TNAG-1542-FCO40-2106-United-Nations-High-Commissioner-for-Refugees-(UNHCR)-Execut-1986 — Page 31

CONFIDENTIAL

Protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention (Part IV) which

states that civilians should not be the object of

attack (Article 51). As refugees are civilians, they

are covered by this and need no other special status.

Indeed, the US consider that unqualified condemnation

of armed attacks could imply that refugees are entitled

to special status and that camps should be totally

immune from attack, regardless of what was going on

there.

7.

The US suggested that Ambassador Chiba, the

Japanese Chairman of EXCOM, could report to the October

EXCOM meeting that he had worked hard to find mutually

acceptable ground in accordance with his mandate from

the 36th EXCOM to hold consultations, but this had not

proved possible and he therefore recommended that

discussion of the issue be postponed. The US added

that individual states could still, if they so wished,

make statements and condemnations of armed attacks.

8. UNHCR had hoped to avoid having this controversial

issue on EXCOM's agenda for yet another year. They

tried hard to get the US to agree to our amendments,

but unsuccessfully. Predictably, this state of affairs

has not gone down well with the Africans.

Consultations on the two texts have come to a

standstill because of the US position and the

Tanzanians have now inscribed the issue on the agenda

CONFIDENTIAL