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'Killer' US envoy can benefit from Vienna Convention
LAHORE
LAHORE, Jan. 29 -- The US diplomat who claims to have shot two people dead in Lahore on Thursday only to defend himself in a robbery incident stands a good chance of avoiding prosecution under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (April 18, 1961), if one studies the past precedents in this context.
The American diplomat, Raymond Davis, is also being accused of trampling over another man while fleeing from the scene. According to the Vienna Convention of 1961, Pakistan has the right to ask the US to lift the accused diplomat's immunity, but history reveals that the principles laid down in this conference nearly half a century ago have come to the rescue of at least half a dozen world envoys, who were found guilty of killing or injuring ordinary people in various incidents. These incidents have mostly been traffic-related though.
Although, the history of diplomatic immunity dates back to 1709 when the British Parliament had first granted this privilege to foreign ambassadors, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations has saved various culpable envoys from prosecution or lawsuits in countries where they were stationed.
To cite a few examples, a Russian diplomat posted in Ottawa (Canada) had rammed his car into two pedestrians in January 2001, killing one and seriously injuring the other. The Canadian government had requested that Russia to waive the diplomat named Andrei Knyazev's immunity, but the request was refused. However, Knyazev was subsequently prosecuted in Russia for involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison.
An American Consul General, Douglas Kent, was involved in a car accident in a Russian city on October 27, 1998, crippling a man called Alexander Kashin. Diplomat Kent was not prosecuted in the US, as an American Court of Appeals had ruled in August 2006 that since the Consul General was using his own vehicle for consular purposes, he could not be sued civilly.
In yet another episode, a Romanian Charge d'Affaires in Singapore, Silviu Ionescu, was allegedly involved a drunk-driving hit-and-run accident in December 2009, that had resulted in the death of a 30-year-old man.
The Romanian diplomat had left Singapore for Romania three days after the accident. Though Romania did not waive his diplomatic immunity, criminal proceedings against him were conducted back home. He was formally charged with homicide by Romanian courts and remanded for 29 days.
Having sought an international arrest warrant against Ionescu, the Singapore government had argued that by reason of Article 39(2) of the Vienna Convention, envoy Ionescu was no longer protected by diplomatic immunity.
The guilty diplomat Ionescu was subsequently suspended from his post in February 2010. Meanwhile, a pedestrian who was hit in a fatal hit-and-run accident involving Romanian diplomat, had also gone on to sue the official for Singapore dollars 630,000.
On November 26, 2010, Ionescu was released from detention in Romania after being held in preventive custody at a prison in Bucharest for seven months, though he was not allowed to leave the country.
More recently, in January this year, Britain had asked India to waive off the diplomatic immunity for Anil Verma, a senior Indian diplomat accused of assaulting his wife, saying it does not tolerate envoys working in the UK breaking the law.
Verma, a third-ranked diplomat in the Indian High Commission, found himself in trouble when his injured wife Paromita was found screaming by neighbours on December 11 last year. When the police arrived, the 45-year-old Verma had claimed diplomatic immunity and eventually escaped action.
Verma, an Economic Minister in the Indian mission, was transferred to back to India with immediate effect. According to Daily Mail," throughout their time over here, diplomat Anil would boast about his diplomatic immunity and he would tell his wife Paromita that no one could touch him because of it. He was shameless with it. He has been given so much power and he is abusing it. Paromita has gone into hiding and seriously fears that her safety and health are in jeopardy."
Interestingly, the American double standards on the issue of diplomatic immunity can be gauged from the fact that while the Republic of Georgia had waived off the diplomatic immunity of one of its envoys to the US after he was found guilty of driving a car in a drunk state and killing a 16-year-old girl in January 1997, Washington DC had disallowed a similar request forwarded by Romania in December 2004 when a US soldier had killed a popular Romanian musician in Bucharest.
Republic of Georgia thus happens to be one of the few countries on the planet which are known to have waived off the diplomatic immunity of one of its diplomats posted in the US, after he was found guilty of driving a car in a drunken state and killing a 16-year-old girl in January 1997.
