India summons US ambassador, protests arrest of diplomat being handcuffed in public

[ffi]

Let's see if I get this straight this lady paid her employee less than minimum wage? But if you think your boss pays you to little, you quit and find another job, that's not something the government should get involved in

[vkarthik]

politRics

[Turk]

From the point of International Law it is irrelevant whether she is guilty or not, and yes she is guilty, this is not the centre of the dispute, why you are fixed at it. It is about how to charge a diplomat in duty.
Now, India takes the case to UN, there is no doubt that India will succeed on this case.
Again, this an international law dispute that powerful party dominates over the weaker party. This is the most common type of justification of the powerful over aggrieved party.

There is no argument about her breach. Dispute is the treatment, strip-search, cavity (vagina, rectum) search, handcuffing a diplomat in public, I am sorry but even if she was a drug dealer or terrorist w/o being actively found in an operation, still can not be handcuffed, stript, cavity search.

BTW, the same US never ever can do the same treatment to any Russian or Chinese diplomat. This is called "political bullying", just like forum bullying seen from time to time on forums e.g. Veterans trash newcomers. :)

As said several times, this is most common seen form of international diplomatic law dispute: Dominant party abuses its power over the weaker one. That's it.
I love all Americans and Indians and have many American and Indian lovely friends :)
They all are good friends. Even they condemn the US. Handcuffing in public is just a showdown humiliation, unless being a murder or armed firing terrorist this can not be done under any condition.

You are arguing and backing up one party sentimentally without paying attention to "international law".
latest update:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-19/an-indian-diplomat-moved-to-un-headquarters/5166298
Edit: Deleted jokes!
Update: U.N. approves India's request to accredit diplomat charged by U.S.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/23/us-india-usa-un-idUSBRE9BM0P320131223

Edited December 23, 2013 by Turk

[truemate]

It's not yet proved that she did that crime and clearly you dont know all the story behind this shitty move from US so u dont knw what you are talking about. We will gv them a strong reply. This wont be accepted.

so it is ok to break laws and do as you please just because you are a diplomat....or is it for any other reason??? sh has admitted to these crimes and has said she should be allowed to do these crimes because she does not get paid enough.....you should be more upset that one of your diplomats has done such things...you clearly are not wanting to look this objectively and all because you want to hate the usa

wat like a parrot repeating same poor defence statement again and again.

which law you talking abt ? ..

what urs stand against the laws broken by US diplomat in other country ? --> http://www.nsaneforums.com/topic/198454-india-summons-us-ambassador-protests-arrest-of-diplomat-being-handcuffed-in-public/?do=findComment&comment=705285

and again quote'ng my share...i think you miss it...

This situation is a conspiracy, says External affairs minister

External affair minister Khurshid has said that the entire situation is a conspiracy, and that there is a long history to the incident.

He says that the domestic maid at the centre of the entire controversy went 'missing' and the entire incident was part of a conspiracy that would allow her to immigrate to the US.

He says that India had already registered an FIR against the domestic help as she wanted to illegally immigrate to the US. He also said that the husband filed complaint with the The New York City Police Department (NYPD) of theft of cash, phone, documents against the domestic help earlier, but she had gone 'missing'.

"India had written to NYPD to arrest domestic help so that she can be tried here, but no action was taken", he said, adding that it was in the midst of all this, that the arrest of Devyani was carried out.

Khurshid is also detailing the measures that India is taking against the US in protest at its behaviour in this matter.

This includes directives for US to return diplomatic ID cards and stop diplomatic import clearances. "I don't think that such actions have ever been carried out before", he said to anger from the house, who were falling over each other to tell him that this was also the first time that such an outrageous incident had taken place.

AND BEFORE SAYING/THINKING MORE......first get the facts correct

Before you decide to blame the reaction of Indians/Indian Government, do consider -

1) The allegation is yet to be proved

2) The maid 'disappeared' sometime in June in US (along with her visa, passport,, id & documents) and despite repeated requests from the Indian Government to the US embassy, no actions were taken to trace her ? why ?

3) FIR/complain is been registered against the maid (just when her disappearance act from US) her attempts to blackmail Devyani Khobragade, the revocation of her passport and an arrest warrant being issued against the maid by the Delhi high court. ..The police went to her home ..they found its locked and no one knows where the whole family (husband/children) disappeared..they only come to know abt them just few days back that they are in US and register a complain against devyani.... How come the SO CALLED SMART ASS US diplomat Granted visa to this family ? Even though police searching them ?

US visa embassy is strict every one knows..then how come they became a banana embassy in front of this maid and her family and granted them visa !!! STRANGE

3) The maid's family arrived in NYC two days before the diplomat's arrest which makes the case a little more murky

4) There are other ways of handling cases like these without having to sour the relationship between two allies. A summon and may be deportation if found guilty would have sufficed. Instead, this charade has caused a lot of trouble and what exactly were they searching for in her 'cavity'? visa documents?

5) Consider the cost of these things in Manhattan - Apartment, transportation, daily grocery expenses - all that she had for free plus free air tickets to India. I am not trying to justify the alleged low wage but trying to explain to you the perks and how much they add up in real money

In the end, the whole thing could have been handled in a dignified manner and if found guilty, she could have been tried/deported..... But she is not guilty

its all looks like a cook conspiracy between that thug maid (who disappear suddenly after reaching US) and between some US Officials !

-

India believes that the US not only acted in bad faith, but thumbed its nose at its “strategic partner” to conspire in Khobragade’s arrest and her being treated like a hardened criminal by making her undergo strip search and cavity search.

Edited December 19, 2013 by truemate

[youarefinished]

all because you want to hate the usa

Lol, I don't hate US just because. It's not that important for me to hate it, it's just like any other country. My main concern is about its hypocrisy. US embassy pays a lot less here to Indian workers in India then you expect to get them paid in US. For that matter they should arrest their embassy people in India too. First she didn't say she committed this crime and second even if she did, that's not a way to deal with a LADY who is also happens to be a diplomat. I would hate every country who does this, even if that's my own country.

[truemate]

hate usa lolz.. now thats the poorest defend at last which i was sure that it will come.... better face the truth/facts instead of making silly comment dude.

