It won't be a question of civil liberties (btw what you are saying pertains to civil liberties, not civil rights...a very important distinction in the US...just being pedantic), because prisoners are usually subject to that before being taken into prisons. The quetion here is whether she should have been arrested by the marshalls at all, given that she had partial immunity, and therefore it should have been done through diplomatic channels, and not in the regular police system. The consul general should have been informed, she should not have been housed in a state penitentiary, many regular procedures for normal arrests should have been waived and so on.
Devyani Khobragade gets full diplomatic immunity after transfer
- Thread starter janon
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It won't be a question of civil liberties (btw what you are saying pertains to civil liberties, not civil rights...a very important distinction in the US...just being pedantic), because prisoners are usually subject to that before being taken into prisons. The quetion here is whether she should have been arrested by the marshalls at all, given that she had partial immunity, and therefore it should have been done through diplomatic channels, and not in the regular police system. The consul general should have been informed, she should not have been housed in a state penitentiary, many regular procedures for normal arrests should have been waived and so on.
Airboss786
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Just nitpicking, but its either 2 cents or $0.02, pick one!
Well bud, you said it & I didn't! I'm pretty sure you 'sure as heck' don't know for sure why she was 'probed'!
But just curious 'do you think it was 'narcotics', since you so claim to 'SPECULATE', in reference to her getting 'Lawfully Probed'!!!!
LOL. Slave practice because she wasn't paying her maid more than the president of India? BTW, then that consul herelf is a slave, because her own salary is not as high as the maid's was expected to be. The consular officer cannot pay american wages to her maid, when she herself gets Indian wages from the govt of India. And not getting american wages does not make her a slave. In fact she was more than well off by middle class Indian standards, not to mention bangladeshi.
She did not work at an embassy. So you are back with your uninformed drivel.
Since you confirm she not work for an embassy that mean she either or nor dutifly as in an ambassador or secretary of the consulate general, therefore US not legally bind to the Vienna Convention.
Make up your mind before you post.
I was being sarcastic in that post. I sure as heck don't know why she was probed; you said you were sure they must have had good reason.
The only reason they probe the cavities of prisoners is to make sure that they don't transport meth or cocaine - which by the way, is a widespread practice.
I really don't know why I am bothering to repeat this. She did not work at an embassy, she worked at a consulate. In fact she was the deputy consular general. Consuls are also protected by vienna conventions.
But a consulate is not sovereign territory, and law enforcement personnel can enter it, unlike an embassy. I repeat - all this has been repeated ad nauseum. I know you want to earn your 50 cents like yesterday, but come on.
Airboss786
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So what's your point here, bud?!
Now you make an assumption that my post will earn me a 50 cent, this is a uninformed drivel that you mention above post.
Have they changed your pay scale? I don't pretend to be fully informed about how much they pay the 50 cent brigade, but I know that there is a 50 cent army in China. I can't see any other reason for you posting the same drivel over and over and over and over.
My point is that I cannot understand why they had to perform a cavity search on her. I can't even think of a conceivable reason, but you said you were sure they must have had reasons; so I'm wondering what that could be, even hypothetically.
Airboss786
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Bud like I said you will eventually get it.....Keep the Application at least 'twice' a day!
Good Luck!
Solomon2
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I discussed this already. Domestic help under A-3 visas are given pamphlets describing their employment rights under U.S. law, including protections from abuse, deportation, etc.
Solomon2
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Although her government can transfer her post, the granting of full immunity is not automatic. Embassies submit lists to the State Dept. requesting immunity. Without this "diplomatic note" there is no immunity. Once the State Dept. has the note, it may object to granting immunity to particular persons. This sometimes results in expulsion. Expulsion can abort prospective prosecutions, so this may be the route for Khobragade to go; I'm really not sure.
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Something will happen or retaliation will continue. American diplomats in Indian jails is not a funny thought.
John Kerry calls Shivshankar Menon to express regret about Devyani's treatment; defends US laws - The Times of India
WASHINGTON: The United States moved quickly on Wednesday to defuse the tangled diplomatic spat with India by having secretary of state John Kerry telephone India's national security adviser Shivshankar Menon to express regret about the incident in which diplomat Devyani Khobragade was treated harshly by US law enforcement authorities.
"As a father of two daughters about the same age as Devyani Khobragade, the secretary empathizes with the sensitivities we are hearing from India about the events that unfolded after Ms Khobragade's arrest," state department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a written statement, adding, "In his conversation with Menon, he expressed his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India," Harf added.
However, the US administration made it clear that it stands by the reasons behind the arrest, and the regrets expressed was only in relation to the treatment. "The secretary understands very deeply the importance of enforcing our laws and protecting victims, and, like all officials in positions of responsibility inside the US. government, expects that laws will be followed by everyone here in our country. It is also particularly important to secretary Kerry that foreign diplomats serving in the United States are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas, " the statement said.
Meanwhile, the beleaguered Indian foreign service official was transferred on Wednesday to India's UN mission in New York to allow her full diplomatic immunity as both New Delhi and Washington moved to cover legal bases and arrive at a creative solution in a full-blown spat that has become increasingly messy and complicated.
The move is aimed at giving the mid-level official, who was attached to the Indian consulate in New York and enjoyed limited immunity therein, complete protection from prosecution. However, for that to happen, Khobragade will have to be issued new credentials by the United Nations, a process where the US state department has a nominal role.
If Washington is bloody-minded and insistent on prosecuting Khobragade for her alleged infractions, it could put a spanner in the works. However, New Delhi is hoping that this "creative opening" that has been conceived to protect the diplomat will be honored by Washington so that she is spared further travails in an incident arising from episodic and spotty US implementation of its laws and India's dodgy acceptance of it.
