Embassies and Diplomats

If you happen to live in a major city of any country you would have come across cars with red number plate CD or DC to mean ("corps diplomatique") these are special vehicle registration plates which typically have distinctive features to allow them to be distinguished from other vehicles by police and other bodies, and warning them that the operators and passengers of those vehicles may have diplomatic immunity. Sitting in the thought bar this week it’s all about Embassies and Diplomats.

EMBASSY VS CONSULATE

An embassy is the base for a country’s diplomatic mission abroad meaning all of the political, cultural and social relationships between the countries are routed through this office headed by a High Commissioner or Ambassador usually located in the capital city, however there could be other counselor offices or consulates in other major cities (See pic below like the one we see next to Gemini flyover in Chennai) . Primarily these consulates offer services to their respective Citizens (in most cases its lost passport) or issues Visa see image of Indian embassy in Singapore below , receives hosts cultural delegations and promotes trade and business.

WHAT ELSE THEY DO

Embassies can help its citizens if they have been a victim or serious crime or fallen ill, they can advise on lawyers and doctors and advice on how to transfer money. However they don’t get involved in the crime investigation or in the legal process. They cannot intervene in court cases, prevent deportation, pay any costs, and secure your release from jail. However, they can communicate what has happened to your loved ones, they aim to be non-judgemental and sensitive regardless of the accusations made against you. They can also help validate documents for use in the country you’re visiting registering births, deaths and marriages.

SPECIAL STATUS

The special status of the embassy is granted vide the Vienna convention of 1961 which among others rule that the PREMISES OF THE MISSION IS IN-VIABLE meaning the host countries police or any law enforcing agency cannot enter the place unless invited to do so even if there is a fire in the building. You may want to recall how Julian Assange of Wikileaks stayed in the Ecuador embassy safely for 7 years until the Ecuador diplomat invited the British police inside the premises and got him arrested. The Vienna convention also states that the income of the diplomats cannot be taxed by the local authorities and also ensures free movement within the country, their bags cannot be checked and they have a special immigration counter in International Airports. Last year there was a case in Kerala which abused this right of a diplomatic baggage more info is in this news article (https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/kerala-swapna-suresh-smuggled-gold-19-times-since-november-2019-36-kgs-in-december-alone-report/666447) 

BEING A DIPLOMAT

Diplomats always follow the rules of the host country but sometimes they get into murky circumstances too. In 2009 Dr Silviu Ionescu, Chargé d'Affaires of the Romanian Embassy in Singapore ran two red lights in a black Audi at 3AM hit 3 pedestrians killing one of them called the police and informed that his car was stolen. While police later found the car abandoned a few kilo meters away the investigation concluded that the car was not stolen and the driver was the diplomat but nothing could be done, however Romanian Authorities conducted a trial he was sentenced to 6 years' jail after being found guilty of manslaughter, negligent bodily injury and leaving the scene of a crash.

In the year 1984 protesting Libyan nationals at Libyan embassy in London were fired at with a machine gun killing one British police officer standing in the crowd but British Police could not enter the Embassy building because of their diplomatic immunity, the embassy was asked to shut down and the diplomats left London unscathed within days.

SIZE AND HARDSHIPS.

War is big business that’s why the US Embassy had more than 16000 people living inside their green zone complex, these included officials of reconstruction firms, engineers and technicians to run their own water treatment plants, swimming pools, telecom posts to circumvent local Iraqi network and Helipads. Though in most cases you have to pass an exam of that country (In India it’s conducted by the UPSC) your pay will largely depend on the area of posting. A hardship allowance is added to a posting to a difficult place like Baghdad or Kabul compared to a posting in Singapore or Canberra.

CONCLUSION

A diplomat is nothing but an emissary of another country and they are in-viable meaning they can’t be injured, harmed or detained basically meaning the sovereign soil of the nation extends into a host nation including the diplomats, their offices, houses and cars. One may be surprised to know that in 2011 New York City authorities revealed that unpaid parking tickets by people with diplomatic immunity exceeded 16.7 Million US$ a clear abuse of diplomatic Immunity.