Persona non grata

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This article is about the diplomatic term. For the film, see Persona Non Grata (film).

Persona non grata (Latin, plural: personae non gratae), literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country. It is the most serious form of censure which one country can apply to foreign diplomats, who are otherwise protected by diplomatic immunity from arrest and other normal kinds of prosecution. The antonym of persona non grata is persona grata.

1 Diplomacy
2 Non-diplomatic usage
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Diplomacy

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations Article 9, a receiving State may "at any time and without having to explain its decision" declare any member of a diplomatic staff persona non grata. A person so declared is considered unacceptable and is usually recalled to his or her home nation. If not recalled, the receiving State "may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the mission."

While diplomatic immunity protects mission staff from prosecution for violating civil and criminal laws, depending on rank, under Articles 41 and 42 of the Vienna Convention, they are bound to respect national laws and regulations (amongst other issues). Breaches of these articles can lead to persona non grata being used to 'punish' erring staff. It is also used to expel diplomats suspected of espionage ("activities incompatible with their status") or any overt criminal act (example: drug trafficking), or as a symbolic indicator of displeasure (e.g. the Italian expulsion of the Egyptian First Secretary in 1984). So-called "tit-for-tat" exchanges have occurred, notably during the Cold War. Notable recent occurrences include exchanges between the United Kingdom and Egypt, the United Kingdom and Iran, the United States and Venezuela, the United States and Belarus, the United Kingdom and Russia, between Russia and Georgia, between the United States and Bolivia, between India and Pakistan, between Australia and Israel and between Australia and Fiji.

The Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 included the list of 150 personae non gratae of Turkey, which forbade the entry of mainly a group of former Ottoman Empire officials and about 100 other persons to Turkey, until the lifting of this status in 1938.
Kurt Waldheim, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and President of Austria, and his wife were given personae non gratae status in the U.S. and other countries when he was accused of having known about Nazi war crimes and not having done anything about them.¹
In September 1952, the American Ambassador to the Soviet Union, George F. Kennan, was declared persona non grata after making a statement which the Soviets believed linked them to Nazi Germany. The Soviets refused to allow Kennan to reenter the Soviet Union.²
In 1995, Croatia declared Carl Bildt a persona non grata announcing that he had "lost the credibility necessary for the role of a peace mediator". Bildt had suggested that the President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman was as guilty of war crimes as the Krajina Serb leader, Milan Martić.³
In 2007, the US Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands House of Representatives voted a Saipan resident and US citizen, Ron Hodges, persona non grata by resolution [1]. Hodges was castigated for his letter writing campaign critical of CNMI governance and abuses against alien workers, entitled Chamberonomics [2]. His letters supported a US takeover of CNMI labor and immigration. Labor and human abuses in the CNMI garment industry had long been the subject of international criticism. The resolution's validity hinged on the question of CNMI sovereignty, but was never enforced and became moot after President Bush signed PL-2739 [3] into law, thus federalizing CNMI labor and immigration.⁴
In 2008, President of Bolivia Evo Morales declared U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg persona non grata, claiming that the U.S. government conspired against him and supported his opponents.⁵
Following Bolivia's expulsion of Goldberg, President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez declared U.S. Ambassador Patrick D. Duddy "persona non grata" in solidarity with Morales' action. Chavez did not cite any specific alleged infractions by Duddy.
In October 2008 Serbia expelled ambassadors of Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia⁶ after these countries recognized the independence of Kosovo. In November 2008 Serbia also expelled the ambassador from Malaysia⁷ after Malaysia recognized Kosovo's independence.
On December 23, 2008 Fiji followed through on a threat to expel New Zealand's high commissioner to the island nation, the expulsion came a day after the interim Prime Minister of Fiji announced he would not expel New Zealand's top diplomat because he wanted to improve his relationship with New Zealand. In retaliation to the expulsion, New Zealand declared Fiji's High Commissioner in Wellington persona non grata, John Key already stating that there would be retaliatory action if its commissioner was expelled.⁸
In January 2009, following Venezuela expelling Israeli diplomats due to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israel ordered Venezuelan diplomats to leave the country, declaring them "persona non grata in Israel".⁹
In March 2009, President Evo Morales of Bolivia declared a member of the US embassy (political division) persona non grata¹⁰.
On April 8, 2009, President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin declared Romanian Ambassador Filip Teodorescu and Councilor-Minister, Ioan Gaborean, personae non gratae, claiming that "their activity was inconsistent with their diplomatic status"¹¹¹² after the Moldovan flag on the Parliament building was torn down and replaced with Romanian and EU flags during post-election riots in Moldova.
On June 8, 2009, Russia declared Finnish diplomat Simo Pietiläinen, persona non grata, due to a controversial action by Simo Pietiläinen where he smuggled Anton Salonen out of Russia following a long custody dispute between his Finnish father and Russian born lover.¹³
On August 21, 2009 Slovakia declared Hungarian President László Sólyom a persona non grata (this exact term was not used, only "unwelcome person", and he was not allowed to cross the border), on the day when the president had been due to unveil a statue of Saint Stephen of Hungary in Komárno. The date is the next day after the Hungarian national holiday celebrating the saint king. The main reason of the ban was that this date is also the day of the anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in which Hungary's armed forces also took part in order to crush the Prague Spring of 1968. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has also expressed his concerns that the president "attempted to stress the Hungarian statehood on sovereign Slovak soil".¹⁴¹⁵
On November 3, 2009, the Prime Minister of Fiji declared Australian and New Zealand diplomats to Fiji personae non gratae. In response, one day later the Australian and New Zealand Governments declared the respective Fijian Representatives persona non grata and they were given 24 hours to depart the country. The move comes as international tension between Fiji and Australia/New Zealand intensifies following a decision by Fijian Prime Minister – Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama's decision to indefinitely delay elections in the country.
On January 8, 2010, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry declared Respect MP George Galloway "persona non grata" after he attempted to take 200 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip, along with international activists. He was subsequently deported from Egypt back to the UK.¹⁶
On September 1, 2010 the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines-Cebu passed a resolution declaring former Miss Universe 1969, Gloria Diaz, persona non grata.

Non-diplomatic usage

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In non-diplomatic usage, referring to someone as persona non grata is to say that he or she is ostracized, so as to be figuratively nonexistent. In police circles, this often meant any officer who broke the Blue Wall by informing against fellow officers, e.g. testifying against officers who were corrupt. Frank Serpico was one real life example, while a cultural example is Paul Newman's character in Fort Apache, The Bronx, who informed on a fellow officer after witnessing him throw an unarmed man off a rooftop during a riot.