Edited December 19, 2013 by truemate

[truemate]

news update-------

US Climbs Down After India Alleges Frame-Up Kerry calls up NSA, expresses regret

US Secretary of State John Kerry

Washington/New Delhi:The US finally moved late on Wednesday to defuse the diplomatic spat with India, with secretary of state John Kerry telephoning India’s National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to express regret about the manner in which Indian foreign service official Devyani Khobragade was treated by US law enforcement authorities.

Barely 24 hours after defending the arrest as “standard procedure” while not displaying even a hint of regret, state department spokeswoman Marie Harf issued a statement, saying, “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.”
“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 stood by the reasons behind the arrest, and regretted only 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 US are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas, “ the statement said.
The climb-down from the US came after India escalated its confrontation with it by virtually accusing Washington of conspiring to facilitate the illegal immigration of Khobragade’s maid Sangeeta Richards and her family, comprising her husband and two children, to America.

Envoy moved to UN mission to stop possible indictment
New Delhi/Washington: US secretary of state John Kerry telephoned India’s National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon late on Wednesday night after US under-secretary of state for political affairs Wendy Sherman had phoned foreign secretary Sujatha Singh and spoken to her for about half-an hour. The calls came after New Delhi divulged on Wednesday that the maid’s family flew out on an Air India flight on December 10, two days before Khobragade was arrested in New York. This was despite India informing the US state department about the disappearance of the maid in June, her attempts to blackmail Khobragade, the revocation of Richards’ passport and an arrest warrant being issued against the maid by the Delhi high court.

India believes that the US not only acted in bad faith, but thumbed its nose at its “strategic partner” to conspire in Khobragade’s arrest and her being treated like a hardened criminal by making her undergo strip search and cavity search. PM Manmohan Singh, who is said to have a special relationship with the Americans, on Wednesday called the US action “deplorable”, while foreign minister Salman Khurshid told Parliament that India suspected a conspiracy against the Indian diplomat by American authorities. Meanwhile, in a “creative opening”, India moved Khobragade out from the consulate in New York to its permanent mission at the UN on Wednesday. This way, she will get full diplomatic immunity from prosecution as she will be accredited to the UN.

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 UN. If Washington insists on prosecuting Khobragade for her alleged infractions, it could put a spanner in the works. That’s because Khobragade has to apply to the US state department for a new immunity designation and give up her current card. The department may say she can get the new diplomatic status only after the case is resolved.

But 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. The window to de-escalate the situation is narrowing because the indictment against Khobragade is scheduled for January. India’s fundamental beef with the US is the humiliating manner in which the diplomat was treated. Citing Articles 40-42 of the Vienna Convention, MEA is holding the US to the rule book.

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. The US state department has promised to investigate how and why such methods were used on a diplomat who was so obviously not in that category.

The question now arises as to why did the Bureau of Diplomatic Security take this extreme step, who signed off on it, and why there was no effort to defuse the situation. The Indian government, though, is standing solidly behind Khobragade. “She is innocent... It is not the illegality that she (Khobragade) is accused of, but the illegality she refused to oblige,” Khurshid said. Going into details, he said that Khobragade “received a phone call from a lawyer who refused to identify himself and offered to settle the matter that would result in grant of permanent citizenship to her (the maid) and a huge compensation. It became clear that this was a conspiracy and some people were trapping her.” He added the humiliation meted out to Khobragade had “not happened out of the blue” and there is a “history” behind it.
While not confirmed, it is believed the Richards family(maid) has been sent to US on a visa category reserved for victims of human trafficking, provided they assist the US authorities in the case. In other words, the ground was carefully created to arrest Khobragade. And the US didn’t believe its strategic partner but an absconding maid — something that’s being regarded here as an act of hostility.

EMERGENCY EXIT
India moves Devyani from consulate to its permanent mission at the UN
Accreditation to UN will give her full diplomatic immunity, but Devyani has to apply to US state dept for new immunity designation
US may say she can get the new diplomatic status only after the case is resolved, but India hoping its plan would be honoured by Washington

She has immunity from prosecution: Lawyer

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade is protected from prosecution by virtue of her diplomatic status and her ill-treatment is an embarrassing failure of US international protocol, her attorney Daniel N Arshack said on Wednesday. He expressed hope that the matter will be promptly resolved with “diplomats with authority at the highest levels of the Indian and US governments” as the matter was “not in the mutual interests of our countries”.

After marshals’ goof-up, a cover-up?

Search On Diplomat May Even Be Illegal

.

NEW DELHI: The United States marshal service (USMS) may have flouted its own policy by subjecting Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade to intrusive strip and cavity searches, an examination of its rules show, lending weight to India's accusations that its actions were disproportionate and probably even illegal.

USMS directives, reviewed by ET, stipulate that such searches can be done only if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person arrested is carrying contraband or weapons, is a repeat offender or is considered a security, escape or suicide risk.

Khobragade, in an email to her colleagues that found its way to the media on Wednesday, said she had been subjected to stripping, cavity searches, DNA swabbing and handcuffing while in custody. This was despite the fact that she or her alleged offence does not fit in with the profile of people or crimes that could be subjected to such intrusive examination.

USMS spokesperson Nikki Credic-Barrett confirmed that Khobragade was subjected to a "strip search", but claimed that this was as per standard procedures.

USMS directives in place since 2010 clearly lay down four kinds of searches: pat-down search, in-custody search, strip search and digital cavity search — the last two used only in specific circumstances.

According to these directives, a strip search is a "complete search" of the prisoner's attire and a "visual inspection" of the prisoner's naked body, including body cavities, and stipulates certain procedures for it. USMS defines a cavity search as involving intrusion into a body cavity (mouth, ears, nostrils, rectum or vagina) by an officer using his hands or a medical device.

"Strip searches on prisoners in custody are authorized when there is reasonable suspicion that the prisoner may be carrying contraband and/or weapons, or considered to be a security, escape and/or suicide risk," the USMS directives clearly state.

Subjecting Khobragade to such searches, besides being disproportionate, was clearly in violation of the USMS' own rules, experts in India said.

Former cabinet secretary and India's ambassador to the US from 1996 to 2001, Naresh Chandra, said the US had clearly violated its own law and accused the US marshall service and state department of lying.

