202 of Fclder IO-A in the proceedings concerning
the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents relating to the twenty-eight dynamite bombs found on
the roof of an hotel (cf. Annex No. 20).
21.-Folios 740 et sqq.of Folder IO-E in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing various
documents concerning the bomb,hidden in the coal, which exploded
in a kitchen range (cf. Annex No. 21).
22.-Folio 700 of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the crime
ofmilitary rebellion and other crimes, containing various documents
relating to bombs found on the roof of a house adjoining the work-
shops of the Telephone Company (cf. Annex No. 23).
23.-Folios 21 and 22 of Folder II-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing a list of
documents and exhibits transmitted by the Prefecture to the
judicial department of the Navy with a ~iewto their being attached
to the prosecution opened in regard to the subversive movement of
October 3rd, 1948 (cf. Annexes Nos. 2j and 57).
24.-Folios 96 to 98 of Folio 8-A in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing Report No. jj of
October 8th, 1948, on the manufacture of explosives in a kitclieil
stove factory (cf. Annex No. 26).
25.-Folios go et sqq. of Folder 8-A in the proceedings concerning the
crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the report
of the assistant chief of the Investigations and Surveillance Service
to the Inspector-General, chief of the Service, on the manufacture
of bombs by the Apnst Party (cf. Annex No. 27).
26.-Report by the examining magistrate on the malicious damage
caused to the Central Telephone Eschange and the manufacture
123 bres di1 Parti apriste, qui figure aux folios 300 et suivants du
cahier 8-A du procès pour délit de rébellion militaire et autres
(cf. annexe no 28).
27. - Folio 847 et verso du cahier IO-B du procèspour délitde rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant la déclaration de M. Alberto Bena-
vides, qui fut sollicitépar des dirigeants apristes afin qu'il fondît
des revêtements de bombes explosives (cf. annexe no 29).
28. - Cinq reproductions photographiques de tracts utilisés par
1'Apra au cours de sa campagne d'incitation précédant la rébel-
lion du 3 octobre 1948 (cf. annexe no 30).
29. - Exemplaires des journaux de Lima, contenant les informations
publiées à la suite du soulèvement du 3 octobre 1948 (cf. annexe
no 31).
30. - Livre contenant les procès-verbaux du procès pour trafic de
stupéfiants instruit devant une cour dèsÉtats-unis d'Amérique
(District sud de New-York), contre Edward Tampa, Miguel E.
Gonzales et Eduardo Balarezo, qui démontrent la connexion de
ce dernier avec le mouvement révolutionnaire du 3 octobre 1948,
et avec le chef de I'Apra, Victor Rad Haya de la Torre. Ce docu-
ment est légalisépar les autorités des Etats-Unis d'Amérique
(cf. annexe no 33).
31. - Copies photographiques des documents communiqués à l'ambas-
sadeur du Pérou à Washington par le Bureau des narcotiques
des États-unis d'Amérique (cf. annexe no 34).
32. - Lettre adresséeà M. Haya dela Torre par le commandant Aguila
Pardo, folio 624,du cahier IO-B du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres. Reproduction photographique du document
et copie 1égalisi.e(cf. annexe no 35).
33. - Décret no 23 du 4 octobre 1948, du Pouvoir.exécutif, déclarant
1'Apra hors la loi (cf. annexe no 36).
34. - Exemplaire du Code pénaldela République du Pérou ;loi no4868
du IO janvier 1924 (cf. annexe no 37).
35. - Exemplaire du Code de justice militaire de la République du
Pérou ; loi no 8991 du 16 octobre 1939 (cf. annexe no 37).
36. - Ordonnance du chef de la zone judiciaire de la Marine, du 3 octo-
bre 1948, décrétantl'ouverture d'enquêtes par le juge d'instruc-
tion permanent de la Marine, folio I et verso du procès pour
délit de rébellion militaire et autres (cf. annexe no 38).
37. - Folios 8 et g du cahier no I du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant l'avis de l'auditeur invitant la
direction de la zone judiciaire de la Marine à rendre un arrêt
en forme décrétant l'ouverture de la procédure, et arrêt du
4 octobre 1948 décrétantl'ouverture d'un procès militaire confor-
mément à l'avis de l'auditeur de la mêmedate (cf.annexe no39). of explosive bombs by the n~embers of the Aprist Party ; this
report is contained in Folios 300etsqq.of Folder 8-A in the proceed-
ings concerning the crime of military rebellion and other crimes
(cf. Annex No. 28).
