The United States federal officials demonstrate their lack of respect for the rest of the world:
India Is Furious Over US Strip Search Of Diplomat Facing Fraud Charges
The “fraud charges” consist of this:
US authorities say she not only paid a domestic servant a fraction of the minimum wage but also lied in a visa application for the employee, an Indian national who has since absconded.
On the contrary Bubblebustin, the American left love Preet Bharara. They say he is one of the only people interested in curbing the growing gap between rich and poor in America.
Contrast the arrest of the Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, with the kid-gloves treatment by Norway of the US Embassy in Oslo for not submitting payroll information on its employees to the Norwegian tax authorities. This failure to follow Norwegian law resulted in income tax evasion by many of the US Embassy’s Norwegian employees. The Norwegian government chose to act sensibly instead of overreacting the way the US Marshalls did:
“Atle Myklebust at the Oslo tax office said that although the embassy was obliged under Norwegian law to report employees wages, their diplomatic immunity made the obligation impossible to enforce in practice.”
http://www.thelocal.no/20131125/us-embassy-employees-face-jail-for-tax-evasion
Truly amazing. Wonder if the embassy in Ottawa issues T4s for its Canadian employees.
@Tim
Depending on how far you go left or right, you can still end up in the same place 😉
When a CIA operative went too far with his espionage activities in Switzerland, the Swiss intelligence service (NDB) requested that the CIA station chief remove him from the country. Preet Bharara and the US Marshalls may wish to pay attention how inappropriate behavior and law breaking by US diplomatic personnel abroad, including the CIA, is handled:
“In addition, the CIA mission in Switzerland, as in all the friendly countries, is built on the goodwill of the authorities. CIA operatives stationed in Switzerland are known to the NDB, corresponding to diplomatic protocol. The CIA station chief is located at the US Embassy in Geneva, while most of his people are assigned to the embassy in Bern. If one of them exceeds certain limits and the domestic intelligence service notices this, it usually has its consequences. A CIA operative, previously stationed in Iraq, was demanding and belligerent in the federal capital (Bern), as if Switzerland were an American protectorate.
But Bern is not Baghdad as one of local intelligence official noted astutely. After a poorly executed surveillance operation, the NDB had the head of the CIA mission remove this employee. In another case, the NDB intervened with its American partner after it was rumored that American embassies were monitoring the surroundings beyond the embassies on a large scale.”
http://www.nzz.ch/aktuell/schweiz/bern-ist-nicht-bagdad-1.18122326
On the other hand, in 1998, Swiss police detained five Israeli Mossad spies who were caught in flagranti bugging an apartment in Bern (although that may have been a cover for a planned assassination). One of the Mossad agents served time in jail for this incident:
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/7750/latest-mossad-fiasco-increasesstrain-in-swiss-israeli-relations/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/822143.stm
NPR coverage on this story… Have a listen…
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/18/255203530/diplomats-arrest-in-n-y-sparks-anger-in-india
Check out this site to get perspective from India – very interesting.
http://www.samachar.com/
One of the interesting article it links to is:
http://www.sify.com/news/our-message-to-america-please-treat-us-like-shit-news-columns-nmsmyahfffe.html
What strikes me about all this is:
1. Although we are talking about the treatment of this woman, the U.S. Gov defends itself on the basis that she was given exactly the same treatment that Homelanders would get. These Homelanders need to wake up to the absolutely inappropriate way they themselves are being treated by their government. This should be enough to spark a revolution in America. Imagine, being arrested and strip searched over an immigration issue. This is insane. The U.S. is so overlawed that the only issue is what law somebody has violated.
2. Speaking of being “strip searched”. As Petros alludes there are large numbers of Indian immigrants in OVDI – being victimized as I write by the FBAR Fundraiser. Perhaps the “strip search” of this woman can be used to draw attention to the ongoing “strip serach” of Indian immigrants who have committed the crime of having bank accounts in India and not letting the IRS know about them – even though nobody told them that they should.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-24/us-canada-news/29922079_1_delegation-irs-officials-irs-headquarters
http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.ca/2011/08/irs-responds-to-indian-american.html
http://desiways.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/my-fbar-ovdi-progress/
This is more absolutely unbelievable abuse of Green Card holders!
