Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
I'm surprised nobody has started a thread about this.
A US "consular employee", whose actual role still hasn't been officially divulged, shot and killed two Pakistanis on a motorcycle whom he claimed were armed and trying to rob him. Someone else in another consular vehicle responding to his aid apparently ran over and killed another individual on a motorcycle, and then fled the scene. He is still at large.
U.S. official faces murder charges in Pakistan
And now, according to the Times of India, the US government is claiming he is entitled to diplomatic immunity:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-immunity-in-Pakistan/articleshow/7393703.cms
This incident raises all sorts of interesting issues.
Should American consular employees be held accountable to the local laws regarding murder charges and other serious felonies, which in this particular case apparently do not allow someone to use deadly force even when robbed at gunpoint?
Should they be able to carry firearms, even when they are apparently not acting in any offical bodyguard capacity?
Should the person who allegedly ran over an innocent person turn himself into the local authorities? Is the US government helping him to elude prosecution?
A US "consular employee", whose actual role still hasn't been officially divulged, shot and killed two Pakistanis on a motorcycle whom he claimed were armed and trying to rob him. Someone else in another consular vehicle responding to his aid apparently ran over and killed another individual on a motorcycle, and then fled the scene. He is still at large.
U.S. official faces murder charges in Pakistan
'Diplomatic staff usually enjoy a certain type of immunity, but I am not sure about murder,' police chief says
LAHORE, Pakistan — Pakistan will pursue murder charges against a U.S. consular employee suspected in the shooting deaths of two armed men possibly intent on robbing him, a prosecutor said Friday.
Rana Bakhtiar spoke after the American appeared in court where judges ordered him to remain in police custody for six days.
The case has sharpened anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.
A third Pakistani was killed in the incident Thursday in the bustling city of Lahore, allegedly after being hit by a U.S. vehicle rushing to the aid of the American.
Police officer Umar Saeed said Friday the American had told officers he had withdrawn money from an ATM shortly before the incident, raising the possibility the two men were following him.
Others Pakistani officers have said the men were likely robbers and both were carrying pistols.
"A staff member of the U.S. Consulate General in Lahore was involved in an incident yesterday that regrettably resulted in the loss of life," the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement Friday. "The U.S. Embassy is working with Pakistani authorities to determine the facts and work toward a resolution."
The issue of American diplomats or their security detail carrying weapons inside Pakistan was a hot-button subject last year among certain politicians and sections of the media purportedly worried about the country's sovereignty.
'American Rambo'
Many Pakistanis regard the United States with suspicion or outright enmity because of its presence in neighboring Afghanistan and regular missile attacks against militant targets in the northwest.
"'American Rambo' goes berserk in Lahore,'" read the headline in The Nation, a right-wing newspaper that frequently publishes unsourced anti-American conspiracy theories.
Western diplomats travel with armed guards in many parts of Pakistan because of the risk of militant attack.
Lahore has seen frequent terrorist bombings and shootings over the last two years, though the city's small expatriate population has not been directly targeted.
The Express Tribune newspaper said in an editorial that it was reasonable for Western diplomats to travel armed, but noted that in America shooting in self-defense can result in a conviction, especially if it can be proved that the accused used excessive force.
Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen said the American was being questioned by the police and may be charged with both murder and illegally carrying a weapon, a Beretta pistol.
"Diplomatic staff usually enjoy a certain type of immunity, but I am not sure about murder," he said. "We will consult the Foreign Office and legal advisers in this regard."
Police officer Riasat Ali said one of the victim's brothers had registered a criminal case against the American, a necessary step for the police to begin an investigation.
Robbers on motorbikes pulling up alongside cars and holding them up is quite a common crime in Pakistani cities.
Americans and other foreigners have also been frequently targeted by Islamist militants.
In the northwestern city of Peshawar in 2008, gunmen shot and killed a U.S. aid worker as he drove to work. Suspected militants also opened fire on the vehicle of the top American diplomat in the city the same year, but she survived the attack.
And now, according to the Times of India, the US government is claiming he is entitled to diplomatic immunity:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-immunity-in-Pakistan/articleshow/7393703.cms
ISLAMABAD: The US on Sunday mounted a defence for an American facing a double murder charge for shooting two Pakistani men in Lahore, saying he was a member of the US mission's staff and entitled to diplomatic immunity.
A statement issued by the US embassy on Sunday evening said: "The US diplomat detained in Lahore is a member of the US embassy's technical and administrative staff, and therefore entitled to full criminal immunity and cannot be lawfully arrested or detained in accordance with the Vienna Convention".
The embassy noted that the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides diplomatic immunity to all diplomats around the world.
It said Article 37 of the Convention specifically extends "the same criminal immunity that diplomats have to members of the technical and administrative staff of an embassy".
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declined to comment on the case of the US national arrested by Pakistani police for shooting dead two men in Lahore, saying the matter was in court and being investigated by authorities.
Gilani said he had already condemned the incident. "The Punjab government is conducting an inquiry into this matter and I will not comment till it is completed," he said.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told media that no pressure can force authorities to free the American.
The matter is in the court, which will make a decision, he said.
Pakistani authorities have already rejected a US demand to release an American who shot dead two youths in Lahore, saying the matter would be handled in court according to the country's laws.
Foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told the media Sunday that the matter was already in court and Punjab Police were investigating Thursday's shooting incident in Lahore.
"It would not be appropriate to publicly talk on this issue," he said.
The American - identified in media reports as Raymond Davis - shot and killed two armed youths who he claimed were trying to rob him.
A third Pakistani national died when he was hit by a US consulate car rushing to the aid of the American.
This incident raises all sorts of interesting issues.
Should American consular employees be held accountable to the local laws regarding murder charges and other serious felonies, which in this particular case apparently do not allow someone to use deadly force even when robbed at gunpoint?
Should they be able to carry firearms, even when they are apparently not acting in any offical bodyguard capacity?
Should the person who allegedly ran over an innocent person turn himself into the local authorities? Is the US government helping him to elude prosecution?