Balancing parking tickets against murders

For the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, a parking ticket violation is more atrocious than a murder. As a junior senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton wanted to revoke the diplomatic immunity for scofflaw diplomats who were stationed at the United Nations in New York and had racked up $21.3 million in parking violations. As the Secretary of State, however, she is invoking diplomatic immunity for Mr. Raymond Davis, who is accused of murdering two young men in Lahore.

It is hard to understand Mrs. Clinton’s logic who on one hand was not willing to excuse foreign diplomats accused of parking violations in New York.  “The flagrant disregard for parking regulations has had serious ramification for the safety and quality of life for New Yorkers,” she argued in a letter in 2002. On the other hand, she would like an American contract worker, who claims to be a diplomat, to be granted immunity from prosecution for murdering two youths.

In 2004, Mrs. Clinton and the senior senator from New York, Charles  Schumer, presented a Bill that advocated cutting foreign aid to countries who owed unpaid parking fines to the City of New York.  Senator Clinton was obviously incensed by the fact that diplomats were abusing their privilege. Diplomatic immunity was never intended to allow diplomats to violate traffic laws of the host country, or for that matter, commit murders.

She registered her discontent with diplomatic immunity and argued that it was not “acceptable for foreign diplomats and consular officials to hide behind diplomatic and consular immunity to park in illegal spaces in New York City and avoid paying parking tickets. It is my hope that this legislation will ensure that the City gets the money that it is owed.” Senators Clinton and Schumer were successful in amending the 2005 congressional Foreign Operations Bill in the Senate that froze foreign aid to countries by amounts they owed New York City in parking ticket violations and unpaid property taxes.

I am not suggesting that parking violations could or should be ignored. As a professor of transport management, I understand how illegally parked vehicles impede traffic, cause congestion, and cost billions in lost productivity. In fact, in 2006 when the US Embassy in London racked up over £1 million in unpaid congestion charges, the peeved Mayor of London, Ken Livingston, called the American ambassador Robert Tuttle, who owned a car dealership and raised $200,000 for President George W. Bush’s election campaign,  a ‘chiselling little crook’.

What I do not understand is how can one justify waiving diplomatic immunity for a misdemeanour, i.e., a parking violation, and insist on invoking it for violating the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill, for a person whose diplomatic credentials are dubious at best, and whose culpability is beyond doubt.

Granting Mr. Davis diplomatic immunity will deny the judicial system in Pakistan the opportunity to determine the circumstances that lead to the two murders. The courts need to establish if Mr. Davis is indeed a diplomat, and not a contract worker or a mercenary employed by the US consulate in Lahore. The courts need to determine that if Mr. Davis were a diplomat, where was he stationed in the past or what school he attended to prepare for a career in foreign diplomacy. The courts need to ascertain if he indeed was acting in self-defence when he shot the two men riding away on a motorbike through the windshield of his car. The courts need to determine if he indeed was on diplomatic business at the time he shot the two men.

I have spoken with senior Pakistani diplomats in North America who have confirmed that Mr. Davis was issued an official business visa, which is reserved for contractors and lower-level staff serving in foreign missions in Pakistan. This does not make Mr. Davis eligible for diplomatic immunity in the first place.  I contacted Ambassador Hussain Haqqani in Washington, DC, to determine the status of Mr. Davis’ now controversial visa. Mr. Haqqani has chosen not to respond. I have, however, enjoyed better correspondence with Ambassador Haqqani when he was a fellow academic.

While the US has always by default demanded immunity from prosecution for its diplomats serving in foreign countries, she has been stingy in reciprocating the favour. When the shoe is on the other foot, the US administration reacts completely in the opposite. Instead of honouring diplomatic immunity, it pressures countries to waive diplomatic immunity for the diplomats accused of wrongdoings in the United States.

In 1987, a car driven by the ambassador of Papua New Guinea, Kiatro Abisinito, hit four other cars in Washington, DC. The ambassador invoked diplomatic immunity. However, the US Attorneys prepared a criminal case against the ambassador for operating a vehicle while being intoxicated.

