Comment by credo | Hacker News Reader

Comment by credo | Hacker News Reader

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I think it was wrong to strip-search and do cavity searches on the consular officer (in this case, a woman) "accused" of underpaying a maid. However,I'm not going to focus on that and I'm not going to quibble with some of the exaggerations in this column. Overall, I agree that Ms Khobragade must be prosecuted and the evidence clearly suggests that she is guilty.

However, I find it astonishing that so many people (most of them sharing my citizenship) can be so oblivious to some of the mind-boggling arrogant hypocrisy going around.

Recently, there was a news report on "diplomatic immunity" for an "information management officer" in the US embassy in Kenya. This American man was speeding in his SUV. He crossed the middle-line and crashed into another vehicle killing one man and injuring many more.

This wasn't just the garden-variety "hit and run" accident we see in America. This man didn't just flee the scene, he fled Kenya (with US government help) and the US government is asserting "diplomatic immunity".

Can any critic of India seriously argue that it is OK for the US to assert diplomatic immunity and spirit this "information management officer" out of the country - even though he killed one innocent man (in this case, a father of three) with his reckless driving.

Arguments concerning hypocrisy are interesting, but they are tangential as well. They point up the need for a change in a different context. One can both appreciate the hypocrisy of a related issue and still be a little flummoxed at the case at hand.

The cavity search sounds to me like police overreach, and it's hard to imagine that it would have been needed. I wonder whether there would be case for pursuing charges of police misconduct, even if the practice turned out to be something that is routinely done in such situations.

> pursuing charges of police misconduct

When it comes to diplomats, we might "protect our own", but it is nothing compared to how cops in the USA act.

Well he may well have been conducting official business when the crash occurred, meaning it would be quite justified to claim diplomatic immunity. Underpaying a worker in a domestic situation has nothing to do with official consular business.

The US is taking a very strong stand that it will not tolerate abuse and exploitation in its borders, even under the guise or protection of diplomatic activity.

I suspect he had no official business crossing the line in the road. Using your logic, if you are tasked with delivering official documents from point A to point B, is it covered under diplomatic immunity to stop somewhere between A and B and murder someone?

right - then maybe the US should take a look at California where Mexican agricultural workers are severely underpaid. That's just one example. But then again - someone has to harvest those avocadoes right?

To be sure, the people and companies who own those farms are some of the strongest opponents of immigration laws.

It's not straightforward hypocrisy when the legal system or jail system in the other country is substandard to the US's. That may be unlikely nowadays but it's something to consider.

Maybe we should have a system in place to prosecute "immune" diplomats ourselves after they flee.

There would be no feasible way to implement such a system, even if it were desirable to do so.

I really wish your comment said "There would be no feasible way to implement such a system because <X>, and it probably wouldn't be desirable because <Y>." I said "maybe this would be good" in hopes that others would have interesting ideas about whether or not it would be.

It's feasible. The US prosecutes Americans who molest children in Thailand.

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