27.-Folio 847, and overleaf, of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
deposition of M. Alberto Benavides, who was asked by the Aprist
leaders to cast shells for explosivebombs (cf.Annex No. 29).
2s.-Five photographic reproductions of leaflets used by Apra in its
campaign of incitement preceding the rebellion of October 3rd,
1948 (cf. Annex No. 30).
29.-Copies of the Lima newspapers containing information published
after the rising on October 3rd, 1948 (cf. Annex No. 31).
30.-Volume containing the record of the prosecution for trade in drugs
instituted in a court of the United States of America (district of
Southern New York), against Edward Tampa, Miguel E. Gonzales
and Eduardo Balarezo, showing the connexion which existed
between the latter and the revolutionary movement of October 3rd,
1948, and also his connexion with Victor Raul Haya de la Torre,
the leader of Apra. This document is authenticated by the United
States authorities (cf. Annex No. 33).
31.-Photographic copies of documents communicated to the Peruvian
Ambassador at Washington by the Bureau of Narcotics of the
United States of America (cf. Annex No. 34).
32.-Letter addressed to M. Haya de la Torre by Major Aguila Pardo,
Folio 624 of Folder IO-B in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes. Photographic reproduction
of the document and authenticated copy (cf. Annex No. 35).
33.-Decree No. 23 of October 4th, 1948, by the Executive Power,
outlawing Apra (cf. Annex No. 36).
34.-Copy of the Penal Code of the Republic of Peru ; law NO.4868 of
January ~oth, 1924 (cf. Annex No. 37).
35.-Copy of the Code of Military Justice of the Republic of Peru ; law
No. 8991 of October 16th, 1939 (cf. Annex No. 37).
36.-Order made by the head of the Naval Judicial Department, dated
October 3rd, 1948, giving instructions for the opening of investiga-
tions bythe Permanent Examining Magistrate of the Navy, Folio 1,
and overleaf, in the proceedings concerning the crime of military
rebellion and other crimes (cf. Annex No. 38).
37.-Folios 8 and 9 of Folder I in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing a request by the
prosecutor to the Directorate of the Judicial Department of the
Navy for the issue of a forma1 order for the opening of the proceed-
ings, and an order dated October 4th, 1948, for the opening of a
military prosecution in accordance with the opinion given by tlie
prosecutor on the same date (cf. Annex No. 39).
12438. - Folios 22 à 24 du cahier no I du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, où figure l'introduction de l'action en justice
contre les responsables, exécutants et fauteurs (cf. annexe no 40).
39. - Dénonciation du ministre de l'Intérieur transcrite par le
ministre de la Marine au chef de la zone judiciaire de la Marine,
qui apparaît aux folios I à 5, verso du 5, IO, II, et verso du
cahier 10-4 du procès pour délit de rébellion militaire et autres
(cf. annexe no 41).
40. - Folios 16 à 23 du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de rébellion
militaire et autres, contenant l'ampliation de l'instruction
(cf. annexe no 42).
41. - Folio 170 et verso du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant l'arrêtjudiciaire ordon-
nant l'arrestation des accusés qui n'ont pas étéappréhendés
(cf. annexe no 43).
42. - Fol10 346 et verso du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant la note demandant la
remise des documents trouvés au siège du Parti apriste, dans
le local de Ln Tribuna, et au domicile particulier de Haya
de la Torre, rEitérant l'ordre d'arrêter les inculpés défaillants
(cf. annexe no 44).
+3. - Folio 421 et verso du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, contenant la note de l'inspecteur
généraldu Corps d'Investigations et Surveillance à l'autorité
judiciaire, l'informant que Haya de la Torre et d'autres inculpés
n'ont pas ététrouvés (cf. annexe no 45).
44. - Folios 414 et verso du cahier IO-A du procès pour délit de
rébellion militaire et autres, où figure l'arrêtdu juge ordonnant
de citer par sommations publiques, conformément à la loi,
les accusés dkfaillants (cf. annexe no 46).