"The latter knows that what the US Marshals did was excessive and is just covering up a bad case by defending this matter in typical US bureaucratic style. They adopted a measure of a strip and cavity search that is not provided in their own law in this case," Chandra told EconomicTimes.

"If her lawyer brings this to the notice of US courts, they will take a serious view. We should not let the US off the hook on this one," he added.

The USMS directives define "reasonable suspicion" as "articulable facts" that reasonably lead to suspicion that a particular person is concealing a weapon, contraband, or evidence of a crime "on or within the body". The directives also say that such reasonable suspicion may be based on one or more of six laid down criteria.

These include: "A serious nature of offence charges like crime of violence or drugs, prisoner's appearance or demeanor, circumstances surrounding the arrest or detention, prisoner's criminal history, type and security of the institution where the prisoner is detained or history of discovery of contraband/or weapons on the prisoner individually or in the institution in which prisoners are detained".

Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, who has served as deputy chief of mission in the US, said that it was clear that Khobragade's profile did not in any way fall in the category for a strip search. "US booked her for a visa fraud case. She is not a felon or a drug addict or hiding weapons or one with criminal history. There was no reason to believe that a senior Indian diplomat may escape from custody or commit suicide either. The US has subjected her to the worst possible treatment under their law which I would term as an arbitrary exercise of power," Sibal said.

An e-mail sent by ET to the USMS requesting clarifications on the said deviations from their policy remained unanswered at the time of going to press.

Former home secretary GK Pillai said the US was probably trying to send a message through its "excessive and arbitrary" treatment of Khobragade. "I suspect a method to their madness. The US wanted to send a message through the way they humiliated the Indian woman diplomat," he said, echoing a line taken by Uttam Khobragade, the diplomat's father.

"Devyani has been made a target, a scapegoat. It is the outcome of tussle going on between India's ministry of external affairs and the US state department for the last two years," he had said on Tuesday after a meet-ing with foreign minister Salman Khurshid.

Activists burn posters of U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. flags during a demonstration to protest against the alleged mistreatment of New York-based Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, in Bhopal, India, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013

Edited December 19, 2013 by truemate

[truemate]

US actions against Devyani unwarranted, excessive ..US flouted Vienna Convention, says IFS Association
New Delhi: The IFS Association, which has strongly backed Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, voiced in a resolution its “strongest condemnation and outrage” at her shameful treatment by American authorities. The association said it was firmly of the opinion that the US authorities’ conduct was violative of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963. The association said that it was not Khobragade but India that was humiliated.

"Clearly, such action is unwarranted, excessive and exceptionable, and not in keeping with or conducive to the development of India's friendly, wide ranging and cooperative relations with the United States based on mutual respect," it said.

"The Association expresses its fullest solidarity with Khobragade at this trying and exigent moment. The association also welcomes the statements made by the Indian political leadership, Ministries and State Governments, Media and public opinion expressing solidarity and support. The humiliation was not just Khobragade's, but India's," it added

____________________________________

When India nabbed US spy, gave safe passage

Moron gov..they should not leave this US spy bitch...

NEW DELHI: The government has reacted with uncharacteristic fury to the ill-treatment of Devyani Khobragade by US authorities but in 2006, it had facilitated an American diplomat's safe passage from the country after she was caught in a snooping case that involved top officials of the National Security Council secretariat (NSCS) under the Prime Minister's Office.

The alleged American spy ring had penetrated the NSCS and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the country's external intelligence agency, and taken out classified files on a regular basis.

Rosanna Minchew, the then third secretary in the US embassy, was the key American agent who allegedly sourced vital information on RAW, Intelligence Bureau and Military Intelligence from the National Security Council, which is chaired by the Prime Minister.

Minchew chose to engage her contacts in far-off places like Mumbai and Kolkata to escape the prying eyes of Indian counterintelligence sleuths. In December 2005, an official of the NSCS, SS Paul, went to Kolkata to meet Minchew as "nobody could doubt them".

Minchew had introduced another American woman to her Indian friends, but neither Minchew nor any other American involved in the spy ring were apprehended. In fact, when the police chargesheet was filed, India ensured safe passage to Minchew who was sent back to the US.....MORON

After the racket was busted, Delhi Police arrested NSCS official Mukesh Saini, then head of the National Information Security Coordination Cell of the NSCS which collates intelligence and strategic assessment sent by the IB, RAW, ministry of external affairs, Defence Intelligence Agency and MI. Later, the police arrested Brigadier (retired) Ujjawal Dasgupta, then director in RAW, and S S Paul, the computer analyst at NSCS.

According to the chargesheet, Dasgupta and Saini had regular meetings with Minchew at several places in the Capital and its outskirts — at least 15 times in a month since September 2005. The involvement of Dasgupta and Saini with the American diplomat showed a systematic leak was allegedly organized at the highest level in the NSCS.

Paul had told investigators that he brought out "secret data" from the NSCS allegedly at the instructions of Dasgupta and Saini and that both were present in the meetings that he had with the American diplomat.

Investigations had revealed that Saini's appointment in the NSCS was under cloud as some adverse reports were available against him prior to his appointment. He had allegedly been meeting CIA agents without informing his seniors in the agency during his tenure in New York when he was posted there by RAW. He had also allegedly got his wife a job with a US company without informing the government.

For any appointment to the NSCS, the national security advisor has to give a clearance after a person is recommended from his parent organization.

US old player in game of tit-for-tat

Diplomatic tit-for-tat is as familiar a concept in international relations as diplomatic immunity. While diplomatic immunity is written into the Vienna Conventions that cover most modern diplomatic and consular practices, privileges extended to diplomats are often based on reciprocity between countries, though they often weigh heavily in favour of the richer countries of the Global North.

One of the best known spats was that between Brazil and the US. When in 2003, the US started photographing and fingerprinting those requiring visas to enter the US, a judge in Brazil ruled that US citizens coming to Brazil ought to be given the same treatment. Americans alone were often detained at airports in Brazil for hours to get fingerprinted and photographed.

Washington protested saying while the US did it to people from all over, Brazil was targeting only Americans. Brazil responded by pointing out that people from 27 countries were exempted from fingerprinting and photographing in the US and Brazil believed it ought to be on that list. The tit-for-tat fingerprinting was dropped quietly later. However, Brazilian visa charges remain the highest for Americans, commensurate with what the US charges Brazilians.