Consider the case of Georgian diplomat, Gueorgui Makharadze, who in 1997 killed a 16-year old girl in a fatal traffic accident in the US. The diplomat invoked diplomatic immunity and was ready to leave when the Georgian President, Eduard Shevardnadze, ordered the diplomat to stay in the United States and face criminal charges. Mr. Makharadze was convicted by a court and served time in an American prison.

Pakistan will not be the first country to question the doctrines of diplomatic immunity in cases where diplomats have been accused of not just misdemeanours, such as parking violations, but are accused of heinous crimes, such as murder. Former US Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, pointed out circumstances that warranted “limits to the doctrines of diplomatic immunity.” While addressing a conference organized by the American Bar Association in June 1986, Mr Weinberger unequivocally declared that a “diplomatic title must not confer a license to murder.”

Several American legislators have tried to restrict diplomatic immunity in cases where diplomats were accused of serious crimes, such as murder and rape.  In 1984, Senator Arlen Specter presented a Bill to renegotiate the Vienna Convention to eliminate diplomatic immunity for diplomats accused of murder. Later in 1987, US Congressman Stephen J. Solarz introduced a Bill to limit the diplomatic immunity, which he termed untenable and unacceptable to grant to those accused of murder.

While the American public representatives have tried to restrict diplomatic immunity for others, they have fought tooth and nail to seek immunity for their own diplomats when they stood accused of committing serious crimes. There are several examples of American diplomats leaving without trial even after being accused of committing murders. According to New York Times’ archives, a US Embassy employee, Martha D. Patterson, was accused of complicity in poisoning to death a USSR citizen in July 1977. Ms. Peterson was freed however after she invoked diplomatic immunity.  Later in 2002, Samuel Karmilowicz, an employee with the US Embassy in Quito, Ecuador, shot and killed an Ecuadorian national Pablo Jaramillo after crashing his car into the taxi carrying Mr. Jaramillo. The American diplomat left Ecuador soon afterwards invoking diplomatic immunity.

It is however, not without precedent that a country revoked diplomatic immunity for diplomats of other countries. In 1944, England cancelled diplomatic immunity for foreign diplomats and their staff. Only diplomats from the Commonwealth countries, the Soviet Union and the United States were permitted to retain diplomatic immunity.

In 2002 in England, the Colombian Embassy waived diplomatic immunity for a sergeant-major and his son who were caught on CCTV stabbing to death a 23 year old man outside a supermarket in West London. Initially, the Colombian diplomat, who was an assistant to the Colombian military attaché, and his son were granted immunity from prosecution. The Colombians claimed that they acted in self-defence after being mugged by the deceased. The Colombians were however acquitted of murder by a British court after it was established that they indeed acted in self-defence.

It is also not without precedent that the US government has waived immunity for its diplomats or contractors employed by the US foreign missions. In 1995, the US government waived diplomatic immunity for David Duchow, a contract employee with the US embassy in Bolivia, who was accused of stealing a truck-load of fuel. Mr. Duchow in retaliation sued the US government for waiving his diplomatic immunity.

Indulge me for a second and imagine if the situation was reversed and a Pakistani diplomat stood accused of shooting to death two young men in SoHo, New York.  Given that Mrs. Clinton was unwilling to pardon diplomats accused of parking violations, it is highly likely that she would have opposed granting immunity to a Pakistani diplomat accused of committing multiple murders in broad daylight and in the presence of dozens of eye witnesses. She would have insisted that the true identity and the status of the accused be first determined. She would have wanted the US courts to determine if the Pakistani diplomat acted in self-defence or was he a trigger-happy fellow who got spooked and started shooting. She would not have allowed the Pakistani diplomat to touch the tarmac at the JFK Airport.

