African Union Diplomatic Parity Act
The African Union Diplomatic Parity Act would extend the same privileges and immunities that the United States grants to the permanent missions of UN member states to the African Union’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York. In practical terms, this means the AU’s observer mission and its members would receive the same diplomatic protections and exemptions enjoyed by other countries’ permanent missions to the UN, subject to the same conditions and obligations. The change is enacted by adding the AU Permanent Observer Mission to the list of entities eligible for these privileges under the International Organizations Immunities Act. This move is framed as creating parity between the AU’s observer mission and UN member-state missions, facilitating its operations in New York while ensuring it remains bound by U.S. laws and expectations.
Key Points
- 1The bill amends Section 12(b) of the International Organizations Immunities Act to include the Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations in New York, and its members, alongside the African Union Mission, in receiving immunities and privileges.
- 2It extends the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the permanent missions to the United Nations of UN member states to the AU Permanent Observer Mission and its members.
- 3The extension is subject to “corresponding conditions and obligations,” meaning the AU and its members must comply with relevant U.S. laws and obligations tied to these immunities.
- 4The act explicitly covers the African Union Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York, clarifying its status in relation to the AU’s own mission to the UN.
- 5The bill clarifies the scope and parity of immunities, aligning the AU’s observer mission with established diplomatic protections afforded to other UN member-state missions.