While there are fewer spats of these kinds between OECD countries which often form a cosy club of mutual visa exemptions and fewer security restrictions, it is often emerging economies like Brazil, India, China or South Africa which have reacted sharply.

The spats have been numerous and sharp between developing countries too. That is not to say that tit-for-tat diplomacy is not used by the developed world, especially against developing countries. The US in particular is well known for its tit-for-tat diplomacy.

In April 2011, the US ordered the expulsion of Ecuador's ambassador to Washington in a tit-for-tat move after the US envoy to Quito was told to leave over leaked diplomatic cables, part of the Wikileak cables. Russia banned Americans from adopting its orphans at the beginning of 2013. The move was said to be in retaliation for legislation before Congress to ban Russian officials accused of human rights abuses from travelling to the US.

According to the New York Times, in the 1980s, the US had forced Mexican diplomats to use only Mexican-made economy cars, not the big American limousines that most foreign diplomats in Washington used. This was in retaliation for US diplomats in Mexico being allowed to own and operate only automobiles manufactured in Mexico. When Mexico protested saying it was not reciprocity, the US countered that their aim in retaliating was to eliminate restrictions on their foreign missions.

In 2009, Britain revoked South Africa's visa-free status and in 2013 it was charging South Africans £80 for a visa. And South Africa threatened to charge visiting Britons a similar hefty visa fee, though it could ill-afford to discourage British tourists considering the fact that Britain is South Africa's largest overseas tourism market, with over 438,000 British visitors last year.

Edited December 19, 2013 by truemate

[dMog]

Let's see if I get this straight this lady paid her employee less than minimum wage? But if you think your boss pays you to little, you quit and find another job, that's not something the government should get involved in

Let's see if I get this straight this lady paid her employee less than minimum wage? But if you think your boss pays you to little, you quit and find another job, that's not something the government should get involved in

no...it is breaking the law...and it was not the only laws broken

[dMog]

visa fraud is ok by you whiners too.... again the bigger story here is you should be upset you have diplomat with the attitude this one has...namely that she feels she has privileges that go beyong the scope of moral descency and legal laws and should be allowed to do as she pleased no matter what laws she decides to break

[dMog]

news update-------

US Climbs Down After India Alleges Frame-Up Kerry calls up NSA, expresses regret

US Secretary of State John Kerry

Washington/New Delhi:The US finally moved late on Wednesday to defuse the diplomatic spat with India, with secretary of state John Kerry telephoning India’s National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to express regret about the manner in which Indian foreign service official Devyani Khobragade was treated by US law enforcement authorities.

Barely 24 hours after defending the arrest as “standard procedure” while not displaying even a hint of regret, state department spokeswoman Marie Harf issued a statement, saying, “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.”

“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 stood by the reasons behind the arrest, and regretted only 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 US are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas, “ the statement said.

The climb-down from the US came after India escalated its confrontation with it by virtually accusing Washington of conspiring to facilitate the illegal immigration of Khobragade’s maid Sangeeta Richards and her family, comprising her husband and two children, to America.

Envoy moved to UN mission to stop possible indictment

New Delhi/Washington: US secretary of state John Kerry telephoned India’s National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon late on Wednesday night after US under-secretary of state for political affairs Wendy Sherman had phoned foreign secretary Sujatha Singh and spoken to her for about half-an hour. The calls came after New Delhi divulged on Wednesday that the maid’s family flew out on an Air India flight on December 10, two days before Khobragade was arrested in New York. This was despite India informing the US state department about the disappearance of the maid in June, her attempts to blackmail Khobragade, the revocation of Richards’ passport and an arrest warrant being issued against the maid by the Delhi high court.

India believes that the US not only acted in bad faith, but thumbed its nose at its “strategic partner” to conspire in Khobragade’s arrest and her being treated like a hardened criminal by making her undergo strip search and cavity search. PM Manmohan Singh, who is said to have a special relationship with the Americans, on Wednesday called the US action “deplorable”, while foreign minister Salman Khurshid told Parliament that India suspected a conspiracy against the Indian diplomat by American authorities. Meanwhile, in a “creative opening”, India moved Khobragade out from the consulate in New York to its permanent mission at the UN on Wednesday. This way, she will get full diplomatic immunity from prosecution as she will be accredited to the UN.

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 UN. If Washington insists on prosecuting Khobragade for her alleged infractions, it could put a spanner in the works. That’s because Khobragade has to apply to the US state department for a new immunity designation and give up her current card. The department may say she can get the new diplomatic status only after the case is resolved.

But 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. The window to de-escalate the situation is narrowing because the indictment against Khobragade is scheduled for January. India’s fundamental beef with the US is the humiliating manner in which the diplomat was treated. Citing Articles 40-42 of the Vienna Convention, MEA is holding the US to the rule book.

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. The US state department has promised to investigate how and why such methods were used on a diplomat who was so obviously not in that category.

The question now arises as to why did the Bureau of Diplomatic Security take this extreme step, who signed off on it, and why there was no effort to defuse the situation. The Indian government, though, is standing solidly behind Khobragade. “She is innocent... It is not the illegality that she (Khobragade) is accused of, but the illegality she refused to oblige,” Khurshid said. Going into details, he said that Khobragade “received a phone call from a lawyer who refused to identify himself and offered to settle the matter that would result in grant of permanent citizenship to her (the maid) and a huge compensation. It became clear that this was a conspiracy and some people were trapping her.” He added the humiliation meted out to Khobragade had “not happened out of the blue” and there is a “history” behind it.

While not confirmed, it is believed the Richards family(maid) has been sent to US on a visa category reserved for victims of human trafficking, provided they assist the US authorities in the case. In other words, the ground was carefully created to arrest Khobragade. And the US didn’t believe its strategic partner but an absconding maid — something that’s being regarded here as an act of hostility.

EMERGENCY EXIT

India moves Devyani from consulate to its permanent mission at the UN

Accreditation to UN will give her full diplomatic immunity, but Devyani has to apply to US state dept for new immunity designation

US may say she can get the new diplomatic status only after the case is resolved, but India hoping its plan would be honoured by Washington

She has immunity from prosecution: Lawyer

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade is protected from prosecution by virtue of her diplomatic status and her ill-treatment is an embarrassing failure of US international protocol, her attorney Daniel N Arshack said on Wednesday. He expressed hope that the matter will be promptly resolved with “diplomats with authority at the highest levels of the Indian and US governments” as the matter was “not in the mutual interests of our countries”.