The deputy ambassador of the Republic of Georgia to the United States, Gueorgui Makharadze, had hit five people in January 1997, injuring four and killing one. Although the Georgian diplomat was released from custody initially, the US government had asked the Georgian government to waive his immunity.
The Georgian government acceded to the US request and diplomat Makharadze was tried and convicted of manslaughter. He was given a sentence from seven to 21 years in prison. However, after serving three years of his sentence, he was returned to his home country where he spent two more years in jail before being paroled.
On the contrary, an allegedly drunk US Marine stationed in the Romanian capital of Bucharest had collided with a taxi, killing the famous local musician Teo Peter on December 3, 2004. The marine, Christopher Van Goethem, had allegedly violated a traffic signal, which resulted in the collision of his car with the taxi carrying the Romanian rock star Teo Peter. Christopher had fled to Germany before charges could be laid against him.
The Romanian government had then requested the US government to lift the marine's immunity, but to no avail. In a court-martial back home, the marine was acquitted of manslaughter and adultery, but was convicted of obstruction of justice.
It is worth mentioning that in the United States, if a person with immunity is alleged to have committed a crime or faces a civil lawsuit, the Department of State normally asks the home country to waive immunity of the alleged offender so that the complaint can be moved to the courts. If immunity is not waived, prosecution cannot be undertaken.
However, the Department of State still has the discretion to ask the diplomat to withdraw from her or his duties in the United States. In addition, the diplomat's visas are often cancelled and his/her family members are barred from returning to the United States. Crimes committed by members of a diplomat's family can also result in dismissal.
Abuse of diplomatic immunity was made more visible by media coverage in the early 1990s. The abuse spans a variety of activities, ranging from parking violations to more serious criminal behavior such as domestic abuse and rape.
In February 1995, the then New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani forgave $800,000 in parking tickets accumulated by foreign diplomat-probably as a gesture of goodwill towards the visiting diplomat.
January 29, 2011
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?235879
Содержательная.
'Killer' US envoy can benefit from Vienna Convention
LAHORE
LAHORE, Jan. 29 -- The US diplomat who claims to have shot two people dead in Lahore on Thursday only to defend himself in a robbery incident stands a good chance of avoiding prosecution under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (April 18, 1961), if one studies the past precedents in this context.
The American diplomat, Raymond Davis, is also being accused of trampling over another man while fleeing from the scene. According to the Vienna Convention of 1961, Pakistan has the right to ask the US to lift the accused diplomat's immunity, but history reveals that the principles laid down in this conference nearly half a century ago have come to the rescue of at least half a dozen world envoys, who were found guilty of killing or injuring ordinary people in various incidents. These incidents have mostly been traffic-related though.
Although, the history of diplomatic immunity dates back to 1709 when the British Parliament had first granted this privilege to foreign ambassadors, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations has saved various culpable envoys from prosecution or lawsuits in countries where they were stationed.
To cite a few examples, a Russian diplomat posted in Ottawa (Canada) had rammed his car into two pedestrians in January 2001, killing one and seriously injuring the other. The Canadian government had requested that Russia to waive the diplomat named Andrei Knyazev's immunity, but the request was refused. However, Knyazev was subsequently prosecuted in Russia for involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison.
An American Consul General, Douglas Kent, was involved in a car accident in a Russian city on October 27, 1998, crippling a man called Alexander Kashin. Diplomat Kent was not prosecuted in the US, as an American Court of Appeals had ruled in August 2006 that since the Consul General was using his own vehicle for consular purposes, he could not be sued civilly.
In yet another episode, a Romanian Charge d'Affaires in Singapore, Silviu Ionescu, was allegedly involved a drunk-driving hit-and-run accident in December 2009, that had resulted in the death of a 30-year-old man.
The Romanian diplomat had left Singapore for Romania three days after the accident. Though Romania did not waive his diplomatic immunity, criminal proceedings against him were conducted back home. He was formally charged with homicide by Romanian courts and remanded for 29 days.
