IX. UNHCR’s Position on Diplomatic Assurances and Recognized Refugees56. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a host State’s obligation to respect the principle of nonrefoulement as guaranteed under Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) applies to persons who have been recognized as refugees by its own asylum authorities and persons determined to be refugees by UNHCR through UNHCR’s “refugee status determination” (RSD) procedures.69 In cases where a refugee who enjoys the protection of Article 33(1) of the 1951 Refugee Convention is threatened with, or subject to, refoulement to her or his country of origin, whether directly or indirectly, UNHCR has stated that diplomatic assurances against torture and ill-treatment should be given “no weight.”70 In such cases, the country of refuge or UNHCR through its RSD procedures has already made a determination in the individual case and recognized the refugee to have a well-founded fear of being persecuted in the country of origin. Once refugee status has been conferred, “it would be fundamentally inconsistent with the protection afforded by the 1951 Convention for the sending State to look to the very agent of persecution for assurance that the refugee will be well-treated upon refoulement.”71 69 Under its international protection mandate, UNHCR may conduct refugee status determination where this is required for protection reasons. UNHCR’s authority to do so derives from the Office’s 1950 Statute (annexed to General Assembly resolution 428 (V) of 14 December 1950), as developed and refined in subsequent resolutions of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. 70 UNHCR, “Note on Diplomatic Assurances and International Refugee Protection,” p. 13, para. 30, http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdf?docid=44dc81164 (accessed July 2, 2007). 71 Ibid. |