After marshals’ goof-up, a cover-up?

Search On Diplomat May Even Be Illegal

.

NEW DELHI: The United States marshal service (USMS) may have flouted its own policy by subjecting Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade to intrusive strip and cavity searches, an examination of its rules show, lending weight to India's accusations that its actions were disproportionate and probably even illegal.

USMS directives, reviewed by ET, stipulate that such searches can be done only if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person arrested is carrying contraband or weapons, is a repeat offender or is considered a security, escape or suicide risk.

Khobragade, in an email to her colleagues that found its way to the media on Wednesday, said she had been subjected to stripping, cavity searches, DNA swabbing and handcuffing while in custody. This was despite the fact that she or her alleged offence does not fit in with the profile of people or crimes that could be subjected to such intrusive examination.

USMS spokesperson Nikki Credic-Barrett confirmed that Khobragade was subjected to a "strip search", but claimed that this was as per standard procedures.

USMS directives in place since 2010 clearly lay down four kinds of searches: pat-down search, in-custody search, strip search and digital cavity search — the last two used only in specific circumstances.

According to these directives, a strip search is a "complete search" of the prisoner's attire and a "visual inspection" of the prisoner's naked body, including body cavities, and stipulates certain procedures for it. USMS defines a cavity search as involving intrusion into a body cavity (mouth, ears, nostrils, rectum or vagina) by an officer using his hands or a medical device.

"Strip searches on prisoners in custody are authorized when there is reasonable suspicion that the prisoner may be carrying contraband and/or weapons, or considered to be a security, escape and/or suicide risk," the USMS directives clearly state.

Subjecting Khobragade to such searches, besides being disproportionate, was clearly in violation of the USMS' own rules, experts in India said.

Former cabinet secretary and India's ambassador to the US from 1996 to 2001, Naresh Chandra, said the US had clearly violated its own law and accused the US marshall service and state department of lying.

"The latter knows that what the US Marshals did was excessive and is just covering up a bad case by defending this matter in typical US bureaucratic style. They adopted a measure of a strip and cavity search that is not provided in their own law in this case," Chandra told EconomicTimes.

"If her lawyer brings this to the notice of US courts, they will take a serious view. We should not let the US off the hook on this one," he added.

The USMS directives define "reasonable suspicion" as "articulable facts" that reasonably lead to suspicion that a particular person is concealing a weapon, contraband, or evidence of a crime "on or within the body". The directives also say that such reasonable suspicion may be based on one or more of six laid down criteria.

These include: "A serious nature of offence charges like crime of violence or drugs, prisoner's appearance or demeanor, circumstances surrounding the arrest or detention, prisoner's criminal history, type and security of the institution where the prisoner is detained or history of discovery of contraband/or weapons on the prisoner individually or in the institution in which prisoners are detained".

Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, who has served as deputy chief of mission in the US, said that it was clear that Khobragade's profile did not in any way fall in the category for a strip search. "US booked her for a visa fraud case. She is not a felon or a drug addict or hiding weapons or one with criminal history. There was no reason to believe that a senior Indian diplomat may escape from custody or commit suicide either. The US has subjected her to the worst possible treatment under their law which I would term as an arbitrary exercise of power," Sibal said.

An e-mail sent by ET to the USMS requesting clarifications on the said deviations from their policy remained unanswered at the time of going to press.

Former home secretary GK Pillai said the US was probably trying to send a message through its "excessive and arbitrary" treatment of Khobragade. "I suspect a method to their madness. The US wanted to send a message through the way they humiliated the Indian woman diplomat," he said, echoing a line taken by Uttam Khobragade, the diplomat's father.

"Devyani has been made a target, a scapegoat. It is the outcome of tussle going on between India's ministry of external affairs and the US state department for the last two years," he had said on Tuesday after a meet-ing with foreign minister Salman Khurshid.

Activists burn posters of U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. flags during a demonstration to protest against the alleged mistreatment of New York-based Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, in Bhopal, India, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013

so...thias has absolutely no bearing on the fact that she actually broke the law...really...go figure...that makes us all feel so much better......she freaking admitted to doing this so why should she not ...have consequence and by the way...credit card fraud is not a gee sorry i try to do better in the future issue...not to mention that underpaying a nanny is no misdemeanor crime either

[youarefinished]

Lol, whiners. You really need to cool down dude, no shame accepting that ur country made a shitty move. Whatever argument you use, you can't change that fact.

[dMog]

Lol, whiners. You really need to cool down dude, no shame accepting that ur country made a shitty move. Whatever argument you use, you can't change that fact.

i live in Canada not the usa.......and this diplomat ...any way you look at it broke the law and needs some consequence... even it is ends up being a public shaming as this will most likely turn into...why do you think she is allowed to have no morals and break laws just because she is a diplomat...and again this is not breaking a a jay walking law or running a stop sign///and really her excuse that she does not get paid enough to pay her nanny properly is ok with you...what is your excuse for allowing the fraud charges to be over looked... even if it is shitty move by the USA she still broke the laws and that is being totally over looked by yourself and others who say she does not deserve this...if the charges were totally fabricated i would see your point...but most certainly they are not as she has attempted to defend why she did it..she never denied it she only his behind diplomatic immunity...and yes that isa good law but when a diplomat...any diplomat knowingly breaks and flies in the face the law there are cases where that can be and will take to task ...this is one of them and agree o not she did something wrong

[youarefinished]

There is no point arguing with you. She has never said that she committed that crime, there is a completely different story going on here behind this. US will have to step back on this coz they did wrong and they won't get a soft response on this from us. Now on your point, I would again say even if she did, cavity search and strip search was the shitty move from US and I do condemn them for this. They really did a stupid move and they will get a strong reply from us.