2. The fact that this prosecutor – who at least in terms of IQ – is an intelligent man speaks volumes about the lack of awareness that the U.S. for how it is perceived outside the Homeland. The reality of America is that it is deeply in debt because it has spent so much money in wars. These wars were the U.S. reaction to hatred that the U.S. itself generated. So, let’s look at what this moron prosecutor (with a high IQ) has done. He has unleashed yet another tidal wave of hatred against America. From where? A country in one of the most volatile regions of the world. This guy may have been born in India – but he has zero (and I mean zero) understanding of the India psyche. Or is this just what years of years and years of being a Homelander does to you?
Anyway, I am astounded by the lack of judgment here. Simply astounded.
Bubblebustin & USCitizenAbroad
Here is a link to Preet Bharara on the cover of Time Magazine. As you can see “progressives” love this guy.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/Preet_Bharara_Time_Magazine_Cover,_February_13,_2012.jpg
Here is a column from none other than our friend Diane Francis praising Bharara.
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/07/27/sac-capital-fraud-charges-strikes-blow-against-hedge-fund-industry/
@Tim
Yes I saw the Time cover. Looks a bit like “Captain America” to me.
Diane Francis, well nothing comes to mind.
Actually no Tim “progressives” do not love him at all. He’s been roundly criticized for not going after the big fish and prosecuting them. He tends to get one person low on the totem pole press some charges sometimes only in a civil case while letting the big fish on Wall St. totally off the hook. Then he turns around and claims he is the champion of the little people for having got one low person in the mix while not telling the truth about how he let the big boys go free with nary a charge. He was roundly criticized too for that faux outrage Time Mag article since really he wasn’t doing anything. I’ve got a long list of articles as to how disliked he actually is since the talk is so much bigger than what he has actually done. I’ll just include one paragraph from one of the articles. From the beginning he wasn’t much liked and was seen as yet another fake appointment who would end up doing diddly squat to Wall St.
“Preet Bharara is mentioned as a possible replacement for Attorney General Eric Holder, if Holder ever agrees to leave. His supporters point to his cases against Wall Street, mostly insider trading, and the favorable press they generate, like this cover of Time Magazine. This amended complaint shows once again why Wall Street will cheer the guy on. He hasn’t done anything to anyone who counts”
Credit above to Firedog Lake.
This is an excellent article on this topic in of all places the Globe and Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//news/world/six-reasons-why-indians-are-upset-over-us-treatment-of-diplomat/article16025722/?cmpid=rss1&click=dlvr.it
Global Post reporting of the story…
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/politics/diplomacy/131218/india-us-diplomatic-row-deepens-retaliations
Maybe this will cause US diplomats in other countries to follow those countries’ laws. Otherwise the US would just look hypocritical and petty. Oh, wait…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2510114/Foreign-diplomats-refusing-pay-Congestion-Charge-racked-74-MILLION-unpaid-fines.html
“Foreign embassies owe more than £74million in unpaid congestion charges. US diplomats are the biggest culprits, having amassed £7.8million in fines.”
The State Department is saying that the Lady Diplomat has consular status only, and therefore does not enjoy full immunity. This is exceedingly lame and only going to make things worse–the anger towards the United States in India is quite pronounced and it may result in complete disruption of diplomatic relations. It is a good thing this Kerry, who is a Viet Nam War veteran, never became president, though I doubt he could make things worse than the current occupant of the White House (though it would have taken place four years earlier). I suggest that the world take all of the US persons with only “consular” status and charge them with trumped up crimes, throw them in jail and strip/cavity search them, and then allow them on bail for only $500,000 (double the Lady Diplomat’s bail, because America is the best country in the world and therefore can afford double what the Indian had to pay)–it must be paid in gold and not worthless paper currency, so that the Fed can’t just print its way out of this mess.
The only difference between strip/cavity searching a consular officer on trumped up charges and FATCA, is treatment of the Lady Diplomat is just more clearly an emotional violation at a gut level. However, FATCA is every bit a sign of American arrogance. It is now just a matter of time before the world wakes up and realizes how disgusting the United States has become.
@Watcher, perhaps the UK should strip/cavity search US diplomats to see if they have any pocket change in their body crevices to pay their parking tickets.
