ISLAMABAD: The United States launched on Friday a flurry of diplomatic activity both in Washington and Islamabad to seek diplomatic immunity for its Lahore Consulate employee involved in ‘self-defence’ killings.
The meetings of top US diplomats with Pakistani officials came as the accused, identified by local authorities as Raymond Davis, was produced before a magistrate in Lahore.
Earlier in the day, US deputy chief of mission and another senior diplomat separately met officials of the Foreign Office’s protocol division, which handles issues relating to diplomatic immunities and privileges.
Following these contacts, Ambassador Cameron Munter met Interior Minister Rehman Malik and later in the evening called on Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir. Diplomatic sources confirmed that the US State Department was also working with the Pakistani embassy in Washington on this issue.
While most details of the meetings were not disclosed, the US embassy in a very brief statement regretted the loss of lives and confirmed that it was trying to resolve the issue. “The US Embassy is working with Pakistani authorities to determine the facts and work towards a resolution,” it added.
The sources said that Davis did not enjoy diplomatic immunity per se. The claim lent credence to the fact that the US embassy did not either publicly state that the accused was a diplomat or enjoyed immunity under the Vienna Convention.
The embassy has simply described Davis as a staff member of the US Consulate in Lahore.
Security sources said that Davis had military background and was attached to the consulate as security consultant.
According to ABC News, Davis runs a private company, Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, which provides “loss- and risk-management professionals”. Pakistani officials and diplomats are unwilling to share anything on the issue, apparently because of sensitivities involved, but there are some indications that the government is considering the request for immunity, though it has not yet taken any decision.
The issue presents a potentially very tricky situation for the government, which is already seen as too subservient to Washington. At the same time Islamabad would not like to risk damaging its ties with the US – one of its biggest donors.
Government’s worries were compounded by protests across the country demanding punishment for the American.
An expert on international law said: “Signatories to the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations have acknowledged in its preamble that the purpose of the privileges and immunities is not to benefit individuals, but to ensure the efficient performance of the functions of diplomatic and consular missions.”
Besides, he noted, any individual enjoying the privilege status under the conventions was, therefore, under special obligation to observe discretion in the exercise of his privileges and in reliance upon his immunities.
The issue of American embassy employees carrying guns first caught media attention in July 2009. However, the government kept an ambivalent posture over the issue and no concrete measures were taken to discourage the practice.
PRECEDENT: In October 2007, the US State Department granted limited diplomatic immunity to Blackwater guards involved in the killing of 17 people in Baghdad’s Nisar Square on Sept 16, 2007.
However, the US Department of Justice subsequently ruled that any immunity deals offered to Blackwater employees were invalid because the department which issued these had no authority to do so. The charges brought against the five guards by the US Justice Department were, however, thrown out in December 2009 by the American judge.
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