[flitox]

you do the crime you get treated like any other criminal once arrested...get over it... you cannot allow contraband to enter a jail no matter who brings it in... i have a close family member that works for the prison system in Canada and you would be amazed at what people try to conceal in body cavities....once again being diplomat gets you certain privileges that the common person does not get...but once arrested that all goes by the way side and rightly so and for very good reasons.... bottom line is several laws were broken here by a diplomat and she is guilty as hell too;;; and she is all indignant because, in her words she is a diplomat and should be allowed to break those laws according to her ans do so with impunity...not her government by the way with this attitude..this will all blow over soon and she will most likely not serve a single day in jail

funny you dare to compare someone being already convincted and trying to get hold of things he is not supposed to own in a prison and someone that was free, not suspecting she has commited a crime and coming back from driving her kids school. thats dumb logic IMO

she for sure had nothing to hide up her butt/vag.

but maybe the american were still searching for saddam weapons of mass destruction??? or suspecting she had some snowden documents hidden there??

[SlimRock]

U.S. prosecutor defends treatment of Indian diplomat!

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. attorney in Manhattan defended on Wednesday the treatment of an Indian diplomat who was strip-searched after her arrest last week on charges of underpaying her nanny, a case that has strained U.S.-Indian relations.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, in an unusually lengthy written statement in a pending case, said he wanted to clear up the "misinformation" surrounding the arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade, and he questioned why there was more sympathy for Khobragade than her alleged victim.

"Ms. Khobragade was accorded courtesies well beyond what other defendants, most of whom are American citizens, are accorded," Bharara said, adding that his sole motivation was to "hold accountable anyone who breaks the law - no matter what their societal status and no matter how powerful, rich or connected they are."

He acknowledged that Khobragade had been "fully searched" by a female deputy marshal after her arrest. "This is standard practice for every defendant, rich or poor, American or not," said Bharara, who was born in India, raised in New Jersey and has built a reputation as "The Sheriff of Wall Street" for his prosecution of insider trading cases.

India has been furious about what it considers the degrading treatment of a senior diplomat by the United States, a country it sees as a close friend, and retaliated on Tuesday by removing security barriers at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. The barriers would offer some protection against a suicide bomb attack.

Bharara's statement came after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the case with Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon. Kerry called to express regret about the case and his concern it not hurt the two countries' relationship, the State Department said on Wednesday.

"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.

Khobragade was released on $250,000 bail after giving up her passport and pleading not guilty to charges of visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid the housekeeper, an Indian national. She faces a maximum of 15 years in jail if convicted of both counts.

The U.S. Justice Department confirmed that Khobragade was strip-searched after her arrest. A senior Indian government source has also said the interrogation included a cavity search.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service, Nikki Credic-Barrett, said Khobragade did not undergo a cavity search but did go through a strip search. Under the agency's regulations governing prisoner searches, a strip search can include a "visual inspection" of body cavities, including the nose, mouth, genitals and anus, without intrusion.

Khobragade told colleagues in an email of "repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing" and being detained in a holding cell with petty criminals, despite her "incessant assertions of immunity."

While common in the United States, jail strip searches have prompted legal challenges from civil liberties groups concerned that the practice is degrading and unnecessary.

Ezekiel Edwards, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said that despite a Supreme Court ruling last year upholding strip searches even in the absence of any suspicion the individual has contraband or weapons, law enforcement authorities should make an effort to distinguish between prisoners who merit invasive searches and those who pose no risk.

"Saying that it's not unusual is not to say that it should be acceptable," he said.

NO HANDCUFFS

The Indian Embassy in Washington, in a written statement, accused the housekeeper, Sangeeta Richard, of blackmail in demanding that she be allowed to change her passport and visa status to work elsewhere.

The embassy also called on U.S. authorities to arrest Richard for stealing cash, a mobile phone and documents from Khobragade.

Bharara, in his statement, said Richard's family had been brought to the United States after legal efforts had begun in India "to silence her, and attempts were made to compel her to return to India."

Bharara denied media reports that Khobragade had been arrested in front of her children. "The agents arrested her in the most discreet way possible, and unlike most defendants, she was not then handcuffed or restrained," he said.

Officers allowed her to make calls, including to arrange child care, and even brought her coffee, the prosecutor said.

Bharara said Khobragade clearly tried to evade U.S. law designed to protect from exploitation the domestic employees of diplomats and consular officers.

"One wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse?" he said.

Richard is said to be upset and disappointed the focus of the affair has shifted.

"The victim in this case is not a criminal defendant but the person who was denied her wages and underpaid for her work," said Dana Sussman, an attorney with the Safe Horizon Anti-Trafficking Program who is representing Richard.

Khobragade falsely stated in her nanny's visa application that she would be paid $9.75 an hour, a figure that would have been in line with the minimum rates required by U.S. law, according to a statement issued last week by Bharara.

The diplomat had privately agreed with the domestic worker that she would receive just over a third of that rate, the U.S. attorney said.

Harf, the State Department spokeswoman, said Kerry had used the word "regret" in his conversation with Menon, but she declined to elaborate on whether this constituted an apology or to offer greater detail on their discussion.

An expression of regret, in the world of diplomacy, is generally viewed as something short of an outright apology.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration is looking into the arrest "to ensure that all standard procedures were followed and that every opportunity for courtesy was extended."

The White House has told Indian officials it expects New Delhi will "fulfill all its obligations" for the safety and security of U.S. diplomats in India, Carney said.

India has appointed Khobragade to its permanent mission at the United Nations and her attorney Daniel Arshack said that, in her new role, she would have diplomatic immunity from prosecution retroactively.

However, the State Department would have to sign off on a request to move her from the consulate to the U.N. mission, and no such request has been received, Harf told reporters. She said the U.S. government notified India of the allegations against Khobragade in September.

India and the United States have become close trade and security partners, but they have not totally overcome a history of distrust.

"It is no longer about an individual, it is about our sense of self as a nation and our place in the world," Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid told parliament, whose usually fractious members showed rare unity on the issue.

Khurshid said work conditions of Indians employed in U.S. consulates would be investigated to root out any violations of labor laws, adding that there would be a freeze on the duty-free import of alcohol and food for diplomatic staff.

The Khobragade case is the latest concerning the Indian elite's alleged exploitation of their domestic workers, both at home and abroad.

Another official at India's consulate in New York was fined almost $1.5 million last year for using her maid as forced labor. Last month, the wife of a member of parliament was arrested in Delhi for allegedly beating her maid to death.