I also wonder how President Obama would react in this situation. Would he be as statesmanlike as the former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and instruct Mr. Raymond Davis to stay in Pakistan and plead his case in a court of law. Or would Mr. Obama choose to be more like the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, who refused to waive diplomatic immunity for a Russian diplomat stationed in Canada who in 2001 killed one woman and injured another while driving a car while being intoxicated?

Given Mr. Obama’s recent foreign policy choices, I see more of Putin in him than a statesman.

Murtaza Haider, Ph.D. is a professor of supply chain management at Ryerson University in Toronto. He can be reached by email at murtaza.haider@ryerson.ca.

Pakistani Officials Claim American Killed Men Working for ISI

The four Pakistani officials who spoke to ABC News on the condition of anonymity say that the two men who Raymond Davis killed in Lahore last month were working for Pakistan's premiere intelligence service, and they were following Davis because he was spying.

According to the Pakistani officials, the two men had been sent to track Raymond Davis by the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, which believed that Davis had crossed "a red line" and needed to be followed.

In late January, those officials say, Davis was asked to leave an area of Lahore restricted by the military. His cell phone was tracked, said one government official, and some of his calls were made to the Waziristan tribal areas, where the Pakistani Taliban and a dozen other militant groups have a safe haven. Pakistani intelligence officials saw him as a threat who was "encroaching on their turf," the official said.

Davis was traveling through a lower middle class part of Lahore on Thursday, Jan. 27, when the incident took place. The men he shot had been following him for at least two hours, one of the Pakistani officials claimed, and recorded some of his movements on their cell phone cameras.

Davis has a U.S. Special Forces background and runs Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, a company that provides "loss and risk management professionals."

The U.S. embassy in Islamabad refused to respond to questions about why Davis was armed, who he had been calling, or whether he was found in a sensitive part of the Lahore cantonment.

That the ISI sent the equivalent of two hired guns to trail Davis is a sign that the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agencies is at a low point, according to all four officials quoted in this article. In October, the ISI helped reveal the name of the CIA station chief -- inadvertently, according to a separate, senior Pakistani official -- forcing the station chief to leave the country.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/ray-davis-shooting-pakistan/story?id=12869411&page=3

 

 

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 Reply:   Suicide of Shumaila

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 Reply:   Suicide of Shumaila – A slap on the feces of American puppets

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Suicide of Shumaila – A slap on the feces of American puppets

Shumaila’s suicide is evidence that peoples did not trust joint venture of army and politicians ruling over Pakistan and how helpless are we as a nation? Following reports did not quote that Urdu press has reported. Punjab Police tried to linger her death and pressurised family to bury her out of Lahore, and not besides her husband killed by Raymond Davis.

Husain Haqani according to media is dying and pressurising release of murderer. Tahir Padri sitting at Canada is organizing street processions in Pakistan to divert people’s attention from Raymond Davis case.

Media has mentioned that back dated letters to support his diplomatic claim has been issued, police is trying to pressurize families of victims to settle the issue out of court, hopelessness of families lead to suicide of Shumaila.  