Having sought an international arrest warrant against Ionescu, the Singapore government had argued that by reason of Article 39(2) of the Vienna Convention, envoy Ionescu was no longer protected by diplomatic immunity.
The guilty diplomat Ionescu was subsequently suspended from his post in February 2010. Meanwhile, a pedestrian who was hit in a fatal hit-and-run accident involving Romanian diplomat, had also gone on to sue the official for Singapore dollars 630,000.
On November 26, 2010, Ionescu was released from detention in Romania after being held in preventive custody at a prison in Bucharest for seven months, though he was not allowed to leave the country.
More recently, in January this year, Britain had asked India to waive off the diplomatic immunity for Anil Verma, a senior Indian diplomat accused of assaulting his wife, saying it does not tolerate envoys working in the UK breaking the law.
Verma, a third-ranked diplomat in the Indian High Commission, found himself in trouble when his injured wife Paromita was found screaming by neighbours on December 11 last year. When the police arrived, the 45-year-old Verma had claimed diplomatic immunity and eventually escaped action.
Verma, an Economic Minister in the Indian mission, was transferred to back to India with immediate effect. According to Daily Mail," throughout their time over here, diplomat Anil would boast about his diplomatic immunity and he would tell his wife Paromita that no one could touch him because of it. He was shameless with it. He has been given so much power and he is abusing it. Paromita has gone into hiding and seriously fears that her safety and health are in jeopardy."
Interestingly, the American double standards on the issue of diplomatic immunity can be gauged from the fact that while the Republic of Georgia had waived off the diplomatic immunity of one of its envoys to the US after he was found guilty of driving a car in a drunk state and killing a 16-year-old girl in January 1997, Washington DC had disallowed a similar request forwarded by Romania in December 2004 when a US soldier had killed a popular Romanian musician in Bucharest.
Republic of Georgia thus happens to be one of the few countries on the planet which are known to have waived off the diplomatic immunity of one of its diplomats posted in the US, after he was found guilty of driving a car in a drunken state and killing a 16-year-old girl in January 1997.
The deputy ambassador of the Republic of Georgia to the United States, Gueorgui Makharadze, had hit five people in January 1997, injuring four and killing one. Although the Georgian diplomat was released from custody initially, the US government had asked the Georgian government to waive his immunity.
The Georgian government acceded to the US request and diplomat Makharadze was tried and convicted of manslaughter. He was given a sentence from seven to 21 years in prison. However, after serving three years of his sentence, he was returned to his home country where he spent two more years in jail before being paroled.
On the contrary, an allegedly drunk US Marine stationed in the Romanian capital of Bucharest had collided with a taxi, killing the famous local musician Teo Peter on December 3, 2004. The marine, Christopher Van Goethem, had allegedly violated a traffic signal, which resulted in the collision of his car with the taxi carrying the Romanian rock star Teo Peter. Christopher had fled to Germany before charges could be laid against him.
The Romanian government had then requested the US government to lift the marine's immunity, but to no avail. In a court-martial back home, the marine was acquitted of manslaughter and adultery, but was convicted of obstruction of justice.
It is worth mentioning that in the United States, if a person with immunity is alleged to have committed a crime or faces a civil lawsuit, the Department of State normally asks the home country to waive immunity of the alleged offender so that the complaint can be moved to the courts. If immunity is not waived, prosecution cannot be undertaken.
However, the Department of State still has the discretion to ask the diplomat to withdraw from her or his duties in the United States. In addition, the diplomat's visas are often cancelled and his/her family members are barred from returning to the United States. Crimes committed by members of a diplomat's family can also result in dismissal.
Abuse of diplomatic immunity was made more visible by media coverage in the early 1990s. The abuse spans a variety of activities, ranging from parking violations to more serious criminal behavior such as domestic abuse and rape.
In February 1995, the then New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani forgave $800,000 in parking tickets accumulated by foreign diplomat-probably as a gesture of goodwill towards the visiting diplomat.
January 29, 2011
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?235879