State Department: The U.S. does not recognize the concept of ‘diplomatic asylum’

Found on Foreign Policy on Sunday, 19 August 2012
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"The United States is not a party to the 1954 OAS Convention on Diplomatic Asylum and does not recognize the concept of diplomatic asylum as a matter of international law," the office of Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a Friday statement.

But the U.S. has a long record of protecting political targets inside U.S. embassy complexes, most recently with Chinese blind dissident Chen Guangcheng last December.

In 1989, the U.S. granted "temporary refuge" to Feng Lizhi, a leader of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement, who fled to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and stayed there for 384 days before Chinese authorities allowed him to go to the United States, but officially only for "medical treatment."

Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana sought refuge in 1967 via the U.S. Embassy in India and was eventually granted U.S. citizenship.

Just twist everything the way you need it. Considering that the US has a huge interest in Assange and wants to get its hands on him, it's not just a "diplomatic asylum", but a political asylum similar to what Chen Guangcheng, Feng Lizhi and Svetlana Stalin got. Arguing about petty details and wordings is just splitting hairs.