Earlier, Indian anger mounted on Wednesday when it transpired that Washington literally sprang the husband and two children of the housekeeper Sangeeta Richard from New Delhi by giving them expedited visas to travel to the US two days before the state department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the justice department acted in concert to swoop down and arrest Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges.
Reports from Delhi also spoke of Sangeeta's in-laws working for the American embassy in New Delhi, which would suggest that contacts within the US diplomatic community would have come into play in her battle against the Indian diplomat.
In what some Indian officials view as a tight, narrow, and mean-spirited interpretation of US minimum wage laws and consular immunity, the diplomat was subjected to indignities such as cavity searches that are sanctioned by US courts and meant primarily for drug smugglers and common criminals, after being slapped with charges of visa fraud and misrepresentation.
What role the US embassy in Delhi played in protecting a family member of its Indian staff, and whether it consequently resulted in harsh treatment of the Indian diplomat is something that might emerge in the coming days.
The state department has promised to investigate how and why such methods were used on a diplomat who was so obviously not in that category. But the US marshals service, which subjected the diplomat to the treatment, stood its ground, suggesting that insofar as it was concerned, once the state department's Diplomatic Security Service signed off on the arrestee as having no immunity, "standard procedure" kicked in.
In other words, it is not to be blamed for the fiasco; it was just doing its job by the book.
The question now arises as to why role did the state department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security — which also takes care of US security interests at its missions in India — play in initiating this extreme step, who signed off on it, and why there was no effort to defuse the situation in Washington DC.
As reported on Tuesday, US officials told ToI that the state department alerted the Indian embassy in writing in September to the imminent action against the diplomat on the basis of the housekeeper's complaint. However, Indian officials countered that it was part of an ongoing correspondence on resolving the matter in which the legal systems of both countries had kicked in.
Both sides are now reviewing the timeline and sequence of events to determine where the screw-up occurred and how to get around it.
WASHINGTON: The United States moved quickly on Wednesday to defuse the tangled diplomatic spat with India by having secretary of state John Kerry telephone India's national security adviser Shivshankar Menon to express regret about the incident in which diplomat Devyani Khobragade was treated harshly by US law enforcement authorities.
"As a father of two daughters about the same age as Devyani Khobragade, the secretary empathizes with the sensitivities we are hearing from India about the events that unfolded after Ms Khobragade's arrest," state department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a written statement, adding, "In his conversation with Menon, he expressed his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India," Harf added.
However, the US administration made it clear that it stands by the reasons behind the arrest, and the regrets expressed was only in relation to the treatment. "The secretary understands very deeply the importance of enforcing our laws and protecting victims, and, like all officials in positions of responsibility inside the US. government, expects that laws will be followed by everyone here in our country. It is also particularly important to secretary Kerry that foreign diplomats serving in the United States are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas, " the statement said.
Meanwhile, the beleaguered Indian foreign service official was transferred on Wednesday to India's UN mission in New York to allow her full diplomatic immunity as both New Delhi and Washington moved to cover legal bases and arrive at a creative solution in a full-blown spat that has become increasingly messy and complicated.
The move is aimed at giving the mid-level official, who was attached to the Indian consulate in New York and enjoyed limited immunity therein, complete protection from prosecution. However, for that to happen, Khobragade will have to be issued new credentials by the United Nations, a process where the US state department has a nominal role.
If Washington is bloody-minded and insistent on prosecuting Khobragade for her alleged infractions, it could put a spanner in the works. However, New Delhi is hoping that this "creative opening" that has been conceived to protect the diplomat will be honored by Washington so that she is spared further travails in an incident arising from episodic and spotty US implementation of its laws and India's dodgy acceptance of it.
Earlier, Indian anger mounted on Wednesday when it transpired that Washington literally sprang the husband and two children of the housekeeper Sangeeta Richard from New Delhi by giving them expedited visas to travel to the US two days before the state department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the justice department acted in concert to swoop down and arrest Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges.
Reports from Delhi also spoke of Sangeeta's in-laws working for the American embassy in New Delhi, which would suggest that contacts within the US diplomatic community would have come into play in her battle against the Indian diplomat.
In what some Indian officials view as a tight, narrow, and mean-spirited interpretation of US minimum wage laws and consular immunity, the diplomat was subjected to indignities such as cavity searches that are sanctioned by US courts and meant primarily for drug smugglers and common criminals, after being slapped with charges of visa fraud and misrepresentation.
What role the US embassy in Delhi played in protecting a family member of its Indian staff, and whether it consequently resulted in harsh treatment of the Indian diplomat is something that might emerge in the coming days.
The state department has promised to investigate how and why such methods were used on a diplomat who was so obviously not in that category. But the US marshals service, which subjected the diplomat to the treatment, stood its ground, suggesting that insofar as it was concerned, once the state department's Diplomatic Security Service signed off on the arrestee as having no immunity, "standard procedure" kicked in.
In other words, it is not to be blamed for the fiasco; it was just doing its job by the book.
The question now arises as to why role did the state department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security — which also takes care of US security interests at its missions in India — play in initiating this extreme step, who signed off on it, and why there was no effort to defuse the situation in Washington DC.
As reported on Tuesday, US officials told ToI that the state department alerted the Indian embassy in writing in September to the imminent action against the diplomat on the basis of the housekeeper's complaint. However, Indian officials countered that it was part of an ongoing correspondence on resolving the matter in which the legal systems of both countries had kicked in.
Both sides are now reviewing the timeline and sequence of events to determine where the screw-up occurred and how to get around it.
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