One Indian government minister, Shashi Tharoor, has argued that it is not reasonable to expect diplomats from developing countries to pay the U.S. minimum wage to domestic staff because the envoys themselves earn less than that.

Really! US needs to soften its stand this time! In Past US was reluctant in issuing Visa to Mr. Narendra Modi on the basis of his involvement in communal violence though there were no evidence for this & has already got the clean chit from apex body i.e. Supreme court of India. On their own homeground, US ain't did anything about DOW chemical's manslaughter that took place in India. wtf

Source : http://socialreader.com/me/content/J4NOK?chid=144992&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=srfan

[truemate]

^^ that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara its fuking moron.. that lier doing this so that to impress some of his masters to get more higher status or make his attorney seat safe az many in US raised question/doubt that due to asian background he wont take any action aginst any asian nations....Like his rascals can go to any extent for their own benefits.

Its just a consiparcy and now shameful cover-up by him/them

Even US government does not share the views wat this joker attorney preet BRa said. lol

On Thursday evening, US under secretary of state for political affairs Wendy Sherman called up Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh to convey that the US government does not share US attorney Preet Bharara’s views on this case. She also offered a consular dialogue between India
and the US to resolve the problems of domestic staff and immunity issues.

Btw MEA given a feedback/statement against wat ever this moron was speaking yesterday.

few lines from it -

Yesterday, in a sensational charge, India had accused US authorities of conspiracy and immigration fraud by allowing the family of Sangeeta Richard, the domestic help of Ms Khobragade, to move to America.

The implication of this statement, seen as a commentary on India rather than a fact relating to the alleged crime, infuriated New Delhi.
Indian sources countered each of these points, starting with the snarky aside, asking, “When will the Americans decide the salary of Indian diplomats?” On record, the MEA issued a statement referring to Bharara’s comment about “equality before the law of both the rich and the poor”, called it a “rhetorical remark”, and snippily observed, it is “not a feature of the law that is exclusive to the office of the Manhattan US Attorney”.

“It needs to be asked what right a foreign government has to evacuate Indian citizens from India while cases are pending against them in the Indian legal system,” the MEA statement asked of Bharara, arguing that “when there is a prior legal process already underway in India, the Manhattan US Attorney should consider it obligatory to enable justice to take its course in India in the first instance.”

------( note down here,how when russia or any other country was giving shelter to snowdown then how america got pissed)-----

“When the legal process in another friendly and democratic country is interfered with in this manner, it not only amounts to interference but also raises the serious concern of calling into question the very legal system of that country. This statement is one more attempt at a post facto rationalization for an action that should never have taken place in the first instance,” the statement said.

At the heart of the Indian counternarrative is the argument that Maid Sangeeta Richards and other India-based domesti assistants (IBDA) are sponsored by the Indian government and come on grey-white official Indian passports (which are different from the maroon diplomatic passports and the deep blue regular passport), and it is the Indian responsibility to ensure fair wages and treatment. If Richards had an issue with it, she could have taken it up with the MEA.

Devyani the only victim in this case, India retorts

New Delhi: Indian government reacted angrily on Thursday to US attorney Preet Bharara’s assertions justifying diplomat Devyani Khobragade’s arrest saying there was only one victim in the case and that was the Indian IFS officer.
While Bharara had said Khobragade was accorded courtesies “well beyond what other defendants are accorded”, the Indian government said there was no courtesy in the treatment meted out to her.
New Delhi has been offended by the manner in which the US state department got Sangeeta’s husband and children to fly to New York just two days ahead of Khobragade’s arrest. India continued to maintain that the US state department had enacted a “charade”.
In the manner in which the US arrested the diplomat, it also seems to have violated Article 42 of Vienna Convention on Consular Relations which makes it mandatory for the receiving state to notify the sending state in case action is taken against the head of a consular post. Khobragade here was also the acting consul general.
The government has refused to accept Bharara’s assertion that Khobragade was not subjected to any ignominious treatment. While Khobragade has alleged that she was also subjected to cavity searches, the US marshals have not denied this, they have said that this was done in private by a female US marshal. Doing it in public was certainly out of the question.

In fact, Bharara’s statement is cleverly worded. For instance, it said Khobragade was not handcuffed “then” — that is, in front of her children — but doesn’t deny that she was. The only concession that Khobragade was allowed was making phone calls, including calls to arrange care for her children who were with her.

India believes Khobragade and will go by her version. “I’d much rather believe Khobragade than the US marshals,” said foreign minister Salman Khurshid.

The Indian side hinted darkly that there is more to the episode than meets the eye. According to some accounts, Maid Sangeeta Richards and her husband had ‘deep contacts’ with the US mission in Delhi, since her in-laws (his parents) worked with the embassy and its officials. The fact her husband and children (jatin & jennifer) were expeditiously evacuated from New Delhi with a T-visa just two days before Khobragade was arrested and humiliated points to more sinister designs, say Indian sources, harking back to previous spats between the two sides involving spies and agents and charges of interfering in each other’s internal affairs.
But even those cases were amicably resolved with quiet withdrawal of the offending personnel. This spat has just gone out of control.

Edited December 20, 2013 by truemate

[truemate]

Maid faces arrest on arrival in Delhi

New Delhi: The domestic help in the Khobragade household, Miad Sangeeta Richards, faces arrest after she arrives in New Delhi as the police have registered an FIR against her and her husband, Philip, and a non-bailable warrant has been issued by a court here.
The police had registered an FIR on October 9 under sections of fraud and criminal conspiracy against the couple on the complaint of US diplomat Devyani Khobragade. “Khobragade’s father had approached the police with the complaint after which the south district police had taken an opinion from the prosecution on whether a case was made out in the circumstances narrated by Khobragade and only went ahead with the case after their approval,” an officer said.
Sangeeta and her husband Philip’s flat at Fatehpur Beri in South Delhi was found locked on Thursday as the family left earlier this month claiming to go to Goa.
Neighbours said only Philip and their children stayed at the flat after Sangeeta left for the US. Sangeeta and Philip moved into the flat in Sultanpur village four years ago. Philip had purportedly bought the flat. The children Jatin, 18 and Jennifer, 20, had joined college and would rarely be seen talking to other youngsters in the area. Locals said police used to come to their house to question Richard. “When I asked him why the police had come, he used to say that it was some case related to his family,” said a neighbour.

