persona non grata

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Persona non grata (Latin, plural: personae non gratae, also abbreviated PNG), literally meaning "an unwelcome person," is a term used in diplomacy with a specialized and legally defined meaning. The opposite of persona non grata is persona grata.

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 States and Venezuela, the United States and Belarus, the United Kingdom and Russia, between Russia and Georgia, between the United States and Bolivia and between India and Pakistan.

• 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 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.^[2]
• In 2008, President of Bolivia Evo Morales declared U.S. Ambassador Phillip Goldberg persona non grata, claiming that the U.S. government conspired against him and supported his opponents.^[3]
• In October 2008 Serbia expelled ambassadors of Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia^[4] after these countries recognized the independence of Kosovo. In November 2008 Serbia also expelled the ambassador from Malaysia^[5] after Malaysia recognized Kosovo's independence.
• 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".^[6]
• In March of 2009, President Evo Morales of Bolivia declared a member of the US embassy (political division) persona non grata^[7].
• On April 8th 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"^[8][9] 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 8th 2009, Russia declared Finnish diplomat Simo Pietilainen, personae non gratae, due to a controversial action by Simo Pietilainen where he smuggled Anton Salonen out of Russia following a long custody dispute between his Finnish father and Russian born lover.^[10]

Non-diplomatic usage

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In non-diplomatic usage, calling someone 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 cultural examples were Paul Newman's character in Fort Apache, The Bronx when he told on a fellow officer that he saw throw an unarmed man off a rooftop during a riot.

See also

• damnatio memoriae
• refugee

References

External links

• eDiplomat.com: Glossary of Diplomatic Terms
• Text of the Vienna Convention - PDF