|
Diplomatic Immunity: The myth and the reality
February 11, 2011
Amidst the heated debate which is going on in the so called Raymond Davis’s case, one thing is easy to contemplate as to who might be involved in the target killings of innocent Pakistanis in Karachi, Lahore and elsewhere, and how and why the interests of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and the foreign security agencies, working undercover in Pakistan, converge. A look at weapons and equipment seized from Raymond Davis, including military grade knives, cutters, 100 M16 bullets, sophisticated pistols, smart cameras, and more than 10 pictures of madrassas inside Lahore, makes one wonder whether he was a diplomat, or a mercenary on espionage and hunt mission? On the other hand, the way Pakistani government and the foreign office have shown an attitude of leniency in his case, it highlights the convergence of the interests of Pakistani rulers and Blackwater mercenaries.
Apart from the legal provisions and aspects that weather a person like Raymond could have diplomatic immunity, granting this facility to professional killers is a dangerous trend, simply because anybody from either the American embassy or any other embassy would earn a license to kill. Interestingly, Foreign Office has categorically stated that the person named Raymond Davis did not have a diplomatic Visa (29th Jan, 2011), and that they did not have his name in the diplomatic records. Interior Minister Mr. Abdul Rehman Malik has failed to prove that Raymond Davis had a diplomatic visa, when he was stressing that he was having a diplomatic passport. According to reports, Mr. Raymond was issued an ordinary visa and that he belonged to the consulate office at Lahore. Now, according to the Vienna convention 1963 (article 41:1), a counselor officer has ‘NO’ immunity once he commits a serious crime like the one committed by Raymond. Other reports indicate that the U S has itself put diplomats on trial in a court, who had committed serious crimes.
In Raymond’s case, question of self defense does not arise, because those killed have been shot in the back as per autopsy reports, and not a single bullet was fired from their side. How could the death of Mr. Ibbadur Rehman be justified, who was crushed and killed by the accomplices of Raymond? Was it also done in self defense? So why then the plea of self defense doesn’t work in the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who didn’t even kill anybody, but was sentenced to 86 years in prisons. Trying to kill the American soldiers, according to their reports. It was in self defense, when she was besieged by so many American mercenaries in Afghanistan. Now, even that was a fabricated story, and the prosecution failed to provide the court with even a single trace of forensic evidence i.e. no marks of bullets anywhere in the room, no finger prints and fake bullets. I wonder where are those foreign-funded NGOs, who were so much vocal on the killing of Governor Salman Taseer? Is the blood of an ordinary Pakistani so cheap that American mercenaries strolling in Pakistani streets can gun down anybody in the name of diplomatic immunity and self defense?
Veterans Today’s FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2011 issue states, it may be mentioned that Raymond Davis is an employee of a private security company ‘Hyperion Protective Consultants LLC’ based at 5100 North Lane, Orlando, Florida, 32808. This has been reported by NBC and confirmed by Hufington Post. A contractor employee is never been granted any diplomatic status but here the US is adamant to grant him one.”
It is clearly stated here that US law does not permit Diplomatic status to a person who is working for a private security company and the name of this company sounds like it is a is an undercover CIA organization. According to a senior journalist of a renowned Pakistani TV Channel host, Pakistani government has illegally issued visas to around 130 Americans and 86 Indians, from Dubai, to enter Pakistan without prior approval from the concerned authorities. Now if legal requirements have not been be fulfilled due to mysterious reasons, something consistent with the normal diplomatic proceedings, and their fore, hundreds of CIA /RAW agents have been given visas to unleash intelligence war against Pakistan. According to an American diplomat, “it looks lawful when we see that a country like Pakistan has waged war against itself.”
The position of the Pakistani government is self explanatory, when the Interior Minister him self stressed that Raymond Davis was carrying a diplomatic passport, creating an illusion whereby diplomatic status and visa issue has been confused with diplomatic passport. Punjab police has also played a dirty role, nominating the assassinated as dacoits, in a bid to weaken the case against the murderer. Punjab government even excelled the central government in pleasing Americans by detaching the Advocate General Mr. Rana Bakhtyiar from Raymond’s case. His only fault was that he affronted the masters by condemning the barbaric act in the guise of diplomacy. Now according to FOX NEWS, quoting Pakistani embassy in New York”, Raymond will soon be released from the clutches of the Pakistani courts of law”. It is quite obvious that a weak case is being prepared against the assassin through crafting a vague investigation report coupled with a half hearted pursuance of the case.
The value of the precious Pakistani lives in the eyes of its rulers is quite understandable when hundreds of drone attacks have taken the lives of thousands of innocent Pakistani civilians. Much more pinching is the statement made by a top Pakistani ruler who told Americans that “collateral damage could be a matter of concern for them, but not for him”. This is the listless and apathetic mentality of the governing class.
The biggest proof of Raymond Davis being an undercover CIA operative is that his original name is nowhere found in the diplomatic papers, and his passport harbors a different name for him.
Some part of Pakistan’s electronic and print media proved once again that it’s a sellable merchandise, when it played its role to weaken the case against Raymond. Soon after the incident, a prominent private channel highlighted that Raymond fired “in defense” and that the assassinated were robbers with pistols in their hands (police’s role cannot be ruled out). It was also emphasized that that those killed were shot from front (against the reality), while the actual autopsy has showed that they were shot from the back. That’s how Pakistani media has been infiltrated by the hostile foreign agencies.
The case of Raymond Davis is only a tip of the iceberg, and it exposes the dreadful reality that how agencies like CIA have permeated deep within every strata of the Pakistani society .Unless they are fully rooted out, Pakistan will never be freed from the ghastly claws of terror campaign deployed against its integrity and unfolded under the code name “war on terror”.
|