It will be interesting to see if this has an impact on IGA negotiations with India. LOL
http://www.fatcaindia.com/2013/01/india-and-iga-inter-governmental.html
They are so pissed it will probably scuttle anything going on at present.
Viet Nam War veteran John Kerry has now issued a statement:
As much as I love to bitch about the US and all its problems. There really was nothing wrong here apart from a stuck up Indian who was upset about her slave escaping. Visa applications were fraudulent, they cancelled the woman’s passport and tried to attack her for daring to demand her actual salary. When being taken into custody and placed in holding, they do a strip search due to the fact that all kinds of fun drugs and weapons and other contraband slip inside. I do not agree that that is the best or proper method to do that… metal detector and an xray would solve it pretty fast. But I digress… as a consul she’s only protected when carrying out OFFICIAL duties, and unless the Indian government wants to claim that slavery and visa fraud are official activities, there’s no immunity and this was handled quite fairly.
Dear Mr. Fred: How do you that the Lady Diplomat is stuck up? Because she has hired household help?
But I don’t think that the issue of US law is what is at stake here but the disproportionate response in the arrest. It is tantamount to rape and/or other sexual assault. It is in my opinion a form of punishment to do strip/cavity search on a person. If it is the case that she would be carrying drugs and weapons in her special places, then it should at very least require a warrant to search a person’s vagina or anus. This is a Fourth Amendment right in the United States, and it requires reasonable cause–which in no way could have been satisfied in the case of the Lady Diplomat (Or were they perhaps looking for fraudulently completed immigration papers???) But we are now dealing with a country (i.e., the US) that violates peoples right to privacy–without regard to the most sacred areas of their own body. It makes me wonder why the feminists are not outraged by this treatment. Do they not insist on the right to privacy and call it freedom of choice?
Following arrest, those rights go out the window, plain and simple. If anything, being Indian, she should be happy she wasn’t gangraped.
@Petros
I don’t know if the US has become more disgusting than a lot of other countries, it’s just that they purport to be so much better – when they aren’t it seems.
All levels of police forces in the US, from local to federal, now routinely take advantage of the initial arrest to mete out summary punishment when they believe they have no case or there is little chance of a successful prosecution. That Indian diplomat is lucky she wasn’t beaten or tasered as well. One can only imagine what they do to a local black guy when he gets arrested. Fred is right; all Constitutional rights are suspended as soon as an arrest occurs. My guess is she will be deported to India and the US government (and press) will forget about it.
In places like Pakistan or Yemen US forces practice summary execution as well. How else can drone attacks be described? It’s very sad watching a once great nation sinking down to the level of a garden variety totalitarian regime. I’m very thankful I don’t live there anymore.
But bad news for her may be good news for us; It’s hard to imagine India signing an IGA after this travesty.
Mr. Fred, I don’t see what being Indian has to do with anything. I have yet to see consular officers in countries being gang raped by the police of other countries. And I am not sure how the mere fact of being arrested means that one no longer has rights. This is perhaps what the US government wants people to think about their rights, but it is definitely not the case.
For one thing, the US constitution states that bail must not be excessive. This is a Constitutional right as well, and it applies to the person who has been arrested. Why would an arrested person have rights? –Because in the United States there used to be a presumption of innocence. In this particular case, the Lady Diplomat’s constitutional rights were violated by setting the bail at $250,000, which is very exorbitant.
What to say but Thank you, Petros!
@Petros
Doesn’t the bail often reflect the degree of flight risk? I would think her’s would have been quite high, but then did I read she had her passport confiscated?
The fight is heating up Bharara is now public enemy number 1# in India.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Statement-of-Manhattan-US-attorney-Preet-Bharara-on-Devyani-Khobargade/articleshow/27636085.cms
Some in India now want a warrant issued for the arrest of Preet Bharara.
Amid controversy generated by the case of senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, US prosecutor Preet Bharara said that she was “accorded courtesies” and not handcuffed when she was arrested. Here’s the full text of the statement released by US attorney Preet Bharara on Devyani Khobragade:
There has been much misinformation and factual inaccuracy in the reporting on the charges against Devyani Khobragade. It is important to correct these inaccuracies because they are misleading people and creating an inflammatory atmosphere on an unfounded basis. Although I am quite limited in my role as a prosecutor in what I can say, which in many ways constrains my ability here to explain the case to the extent I would like, I can nevertheless make sure the public record is clearer than it has been thus far.
