Dominique Strauss-Kahn: diplomatic immunity's greatest hits

Guardian


Former IMF head joins an illustrious collection of miscreants who claimed the status to get out of trouble

In invoking diplomatic immunity, Dominique Strauss-Kahn joins
a rogues' gallery of accused international reprobates.

From petty thieves and fine-dodgers to drunk-drivers and outright murderers, "diplomatic immunity" has been the cry of a rogues' gallery of accused international miscreants plunged into hot water overseas.

Former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn is the latest to try to claim its protection in his bid to get a civil case brought by the New York hotel maid he is alleged to have assaulted struck out.

A look at the history of those claiming the status puts the one-time French presidential hope in a league with some rum fellows, red-faced diplomats and a Burmese ambassador who took immunity to a shocking extreme, or so the story goes.

Mexico: BlackBerry thief

In one of the more bizarre incidents of diplomatic immunity being claimed, a Mexican press attaché sought to evade the law after being caught with the BlackBerrys of several White House staffers.

The theft took place in 2008 during a bilateral get-together in New Orleans. After the devices had been placed on a table outside the meeting room, Rafael Quintero Curiel picked up a handful and headed to the exit.

He made it to the airport before authorities picked him up. After initially denying the theft, he owned up after being shown video footage of him being caught red-handed. Claiming immunity, he headed back to Mexico where he was promptly sacked.

Police officers try to revive PC Yvonne Fletcher after she was shot outside
the Libyan embassy in London in 1984 during an anti-Gaddafi protest.
Libyan officials say the suspect might not be extradited.

The murder of police officer Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984 resulted in the UK cutting all diplomatic ties with Tripoli.

No one was prosecuted over her death, and embassy staff claimed diplomatic immunity before being deported.

Pakistan court rejects Davis' claim about diplomatic immunity

Times of India

LAHORE: In a setback to US efforts to seek early release of its national Raymond Davis arrested for a double murder, a Pakistani court today rejected his claim that he has diplomatic immunity and said it would go ahead with his trial.

During the last hearing of the case, 37-year-old Davis, a suspected CIA contractor, had filed an application in which he insisted that he had immunity.

Lawyers representing the families of the two men shot dead by Davis in Lahore in January and the prosecution counsel today presented their arguments during proceedings conducted behind closed doors at Kot Lakhpat Jail by Additional District and Sessions Judge Yousuf Aujla.

After hearing the arguments of defence and prosecution lawyers, Judge Aujla said no authentic document had been presented by Davis or the Pakistan government to show that the American national had diplomatic immunity.

The judge said a note provided by the US embassy was not sufficient to prove Davis' diplomatic status.

He rejected Davis' application claiming diplomatic immunity and said the court has the jurisdiction to go ahead with his trial.

When defence lawyers told the judge that they had not been provided all the documents related to the charges levelled against Davis, Aujla directed the prosecution to ensure this was done and adjourned the case till March 8.

Lawyers representing the families of the two men killed by Davis said they expected the court to formally indict Davis at the next hearing.

Davis was represented at today's hearing by three lawyers, including Zahid Hussain Bukhari, a former judge of the Lahore high court.

Victims’ families show concern over delay in Davis’ hearing

* Fahim’s brother fears fake immunity will be provided to US gunman

* Protesters demand arrest of third victim’s killers

By Hussain Kashif

LAHORE: The families of three Pakistani victims on Thursday voiced concern over a three-week delay in the hearing of murder charges against US national Raymond Davis to allow the government more time to ascertain whether the gunman enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

“It is a ‘grace period’ granted to the Foreign Office to provide protective shield of fake immunity to the killer,” Waseem Shamshad said while addressing the participants of a sit-in organised by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at Qartaba Chowk on Thursday.

Shamshad, brother of one of the victims, Muhammad Fahim, said although both the federal and provincial governments were not playing their due role in the case, his confidence in the judiciary had also shattered after Thursday’s hearing in the Lahore High Court. On behalf of the victim’s families, he pledged to continue their struggle to get justice. “My family will not compromise less then a punishment of public hanging to Raymond Davis at the same place where he killed both youth,” he said.

He vowed that they would not sell the blood of their beloved in any case and if the government would try to give any concession to the killer then they would besiege assemblies and airports and will not allow the gunman to leave the country. “We want justice at any cost,” he said.

He disclosed that consulate officials had tried to contact him for a meeting with the visiting Senator John Kerry, but he had strictly refused to meet him as he did not want a deal with Americans in anyway. He also assured the gathering that he and the families would not compromise or make any kind of deal with Americans, including any offer of American visas or hefty amount.