45. - Exemplaire du journal officiel du Pérou El Perzrnno, du
16 novembre 1948, où est publiée la première des sommations
invitant les accusés à comparaître (cf. annexe no 47).
46. - Xote clil4 janvier 1949, adresséepar l'ambassadeur de Colombie
à Lima au ministre des Affaires étrangères du Pérou (cf. annexe
no 48).
47. - Note du 14 janvier 1949, adresséepar l'ambassadeur de Colombie
à Lima au ministre des Affaires étrangèresdu Pérou (cf. annexe
no 48).
48. - Note du 12 février1949, adresséepar l'ambassadeur de Colombie
à Lima au ministre des Affaires étrangèresdu Pérou (cf. annexe
no 45).
49. - Publication officielle de la note no (D) 6-812, du 22 février
1949, adressée par le ministre des Affaires étrangères du Pérou
à l'ambassadeur de Colombie i Lima (cf. annexe no 49).
IZj38.-Folios 22 to 24 of Folder I in the proceedings concerning the crime
of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the institution of
the prosecu.tion of the persons responsible, the perpetrators and
accomplices (cf. Annex No. 40).
39.-A~cusation by the Minister of the Interior, transmitted by the
Minister of the Navy to the head of the Judicial Department of
the Navy ; this accusation appears in Folios I to 5, and on the
reverse of Folios j,IO and II, and on the reverse of Folder IO-A of
the proceedings concerning the crime of military rebellion and other
crimes (cf. Annex No. 41).
40.-Folios 16 to 23 of Folder IO-A concerning the crime of military
rebellion and other crimes, containing a certified true copy of the
examining magistrate's report (cf. Annex No. 42).
41.-Folio 170, and overleaf, of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
judicial order for the arrest of the accused persons who are not yet
in custody (cf. Annex No. 43).
42.-Folio 346, and overleaf, of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
note requesting the delivery of the documents found at the head-
quarters of the Aprist Party, in the premises of La Tribuna, and
in Haya de la Torre's private house, with a renewed order for the
arrest of the accused persons who have defaulted (cf.Annex No. 44).
43.-Folio 421, and overleaf, of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
note from the Inspector-General of the Investigations and Surveil-
lance Service to the judicial authority, informing the latter that
Haya de la Torre and other accused persons had not been found
(cf. Annex No. 43).
44.-Folio 414, and overleaf, of Folder IO-Ain the proceedings concern-
ing the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, containing the
judge's order for the citation, by public summons, in accordance
with the law, of the accused persons who have defaulted (cf. Annex
No. 46).
45.-Copy of the Peruvian officia1gazetteEl Peruaflo, of November 16th,
1948, containing the first of the citations summoning the accused
persons to appear (cf. Annex No. 47).
46.-Note dated January 4th, 1949, from the Colombian Ambassador in
Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs (cf.Annex No. 48.)
47.-Note dated January 14th, 1949, from the Colombian Ambassador in
Lima.tothe Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs (cf.Annex No. 48.)
&.-Note dated February ~zth, 1949, from the Colombian Ambassador
in Lima to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs (cf. Anne:<
No. 48).
49.-Officia1 publication containing the note No. (D) 6-812, dated
February zznd, 1949, from the Peruvian Minister for Foreign
Affairs to the Colombian Ambassador in Lima (cf. Annex No. 49).
125 AFFAIRE DU DROIT D'ASILE (ARRÊT DU 20 XI 50)
388
50. - Publication officielle contenant la note no (D) 6-814, du 19 mars
1949, adressée par le ministre des Affaires étrangères du Pérou
à l'ambassadeur de Colombie à Lima (cf. annexe no 49).
51. - Publication officielle contenant la note no (Il )-816, du 6 avril
1949, adressée par le ministre des Affaires étrangères du Pérou
à l'ambassadeur de Colombie à Lima (cf. annexe no 49).
52. - Copie photographique des pages de la Revista colombiana de
Derecho internacional, contenant un rapport de la Commission
consultative du ministère des Affaires étrangères de Colombie
(cf. annexe no 50).
53. - Copie photographique d'une page de l'annuaire de la législation
péruvienne, où figure le texte de la loi no 9048 (cf. annexe no 54).
