A/HRC/41/CRP.1
394. The Special Rapporteur is recommending that a follow-up criminal investigation to
her own inquiry seeks to address questions and conflict of claims around jurisdiction. For her
part, she recommends that jurisdictional claims based on territory or personality be assessed
against 1) the nature of the crime(s) committed: violation of a jus cogen norm on the right to
life, and of norms enshrined in two treaties (the Convention Against Torture and the
Convention on the Protection of All persons from Enforced Disappearance); violation of the
VCCR and violation of the prohibition against extraterritorial use of force in times of peace;
and 2) the willingness and ability of the two States concerned to prosecute such crimes, in
accordance with international standards.
Admissibility of evidence
395. Any future trial of the alleged perpetrators of Mr. Khashoggi is likely to raise
questions regarding the admissibility of some of the evidence that has been made public over
the last six months: in the first place, recordings of the Saudi consulate obtained by the
Turkish Intelligence, or transcripts purporting to be those of some of the recordings, as well
as possible intercepts by the United States and others.
396. Article 31, 33, and 35 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations together
establish the “inviolability” of consular property, archives, and communications. Article 31
states that consular premises are inviolable and forbids authorities from the host state to enter
areas “used exclusively for the purpose of the work of the consular post except with the
consent of the head of the consular post or his designee” or the sending State’s ambassador.
It further states that “[t]he consular archives and documents shall be inviolable at all times
and wherever they may be,” without qualification. 322 Finally, Article 35, “Freedom Of
Communication,” provides that “[t]he receiving State shall permit and protect freedom of
communication on the part of the consular post for all official purposes,” and that “official
correspondence,” defined as “correspondence relating to the consular post and its functions,”
is inviolable. Even where the receiving State believes that a consular bag is not being used
to carry “official correspondence and documents or articles intended exclusively for official
purpose,” its remedy is limited to a right of inspection, and it may not seize or view consular
communications without consent.
397. Whether or not the Turkish government obtained evidence from the Saudi consulate
illegally may depend on the particulars of how that evidence was obtained. Commentators
seem to agree that, although intercepting communications is acknowledged to be a common
practice, the interception or monitoring of a consulate’s official communications is
prohibited323, in part because the VCDR and VCCR are treaties that are intended to embody
customary international law.324
398. In an international forum at least, a review of the rules of evidence and jurisprudence
conducted by the Special Rapporteur shows that the admissibility of the tapes and potentially
other intercepts relating to Mr. Khashoggi’s death will depend on the form in which they are
ultimately produced, their reliability, the fairness to the defendants of using such evidence,
and the interest of the international community in providing justice to Mr. Khashoggi and his
family.
322
323
324
78
Indeed, the inviolability of the consular premises and documents is so respected that the VCCR
provides that even when two states are in armed conflict and consular relations are therefore severed
between them, the host state is still obligated to “respect and protect the consular premises, together
with the property of the consular post and the consular archives.” VCCR art. 27; cf. In re United
States Diplomatic & Consular Staff in Tehran (United States v. Iran), I.C.J. Reports 1980, p. 3, at ¶
86 (May 24, 1980) (“Even in the case of armed conflict or in the case of a breach in diplomatic
relations [the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations and Consular Relations] require that both
the inviolability of the members of a diplomatic mission and of the premises, property and archives of
the mission must be respected by the receiving state.”).
Cindy Buys, “Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,
38 S. Ill. Univ. L. J. 58, 62 (2013); Sanderijn Duquet & Jan Wouters, “Diplomacy, Secrecy & the
Law,” Leuven Center for Global Governance Studies, Working Paper No. 151, at 8-9 (2015);
Jovan Kurbalija, “E-Diplomacy and Diplomatic Law in the Internet Era,” Peacetime Regime for State
Activities in Cyberspace, 393, 417 (2013)
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