VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0906 2771828
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031828Z OCT 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5060
INFO RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 1071
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 1152
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0272

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000906 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR IO/UNP - S. EDMONDSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OFDP CU
SUBJECT: 239TH MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON RELATIONS WITH 
THE HOST COUNTRY 
 
¶1. The  Committee on Relations with the Host Country met on 
October 2, 2008. Acting Chairman, Branimir Zaimov, (Bulgaria) 
oversaw the election of Cypriot Perm Rep Ambassador Minas 
Hadjimichael as the Committee chair. The new  Chair then 
greeted the committee and introduced new UN 
Assistant-Secretary for Legal Affairs, Peter Taksoe-Jensen. 
USUN Minister Counselor for Host Country Affairs 
congratulated the new Chairman on behalf of the USG, and 
stated that he looked forward to cooperation with him in the 
work of the committee. 
 
 
Cuban Complaint re: treatment at airport of its Vice 
President. 
 
¶2. Cuban Permanent Representative, Amb. Rodrigo Malmierca 
Diaz, protested an incident that transpired on the 20th of 
September, 2008, claiming that U.S. authorities took 
inappropriate action against Cuba's Vice President, Jose 
Ramon Machado Ventura, head of his Cuba's delegation to the 
UNGA, while he was passing through customs. Amb. Malmierca 
complained that, although Cuba had complied with the 
Courtesies of the Port request procedures, Mr. Machado was 
forced to remove his shoes, jacket, and belt and submit to a 
full body inspection "by technical means." Malmierca stated 
that the actions taken by the US authorities were in 
violation of the host country's obligations under the Vienna 
Convention (VCDR) to adopt all appropriate measures to ease 
the arrival of a foreign official. He demanded a thorough 
investigation of the matter and a prompt response. 
 
¶3. USUN/HC MinCouns replied that Cuba had followed the 
appropriate procedures and noted that USUN had taken extra 
steps to ensure that Mr. Machado received Courtesies of the 
Port from US authorities at Montreal's Trudeau International 
Airport, prior to his arrival at New York's La Guardia 
airport. USUN/HC MinCouns gave detailed information on the 
dates that contacts had been made and assured the committee 
that all appropriate courtesies had been extended by the USG 
in the area under its jurisdiction at the airport. He stated 
that the host country did not know precisely what had 
transpired following Mr. Machado's passage through U.S. 
Customs. He also emphasized that United States Government 
aviation security personnel neither have a presence at, or 
any authority over, the security procedures carried out at 
airports in other countries. As it was clear that the 
incident affecting Machado was not the responsibility of the 
host country, the Committee was not the appropriate forum in 
which to discuss the matter further. 
 
¶4. An irritated Malmierca took the floor again, noting that 
Cuba had been informed that the incident had occurred in an 
area that was under the control of U.S. authorities. He 
offered that if this were not the case, it might have even 
happened "on another planet." Unfortunately the Canadian 
delegation, which was aware that Canada's airport security 
agency (CATSA) had caused the incident, and had admitted as 
much to the Cuban Mission, did not intervene to address the 
matter. The Chairman stated that the Committee took note of 
the interchange and suggested that discussions outside of the 
committee might resolve the matter. 
 
¶5. The Chair announced that the next meeting of the Committee 
would take place on 31 October 2008, to adopt the Committee's 
annual report. 
Wolff