Posted on 06/11/2021 2:05:10 AM PDT by RandFan
One topic that came up between the leaders of the US and UK yesterday was the ongoing issues surrounding the death of Harry Dunn.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he and President Biden are "working together" to end the row over whether Anne Sacoolas should face trial over the death of 19-year-old Harry Dunn.
Sacoolas, an American citizen, claimed diplomatic immunity after the teenager died in a collision with her car almost two years ago.
Speaking at the G7, Johnson said the president was "extremely sympathetic" and "actively engaged" in the case.
The confirmation of talks comes after Biden's predecessor Donald Trump refused to intervene.
Crucially, it will raise hopes for the Dunn family that Ms Sacoolas could still be stripped of diplomatic immunity in order to face a British court over the death.
The prime minister says his counterpart has his “own personal reasons for feeling very deeply about the issue”.
Biden lost his first wife, Neilia Hunter, and their one-year-old daughter Naomi in a car crash in 1972.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Ridiculous!
President Trump negotiated a troop withdrawal which Biden came along and violated. But you agree with his supposed decision? It was Trump’s decision.
That's from the rag's UK homepage. Are Brits really dim enough to believe this codswallop??
Actually Trump did. I just watched a report on the BBC about this. The parents of the young man came to the US at the invitation of Trump. Who, by the way, took time out of his busy schedule to sit down and meet with them. The mother was criticizing Trump this morning because he had arranged for the woman (her husband was a diplomat and she claimed immunity by marriage) who killed their son to meet with them. The parents were not prepared to meet with her and left the meeting. During her interview this morning the mother of the young man came across as an attention whore who was trying to gain internet popularity by taking cheap pot shots at President Trump. I feel sorry for her for losing her son, but she had no business criticizing President Trump.
All this comes after a 7 month period of rioting and looting. Even attacks on the White Houses. Dozens dead. But they want to demonize us. Yeah we are sliding into a fascist state.
We’ve been there since January 6.
Slippery slope. Taking away diplomatic immunity in this case would set a bad precedent. As a former diplomat, I would not want my immunity compromised due to a traffic accident.
A traffic accident? You make it sound like it was just a fender bender. She was driving on the wrong side of the road and killed a child.
It was an accident, not a criminal act. We recognize diplomatic immunity for diplomats stationed here for similar instances. If you have a problem with diplomatic immunity, then we will just agree to disagree.
So then if the wife of a diplomat from the UK or let’s say from Saudi Arabia or any country for that matter, is driving on the wrong side of the road here in the US, having learned nothing about driving in the US and goes off the roadway and hits a person riding a bicycle or a motorcycle in this case resulting in a death, that person should be shielded from any and all responsibility? Even from civil damages?
It may not have been criminal as in not being intentional or premeditated and from what I understand, she didn’t leave the scene and answered some basic question before invoking her diplomatic immunity and then after telling the authorities she would not leave, she very soon left the country.
And yes, I do have a problem with diplomatic immunity when it comes to a diplomat or a family member of a diplomat committing crimes and or avoiding civil lawsuits to which any US citizen would be subject to. And our folks abroad should be subject to the same with some caveats such as “religious crimes” or charges of “blasphemy”.
FWIW diplomatic immunity when it comes to crimes and acts subject to civil liability do not fall under my understanding of the original intent that goes back many hundreds of years and was originally meant to shield diplomates who communicated sensitive diplomatic information that they gained by talks and negotiations with their host country’s diplomats and from diplomatic informants back to their home country from not being charged with “spying” or espionage, jailed and executed for carrying their normal and expected duties as a diplomat.
Unfortunately, in recent times diplomatic immunity shields too many people who have committed serious crimes including rape and murder or serious traffic offences, drunk driving, road rage, even those resulting in death from facing any consequences.
If you think otherwise, then yes, we will just agree to disagree.
The government started off lying didn't they. It later came out this year in court, she works for the State Department, and 'has' immunity via work. Odd they didn't mention that initially.
Having been posted 22 years overseas, including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Communist Poland, it would be sheer folly to subject our diplomats and their family members to local laws. We waive diplomatic immunity very rarely for a reason.
Here is how the State Department counsels US local law enforcement on diplomatic immunity: Diplomatic andConsular Immunity:Guidance for Law Enforcement and Judicial Authorities
The principle of diplomatic immunity is one of the oldest elements of foreign relations. Ancient Greek and Roman governments, for example, accorded special status to envoys, and the basic concept has evolved and endured until the present. As a matter of international law, diplomatic immunity was primarily based on custom and international practice until quite recently. In the period since World War II, a number of international conventions (most noteworthy, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations) have been concluded. These conventions have formalized the customary rules and made their application more uniform.
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