54. - Copie photographique qui figure au cahier IO-B du procès pour
délit de rébellion militaire et autres, du Statut disciplinaire
du Parti du Peuple, et copie ilégaliséedu même document
(cf. annexe no 55).
55. - Copie photographique qui figure au cahier IO-B du procès
pour délit de rébellion militaire et autres, du Code de Justice
de l'Avant-Garde apriste, et copie légaliséedu même document
(cf. annexe no 56).
56. - Texte d'un câble du Président Benavides, du 26 décembre
1938 (cf. annexe no 58).
57. - Publication officielle du ministère de l'Intérieur du Pérou,
contenant le message du Président Bustamante y Rivero, du
29 février 1948 (cf. annexe no 59).
58. -- Sentence prononcée le 5 décembre 1949, au procès contre
Alfredo Tel10 Salavarria et autres pour l'homicide de M. Fran-
cisco Grafia Garland, où il est ordonné d'ouvrir l'instruction
contre Victor Ra$ Haya de la Torre et Carlos Roado pour
le délit objet du procès (cf. annexe no 60).
59. - Accusation du procureur contre Haya de la Torre et autres
pour délit d'usurpation d'autorité (cf. annexe no 61).
60. -- Ordonnance d'ouverture d'instruction contre Victor Raul Haya
de la Torre et autres pour délit d'usurpation de fonctions au
préjudice de 17Etat (cf. annexe no 62).
b) Annexes à la Duplique:
I.Extraits du Code de justice militaire péruvien (document remis
avec le Contre-Mémoire).
2. Extraits de la résolution du chef de la zone judiciaire de la Marine
qui déclare, entre autres, Haya de la Torre inculpé défaillant. (Folios
24 à 54 du cahier II-C du procès pour délit de rébellionmilitaire et
autres.)
3. Extraits de la sentence prononcée le 22 mars 1950 par le tribunal
qui jugea les responsables du délit de rébellionmilitaire et autres-
4. Articles du Code de justice pénale militaire de la Colombie.
12650.-Official publication containing the note No. (D) 6-814, dated
March 19th, 1949, from the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs
tothe Colombian Ambassador in Lima (cf.Annex No. 49).
51.-Officia1 publication containing the note No. (D) 6-816, dated
April 6th, 1949, from the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs to
the Colombian Ambassador in Lima (cf. Annex No. 49).
52.-Photographic copy of the pages of the Revista colombianade Derecho
internacional, containing a report by the advisory commission of the
Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (cf.Annex No. 50).
53.-Photographic copy of a page of the year-book of Peruvian legisla-
tion, containing the text of law No. 9048 (cf. Annex No. 54).
54.-Photographic copy contained in Folder IO-B in the proceedings
concerning the crime of military rebellion and other crimes, of the
Disciplinary Statute of the People's Party, together with an authen-
ticated copy of the same document (cf.Annex No. jj).
55.-Photographic copy contained in Folder IO-B in the proceedings
concerning the cnme of military rebellion and other crimes, of the
Code of Justice of the Aprist Advanced Guard, together with an
authenticated copy of that document (cf. Annex No. 56).
56.-Text of a cable from President Benavides, dated December 26th,
1938 (cf. Annex No. 58).
57.-Officia1 publication by the Peruvian Ministry of the Interior
containing President Bustamante y Rivero's message dated Febru-
ary zgth, 1948 (cf. Annex No. 59).
58.-Judgment delivered on December 5th, 1949, in the trial of Alfredo
Tello Salavarria and other persons for the murder of M. Francisco
Grafia Garland, in which orders were given for the institution of
proceedingsagainst Victor Rad Haya de la Torre and Carlos Boado
for the crimewhich was the subject of that trial (cf.Annex No. 60).
59.-The public prosecutor's indictment of Haya de la Torre and other
persons for the cnme of usurpation of authority (cf.Annex No. 61).
60.-Order for the institution of proceedings against Victor Raid Haya
de la Torre and other persons for the crime of usurpation of func-
tions to the prejudice of the State (cf. Annex No. 62).
(b) Annexes to the Rejoinder
1.-Extracts from the Peruvian Code of Military Law (documeilt
transmitted with the Counter-Memorial).
2.-Extracts from the resolution of the head of the Judicial Department
of the Navy which declares Mr. Haya de la Torre, among others, a
defaulting criminal. (Folios 24 to 54 of Folder II-C in the proceed-
ings concerning the crime of military rebellion and other crimes.)