Later, talking to the journalists he said that they were not facing any pressure from any side and will not accept any such attempt as they had not only lost their brothers but also an innocent sister-in-law who scarified her life for getting due justice in the murder case. On a query about the press reports regarding the association of deceased with an intelligence agency or previous criminal record of them, he refuted such allegations, saying that Fahim and Faizan were ordinary citizens and had no been involvement in any criminal case. However, he clarified that Faizan was innocent person but his brother, who had already been murdered, was facing some criminal allegations according to the police record.

Faizan’s brother, Imran Haider, said the family had joined political rallies organised by religious groups calling for Davis to stand trial.

The United States has confirmed neither Davis’ name nor the precise nature of his assignment. “We believe Davis is not a diplomat, he’s a spy. If he’s a diplomat why hasn’t the government said that yet? It’s fishy,” Imran said. It is worth mentioning that PTI, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl JUI-F), Khaksar Tehreek and Sunni Tehreek participated in the protest demonstration and sit-in.

More than two dozens female activists of different parties also attended the demonstration. At the end of the protest, demonstrators lit candles in memory of the deceased with the demand of justice from the federal and provincial governments as well as the judiciary.

The protesters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-American slogans like ‘Down with America,’ ‘Hang Raymond till death’, ‘Who is the murderer of Shamaila; America’. The protesters also demanded the PML-N-led government to withdraw all VIP facilities from Davis. They also demanded the arrest of Ibadur Rehman’s killers, who was ran over by a US consulate vehicle. They also warned the rulers against selling respect and dignity of the nation.

The protest demonstration was led by Lahore PTI President Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed while PTI leaders Umar Sarfaraz Cheema, Ejaz Chaudhry, ISF President Hassaan Niazi, JUI-F Lahore Division Ameer Qari Sanaullah, Sunni Tehreek leader Muhammad Doggar and Khaksar Tehreek’s Lahore Division Nazim Rana Muhammad Ayub also addressed the participants.

Mian Rasheed said that a motorcycle rally would be taken out from Qartaba Chowk to the American consulate after Friday prayers.

Raymond Davis does not enjoy blanket immunity: Qureshi

Dawn

Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

ISLAMABAD: Regarding the issue of Raymond Davis, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday said while he was the foreign minister the US national did not enjoy full diplomatic immunity.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Qureshi said the foreign office had briefed him on January 31 that Davis did not enjoy the blanket immunity that the US was claiming for him.



Qureshi said that after studying the Vienna Conventions of 1961 and 1963 and Pakistan’s Diplomatic Law of 1972, one could conclude that “the blanket immunity as being demanded by the US embassy was not valid”.

He said that after seeing relevant documents, it was his “considered opinion” that Davis did not enjoy diplomatic immunity. He had informed the Core Committee of the Pakistan People’s Party of his view on the subject.

He said an inter-ministerial meeting had also endorsed this point of view.

Qureshi said that his stance on the Davis issue was principled and that he would stand by his position.

He said that for him Pakistan’s sovereignty and dignity were most important and that if need be he would apprise the people of Pakistan of more facts.

Qureshi, who stepped down earlier this month during a Cabinet reshuffle but retains influence, reiterated this stance after a meeting with Chairman US Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry — an indication that the American politician may have a rocky time convincing Pakistan to free 36-year-old Raymond Davis, a US consulate employee who shot and killed two Pakistani men in Lahore last month in what he said was a robbery attempt.

He said he kept quiet on the Davis case earlier upon instructions from the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), but implied that his stance on the matter had cost him his job. A new foreign minister has not yet been appointed.

Whether I have a ministry or not, I will always remain with the PPP, Qureshi told reporters. To a question, he said it was the prerogative of the party leadership to choose the person to head any ministry and acknowledged that he was offered the Ministry of Water and Power.

Qureshi said the party leadership’s decision on the Davis subject was that as the issue was sub judice, it would be decided by the courts. The same stance was taken by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in his statement made at the floor of the National Assembly on February 3.

Regarding his meeting with US Senator John Kerry earlier in the day, Qureshi said he had informed Kerry about his stance.

He further said that the United States should realize the sacrifices that Pakistan has made in the war against terror. He said both Pakistan and the United States needed each other’s cooperation.

Can Raymond Davis Case Trigger Egypt-Like Situation in Pakistan?

Eurasia Review
B. Raman

In response to readers’ questions, I had earlier ruled out the possibility of an Egypt-like mass uprising in Pakistan despite the economic hardships being faced by the people. In support of my argument, I had, inter alia, referred to the disorganised state of the youth and trade union movements in Pakistan.

As I monitor the public anger building up in Pakistan over what growing sections of the people see as the bullying tactics adopted by the US Government to secure the release and departure to the US of Raymond Davis a member of the staff of either the US Consulate-General in Lahore or the US Embassy in Islamabad (one does not know which), who allegedly shot dead two Pakistanis in Lahore on January 27, 2011, I am no longer that certain that there cannot be an uprising in Pakistan.

