An individual, irrespective of his status, should be accountable to the law of the land
ISLAMABAD: On April 7th, a US national believed to be a diplomat from the same country hit two bikers with his car that resulted in the death of one of the bikers. This is the third such incident involving a US diplomat in the past eight years. The alleged diplomat temporarily kept in custody by the on-duty police officials was later released on the basis of diplomatic immunity the incumbents are entitled to, in spite of the fact that the local police did not collect evidence to ensure that the US national held in custody was actually a diplomat.
Moreover, as a follow-up formality the Foreign Office summoned the US ambassador to Pakistan and registered a protest over the incident, while assuring the family of the deceased of unbiased investigation into the incident. However, looking at the past instances of such incidents, not much should be expected out of the investigations as the families of the victims might get pressured into settling the matter out of court.
Incidents like these will continue to happen till foreign nationals are provided a cover against legal actions on the basis of diplomatic immunity. Perhaps it is time that world bodies across the globe along with superpowers rethought the clause of diplomatic immunity. An individual, irrespective of his status, should be accountable to the law of the land, especially when found guilty of a criminal offence.
Samra Hashim
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2018.
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