3.-Extracts from the sentence pronounced on March zznd, 1950, by
the tribunal which tried the persons responsible for rebellion and
other crimes.
4.-Articles from the Military Penal Code of Colombia.
1265. Décret colombien étendant la juridiction des Conseils de guerre
oraux.
6. Décret colombien augmentant les peines fixées par le Code pénal.
7. Extraits du rapport du juge d'instruction pour le procès contre
Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre et autres pour le délit d'usurpations
de fonctions.
c) Documents remis au Grtee de la Cour internationale de Justice avec
la Dufiligue:
I. Folios 24 à 54 du cahier II-C du procès pour délitde rébellionmili-
taire et autres contenant la résolution du chef de la zone judiciaire
de la Marine qui déclare, entre autres, Haya de la Torre inculpé
défaillant.
2. Copie légaliséede la sentence prononcée le 22 mars 1950 par le
tribunal qui jugea les responsables du délit de rébellion militaire
et autres.
3. Exemplaire du Code de justice pénale militaire de la Colombie
(loi3 a de 1945).
4. Coupuredu Journal officielde la Colombiecontenant ledécretno 3562,
de 1949.
5. Exemplaire du Journal officiel de la Colombie contenant le décret
no 957, de 1950.
6. Copie légaliséedu rapport du juge d'instruction dans le procès
contre Victor Raul Haya de la Torre et autres pour le délit d'usur-
pation de fonctions.
II.- PIÈCES DÉPOSÉES AU COURS DE LA PROCÉDURE ORALE
I. - Légalisation de la signature du notaire public du district de
Columbia par le secrétaire du Bureau des Commissaires du même
district.
2. - Lettre de M. Serafino Romualdi à M. Francisco Urrutia, signée
devant notaire à New-York le 6septembre 1950.
3. - Copie d'une lettre de M. Serafino Romualdi à M. Edward G.
Miller Jr., en date duII avril 1950.
4. - Photocopie d'une lettre de M. Edward G. Miller Jr. en date du
~er mai 1950, en réponse à la lettre de M. Serafino Romualdi.
5. - Photocopie du passeport de M. Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre. ASYLUM CASE (JUDGMENT OF 20 XI 50) 389
5.-Colombian decree extending the jurisdiction of the Courts Martial.
6.-Colombian decree increasing the penalties under the Penal Code.
?.-Extracts from the report of the examining magistrate in the
proceedings against Victor Ratil Haya de la Torre and others
concerning the crime of usurpation of authority.
(c) Justice with the RejoinderR:gistry of the Inter?zationalCourt of
1.-Folios 24 to 54 of Folder II-C in the proceedingsconcerning military
rebellion and other crimes, containing the resolution of the head of
the Judicial Department of the Navy, which declares M. Haya de la
Torre, among others, a defaulting criminal.
a.-Certified copy of the sentence pronounced on March zznd, 1950,
by the tribunal which tried the persons responsible for rebellion
and other crimes.
3.-Copy of the Military Penal Code of Colombia (law 3 a of 1945).
4.-Cutting from the Officia1 Journal of Colombia containing decree
No. 3562 of 1949.
5.-Copy of the Officia1Journal of Colombia containing decree No. 957
0i' 1950.
6.-Certified copy of the report of the examining magistrate in the
proceedings against Victor Rahl Haya de la Torre and others
concerning the crime of usurpation of authority.
II.-ANNEXES DEPOSITED DURING ORAL PROCEEDINGS
1.-Authentication of the signature of the Notary Public for the District
of Columbia by the Secretary of the Bureau des Commissaires of
that district.
2.-Letter from M. Serafino Romualdi to M. Francisco Urrutia, signed
before a notary at New York on 6th September, 1950.
3.-Copy of a letter from M. Serafino Romualdi to M. Edward G.
Miller Jr., dated 11th April, 1950.
4.-Photocopy of a letter from Mr. Edward G.Miller Jr., dated 1st May,
1950, in answer to M. Serafino Romualdi's letter.
5.-Photocopy of M. Victor Ratil Haya de la Torre's passport.
(including the declaration of Judge Zoričić)
Judgment of 20 November 1950