Widow of man killed by Davis commits suicide

LAHORE: The wife of one of two motorcyclists shot dead by a US government employee last month committed suicide on Sunday due to sheer frustration that she may not get justice in view of the pressure being built to get the American released. The US consular employee, whom Pakistani police identified as Raymond Davis, was arrested on January 27 after shooting dead Mohammad Faheem and Faizan Haider, claiming he acted in self-defence fearing the pair were about to rob him. A third person was knocked down and killed by a vehicle from the US consulate in Lahore that tried to rescue Davis. The American was arrested by the police and a case of double murder was registered against him. “Mohammad Faheem’s wife Shumaila on Sunday morning took poisonous pills and she was taken to the Allied Hospital” in Faisalabad city, local police chief Usman Anwar told AFP. Hospital doctor Ali Naqi confirmed the suicide attempt, describing her condition is critical. “We are trying our best but we cannot say anything so far,” Naqi told AFP. He quoted Shumaila as saying that she feared Davis could be released without trial. Shumaila told a private TV channel that she was upset over reports that efforts were being made to secure his release. “I was under shock and decided to kill myself,” she said. “We want blood for blood,” she told the channel. Faheem’s brother Mohammad Waseem told AFP that Shumaila, 18, was plunged into a “severe depression” by her husband’s death. She took the pills before dawn and was rushed to the hospital early Sunday, he said. Despite strenuous efforts by the doctors, Shumaila’s life could not be saved. Heavy contingents of police surrounded the Allied Hospital and evacuated the ward whereas the Elite Force was deployed near the main gate of the hospital to avoid any untoward incident. Earlier, after first aid, Shumaila Kanwal told media persons at the hospital that she took poisonous tablets that are normally used to keep wheat stored at home protected from pests and insects which led her condition to the worst. Shumaila appealed to PML-N’s Quaid Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif that justice should be ensured and demanded punishment to Raymond Davis. Fahim’s brother said they feared that authorities were trying to protect Raymond Davis and they would not get the justice. He too appealed to high authorities and the government to act against the assassin.

http://old.thenews.com.pk/07-02-2011/ethenews/t-3831.htm 

I prefer death to injustice’

FAISALABAD - The widow of Mohammad Fahim shot dead by US national Raymond Davis in Lahore committed suicide after consuming poisonous pills on Sunday.
However, doctors refused to confirm her death, saying she was alive but in critical condition at ICU. But the relatives of Fahim’s widow, Shumaila Kanwal, told the media that she had expired. They said after the murder of Fahim, Shumaila came to her parents’ house at 189 RB Rasoolpur where she took poisonous pills. She was rushed to Allied Hospital. Doctors tried to save her life but she died. The family members alleged that Shumaila was kept at general ward for five hours and later when media flashed the news of her suicide attempt, the hospital authorities shifted her to the emergency ward where she died. Moments before her death when Shumaila regained her senses at hospital, she talked to media and burst into tears. She said her husband was innocent and she wanted justice. She said she attempted suicide because she believed that her husband’s killer would be freed without trial.
Agencies add: Shumaila said in a statement recorded by the doctor: “I do not expect any justice from this government. That is why I want to kill myself.”
Shumaila also spoke to reporters after arriving at the hospital, saying “I want blood for blood.” “The way my husband was shot, his killer should be shot in the same fashion,” she said. The shootings by Raymond Davis have stoked anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, feelings that could be further inflamed by Shumaila’s death.
Monitoring Desk adds: Shumaila breather her last on late Sunday night, reported private TV?channels.

http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/07-Feb-2011/I-prefer-death-to-injustice

 Wife of man shot by Davis commits suicide

* Kanwal said she didn’t expect any justice from government

LAHORE: The wife of one of the two men gunned down by a US national in Lahore last month, committed suicide by eating rat poison early Sunday.

Shumaila Kanwal, 18, widow of Muhammad Faheem, who was shot dead along with Faizan Haider by Raymond Davis, an employee of the US Consulate in Lahore, committed suicide, explaining before she died that she was driven to the act by fears the American would be freed without trial. “She took poisonous pills and she was taken to the Allied Hospital in Faisalabad,” local police chief Usman Anwar said. She died several hours after being rushed to a hospital, said hospital doctor Ali Naqi.

“I do not expect any justice from this government. That is why I want to kill myself,” said Kanwal in a statement recorded by the doctor.

She also spoke to reporters after arriving at the hospital, saying, “I want blood for blood. The way my husband was shot, his killer should be shot in the same fashion.”

Faheem’s brother, Muhammad Waseem, told AFP that Kanwal was plunged into a “severe depression” by her husband’s death. “She swallowed the pills before dawn and was rushed to the hospital,” he said. Davis was arrested on January 27 after shooting dead Muhammad Faheem and Faizan Haider, claiming he acted in self-defence fearing they were about to rob him. agencies

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\02\07\story_7-2-2011_pg1_4