Devyani’s sister says nanny was treated like family

..(but greddy maid wants green card of us..that why she play this whole game with the help of US officials & get disappered in month of june along with her passport,documenets,ids & plus she used devyani's computer to type her all fake statements.. fuking clever maid.. but Why the US wont take any action even though indian embassy complain abt her disappereance ? and how come they given visa to her husband & children and allow them to enter in us even legal procedure is pending on them?? Now who breaking laws here ! US Itself foot in mouth)

As the crisis over the Indian diplomat escalated, anguished at the slew of hate mails aimed at Devyani Khobragade accusing her of using ‘slave labour’, her sister Sharmistha came out in her defense, saying the nanny, Sangeeta Richard, had never been ill-treated. Instead, she claimed, in a Facebook post on Thursday morning, Richard had been blackmailing Khobragade to get herself a green card.

Sharmistha said shortly after leaving her sister’s employment in June, Richard had resurfaced and asked Khobragade to meet her at an immigration lawyer's office and made three demands, including a payment of $10,000 in cash. "She faced Devyani across a negotiating table and made three demands which were to be complied with in return for not bringing a suit on Devyani: $10,000 in cash, a normal Indian passport (she was on a diplomatic passport which was revoked soon after she absconded) and immigration support."

She also said that at this meeting, Khobragade had been accompanied by other staff from the consulate, “so everything in this meeting can be verified and substantiated by a third party''. And it was on the basis of this meeting that a case of extortion, blackmail and breach of trust was registered against Richard in India and an arrest warrant had been issued by a magistrate.

Sharmistha said her sister had treated Richard well. She had been given two large, comfortable rooms and was allowed to pace her work out as she wished. "She was provided a mobile phone, had bought an Ipad, which she often used to Facebook, and could communicate with whoever she wished, whenever she wished, in India or New York…. Her passport and copies of contract documents were in her own custody and not Devyani’s," the post read.

Edited December 20, 2013 by truemate

[truemate]

me you get treated lik and she is all indignant because, in her words she is a diplomat and should be allowed to break those laws according to her ans do so with impunity...not her government by the way with this attitude..this will all blow over soon and she will most likely not serve a single day in jail

funny you dare to compare someone being already convincted and trying to get hold of things he is not supposed to own in a prison and someone that was free, not suspecting she has commited a crime and coming back from driving her kids school. thats dumb logic IMO

she for sure had nothing to hide up her butt/vag.

but maybe the american were still searching for saddam weapons of mass destruction??? or suspecting she had some snowden documents hidden there??

lmaoooo

he already lost..he or no one can defend the lie for longer... still he wont able to give da answers to wat i have asked ! (in those 5 points in pg2 )

Edited December 20, 2013 by truemate

[dMog]

you are so dead set against seeing the real truth here..this diplomat has credit card fraud charges... she took advantage of a marginal person from your country and did not pay her the requires by law legal amount of money for services as a nanny then her only defense was to say she should be allowed because she does not get paid enough herself...so is this all ok just because she is diplomat or from India where the caste system allows rich and privileged people to treat the poor as sub human...these are the things YOU have refused to speak to also..bottom line she broke the damn the law and being a diplomat is no reason or excuse to not have a consequence for doing so all other arguments are moot...or the fact that she was treated like a common criminal once arrested....you break the law you suffer the consequences of doing so...and being stripped searched is one of those things that happen ...well too bad... don't break the law the strip search would not have occurred...you be indignant all you want it will not change the fact that this diplomat broke the damn law in the first place it is her own fault this happened and certainly not the victims or the police or the USA government...and another reminder i am CANADIAN not an American as you wish tho say i am

i will not respond anymore to this as it has already got out of control and i do not wish to become you enemy over something so trivial

[SlimRock]

[truemate]

http://voices.yahoo.com/millions-americans-break-law-several-times-1851262.html

and still no reply against my 5 quarries :/ ... frm N.American.. canadian lol

well adding some thing more---

Indians point to two instances. In the first, Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor in Lahore who had been arrested for murder was declared to have full diplomatic immunity by no less than US president Barack Obama. Lahore is a consular post, and by US law Davis was not eligible for immunity.

The second is a more recent case. A group of Russian diplomats targeted by Preet Bharara’s office for social security fraud were not arrested at the last minute, because the state department stepped in and told Bharara’s office that all of them enjoyed full diplomatic immunity, even though many of the diplomats were nowhere as senior as Devyani Khobragade.

Edited December 20, 2013 by truemate

[Turk]

Update: US judge denies request for delay in Indian diplomat case
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/09/us-india-usa-diplomat-idUSBREA0715H20140109

[dMog]

http://voices.yahoo.com/millions-americans-break-law-several-times-1851262.html

and still no reply against my 5 quarries :/ ... frm N.American.. canadian lol

well adding some thing more---

Indians point to two instances. In the first, Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor in Lahore who had been arrested for murder was declared to have full diplomatic immunity by no less than US president Barack Obama. Lahore is a consular post, and by US law Davis was not eligible for immunity.

The second is a more recent case. A group of Russian diplomats targeted by Preet Bharara’s office for social security fraud were not arrested at the last minute, because the state department stepped in and told Bharara’s office that all of them enjoyed full diplomatic immunity, even though many of the diplomats were nowhere as senior as Devyani Khobragade.

nor have you answered my questions...not onl that you seem to think diplomats are allowed to do as they please just because they think they can... and a heads up...calling a canadian a american just because they both live in north america is like calling an indian a pakistani because they live on the same continent...you cannot just look at the world from your own personal tiny little space where you live...bottom line she broke some felony laws and it does not matter who did what and where and when 20 years ago or yesterday...she has to answer for it because she actually did it. even the indian government is not disputing that fact.. how she was treated after the fact has no bearing on the crime and punishment just on diplomacy...you are so blinded by waht you perceive and national insult by the USA that you at more than willing to overlook the actual facts...

[STEEL]

:doh: Bro,s U know what gets to me. We, the Democratic World, are like Old Japan. :guns: Fighting the S :shit: ts outa each other, but as soon as 1 is attacked, we all Stand Together :hug: Again. Lets Face it, Brothers and Sisters will Fight. Lets make Peace & Talk like Adults. Human-Kind is not the Enemy. :wut: :chug: