LAHORE – A majority of jurists is of the view that the government is only buying time to let the public sentiment absent Raymond Davis ease, after which the American accused of killing two Pakistani youth will be given immunity.
They said it was just a matter of days before people saw Davis walking away scot-free for being a staff member of the US embassy and the murder of the two men would be buried in police files and courts of law. “In the end, the US embassy will save Davis’ skin by proving that he is a diplomat or consular employee by producing some documentary evidence, and he will be rescued from courts and the FIR will be quashed any day,” the jurists said.
Pakistan can only protest with the US government on the issue, but Pakistani courts cannot convict embassy staffers for any crime, and that was why the US had asked Pakistan to release Raymond by calling the arrest unlawful.
The experts, however, said the US embassy would have to establish diplomatic credentials of Davis to get immunity for him under Diplomatic Immunities Act 1976 in a court of law, because the ID of the US official was doubtful and the Pakistani Foreign Office had refused to accept him to be a man of the rank of a diplomat.
The jurists said so far the odds were against Davis, as he had an ID of a technical adviser, not of a diplomatic agent, and the US embassy did not have the documents to immediately prove that Davis was a diplomat.
“He does not possess a diplomatic passport, was on a private visit visa and has killed two men with unlicensed weapon, but his ranking in the embassy is yet to be ascertained,” the experts said.
Legal expert Ali Sibtain Fazli said Pakistan was only taking time to delay the matter and the government would give Davis diplomatic immunity. “Pakistan being a signatory of the Vienna Convention will have to give immunity,” Sibtain said. International law expert Ahmer Bilal Sufi also said staff members of the embassy had immunity, but consular employees had limited immunity while diplomatic agents enjoyed full immunity against arrests.
Barrister Farooq Hussan said it was only the court that could determine Davis’ immunity. Jurist Azhar Siddique said, “The non-diplomatic ID of Raymond Davis will become diplomatic if the US government owns him as its diplomat and the US has already asked Pakistan to give Davis immunity.” Zafar Hilali, a former ambassador, said there were many agreements between two states.
About the Vienna Convention, he said the convention also gave immunity to diplomats and it was binding on signing states. Azhar Siddique said it was a simple legal procedure to plead immunity for Davis. The US embassy may file a constitutional petition in the Lahore High Court and establish the fact that Davis was an employee or agent of the US embassy and the court would release him in respect of the Diplomatic Immunities Act 1976 and the Vienna Convention despite the fact that he murdered two men.
Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood said as the US government had demanded Pakistan release its embassy staffer, the court will only determine if he was a staff member.