Yes, I still feel there cannot be an uprising in Pakistan over domestic issues and the style of governance. But if the public anger over the Davis case continues to build up as a result of the surprising mishandling of the case by the US State Department, one may be faced with a mass uprising over the issue of the country’s relations with the US.

The Egyptian people rose in revolt because they were fed up with the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak and his corruption and insensitivity to the economic hardships of the people. The US failed to read the writing on the wall. In Pakistan, large sections of the population—including the youth— are showing signs of getting fed up with the way they think the US has been treating their country as evidenced by its alleged bullying tactics to secure his release and departure.

Facts are no longer the issue disturbing the people — whether Davis is a diplomat or not; whether he enjoyed diplomatic immunity or not; whether he is a CIA employee or not. The real issue has become the way the US is seen to be treating Pakistan. Normally, one would have expected the State Department to engage in quiet discussions with the Governments in Islamabad and Lahore and persuade them to let him go in return for an apology by the US Government for his act in allegedly killing two Pakistanis and compensation for the families of the Pakistanis killed.

Instead of doing so, the State Department continues to adopt tactics which are seen in Pakistan as nothing but bullying.

“No more bullying by the US”– that is the mounting cry in Pakistan. The Drone (pilotless planes) strikes in the tribal belt caused sporadic anti-US anger in the tribal belt, but it remained confined to the tribal areas. It did not spread to the rest of Pakistan. The anger over the Davis case has been in the whole of Pakistan. The elite as well as the common people, the religious as well as the liberal sections of the population are resentful of the manner in which they see the US as dictating terms to their Government.

There is an urgent need for the US to make changes in the way it has been handling the case. Otherwise, the public anger could lead to unpredictable consequences creating further instability in Pakistan and making it difficult for the Government to co-operate with the US on issues viewed as affecting Pakistan’s sovereignty and self-respect.

Previously, critics of the Drone strikes used to accuse the US of not respecting Pakistan’s sovereignty. Now critics of the US handling of the Davis case are accusing it of not caring for the dignity and self-respect of the Pakistani State and people.

Qureshi fired from ministry to change record of Davis: Saeed

Sananews

LAHORE, (SANA): Amir Jamaatud Dawa Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has said that former foreign minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi was fired from his ministry because he had refused to change the record of Raymond Davis, killer of two Pakistani nationals.

This he said in a statement issued here on Tuesday, adding that after the statement of Shah Mehmood Qureshi that “Davis was not a diplomat” it has been clear that there is no importance of PPP Information Secretary Fauzia Wahab statements regarding the case of Davis.

Hafiz Saeed said that the statement of Fauzia Wahab saying that Raymond enjoys diplomatic immunity is like rubbing salt over the wounds of Pakistanis.

He asked the political and religious parties to launch a joint movement like Tehreek-e-Namoos-e-Risalat (PBUH) against the possible release of Davis.

He said that if the government dared to release Raymond Davis millions of Pakistanis would come out on the roads, adding that it would not be possible for government to control the protesting Pakistanis.
He said that it has been proved that Raymond was not a diplomat; instead of this he is a agent of “Black Water”, adding that instead of the fact the rulers for pleasing their foreign masters are putting the dignity of the nation at stake.

He urged the political and religious parties to put pressure on government for punishing the killer of two Pakistanis according to the law of the land.

He said that the rulers should sought the blessings of Allah Almighty; instead of pleasing American rulers.

He said that the government should fulfill its duty for provision of justice to the heirs of the deceased Pakistanis, adding that the nation demands that Davis should be hanged.

White House threatens Hussain Haqqani: report

Dawn.com

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama’s national security advisor has threatened to boot Pakistan’s ambassador Hussain Haqqani from the country if a US official arrested in Lahore was not released by Friday, ABC News said.

Citing two Pakistani officials, ABC News said late Thursday that National Security Advisor Tom Donilon made the threat after summoning Haqqani to the White House on Monday.

He also warned US consulates in Pakistan may be closed and an upcoming visit to Washington by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari could be cancelled if US official Raymond Davis was not freed.
While the White House has declined to comment, a senior US official confirmed the details of the report to ABC News.




Davis was arrested on January 27 after allegedly shooting two men in broad daylight in a busy street – an incident that has sparked angry protests in Pakistan.


Meanwhile Friday a Pakistani court extended Davis’ remand by another 14 days as police rejected the self-defence claim that the American has made.

Haqqani took to his Twitter feed to deny the threats were ever made, however, posting the message: “No US official, incl the NSA, has conveyed any personal threats 2 me or spoken of extreme measures,” referring to the National Security Agency.