First, Ms. Khobragade was charged based on conduct, as is alleged in the Complaint, that shows she clearly tried to evade U.S. law designed to protect from exploitation the domestic employees of diplomats and consular officers. Not only did she try to evade the law, but as further alleged, she caused the victim and her spouse to attest to false documents and be a part of her scheme to lie to U.S. government officials. So it is alleged not merely that she sought to evade the law, but that she affirmatively created false documents and went ahead with lying to the U.S. government about what she was doing. One wonders whether any government would not take action regarding false documents being submitted to it in order to bring immigrants into the country. One wonders even more pointedly whether any government would not take action regarding that alleged conduct where the purpose of the scheme was to unfairly treat a domestic worker in ways that violate the law. And 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?
Second, as the alleged conduct of Ms. Khobragade makes clear, there can be no plausible claim that this case was somehow unexpected or an injustice. Indeed, the law is clearly set forth on the State Department website. Further, there have been other public cases in the United States involving other countries, and some involving India, where the mistreatment of domestic workers by diplomats or consular officers was charged criminally, and there have been civil suits as well. In fact, the Indian government itself has been aware of this legal issue, and that its diplomats and consular officers were at risk of violating the law. The question then may be asked: Is it for U.S. prosecutors to look the other way, ignore the law and the civil rights of victims (again, here an Indian national), or is it the responsibility of the diplomats and consular officers and their government to make sure the law is observed?
Third, Ms. Khobragade, the Deputy General Consul for Political, Economic, Commercial and Women’s Affairs, is alleged to have treated this victim illegally in numerous ways by paying her far below minimum wage, despite her child care responsibilities and many household duties, such that it was not a legal wage. The victim is also alleged to have worked far more than the 40 hours per week she was contracted to work, and which exceeded the maximum hour limit set forth in the visa application. Ms. Khobragade, as the Complaint charges, created a second contract that was not to be revealed to the U.S. government, that changed the amount to be paid to far below minimum wage, deleted the required language protecting the victim from other forms of exploitation and abuse, and also deleted language that stated that Ms. Khobragade agreed to “abide by all Federal, state, and local laws in the U.S.” As the Complaint states, these are only “in part” the facts, and there are other facts regarding the treatment of the victim – that were not consistent with the law or the representations made by Ms. Khobragade — that caused this Office and the State Department, to take legal action.
Fourth, as to Ms. Khobragade’s arrest by State Department agents, this is a prosecutor’s office in charge of prosecution, not the arrest or custody, of the defendant, and therefore those questions may be better referred to other agencies. I will address these issues based on the facts as I understand them. Ms. Khobragade was accorded courtesies well beyond what other defendants, most of whom are American citizens, are accorded. She was not, as has been incorrectly reported, 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. In fact, the arresting officers did not even seize her phone as they normally would have. Instead, they offered her the opportunity to make numerous calls to arrange personal matters and contact whomever she needed, including allowing her to arrange for child care. This lasted approximately two hours. Because it was cold outside, the agents let her make those calls from their car and even brought her coffee and offered to get her food. It is true that she was fully searched by a female Deputy Marshal — in a private setting — when she was brought into the U.S. Marshals’ custody, but this is standard practice for every defendant, rich or poor, American or not, in order to make sure that no prisoner keeps anything on his person that could harm anyone, including himself. This is in the interests of everyone’s safety.
Fifth, as has been reported, the victim’s family has been brought to the United States. As also has been reported, legal process was started in India against the victim, attempting to silence her, and attempts were made to compel her to return to India. Further, the Victim’s family reportedly was confronted in numerous ways regarding this case. Speculation about why the family was brought here has been rampant and incorrect. Some focus should perhaps be put on why it was necessary to evacuate the family and what actions were taken in India vis-a-vis them. This Office and the Justice Department are compelled to make sure that victims, witnesses and their families are safe and secure while cases are pending.
Finally, this Office’s sole motivation in this case, as in all cases, is to uphold the rule of law, protect victims, and hold accountable anyone who breaks the law – no matter what their societal status and no matter how powerful, rich or connected they are.
Courtesy: The United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York