Indian Diplomat strip searched in NYC

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Oh, world famous indian bollywood actor could already sing and dance a song about his treatment on US airports: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/s ... ain-311705

But I think its understandable, I mean he is not white and male, so he must be a potential terrorist. If indians dont want their citizens to be extra-checked in US-airports, then those indians shall finally start bleaching them, before sending them to the US. ^^

Two brown-skinned "celebrities" get publicity for themselves, while the thousands of white people who were strip-searched by TSA don't get mentioned in the popular press at all.

Let Beyonce get patted down, and it will make headlines; let a widowed mother of three get cavity-searched and no-one even blinks.

I think the "diplomat" may have provoked the TSA agents into a strip-search just to draw attention to a practice that no one likes, and the howling mobs have risen up in indignant response.

Yes, absolutely, It must be the browned skins guys fault. That bastard actually sexually harassed those poor airport-guys into stripping him, because those dark skin badass simply was in need of some victims for his gay exhibitionism pervertness. They should actually sue him!

...

Actually I thought the time of "In reality, she wanted it and was please by it and provoked it, so its her fault." was already past. ^^

Had the makings of a Locked Up Abroad episode. Not without the help of aggravating TSA agents.

Just to be clear, this wasn't the TSA. She was picked up by authorities outside of her daughter's school after dropping her off. The Indian officials are now returning the favor now. They have removed their police barriers to our Indian embassy and cancelled Indian police protection, have called for the release of financial records of US officials in India and their employees' compensation, have revoked the special ID's that diplomats receive which grant them a whole host of special privileges, and have announced that their loose policies on diplomatic immunity will be tightened to align with those of the US.

Perhaps they shouldn't have nabbed her on the street, strip searched her, given her a body cavity search and taken biological samples all for a potential fraud case. It seems unreasonable action against any non-violent offender, let alone one who is a diplomatic envoy to our country.

has the TSA ever stopped a terrorist? their track record is pretty bad at that.

ever think that they just exist for compliance training? like how you have to put yourself in a surrender position in the xray thing and to get people used to being searched

pick up that can citizen

People seem to be overlooking the fact that the 'diplomat' had ALREADY BEEN ARRESTED for visa fraud when she was strip-searched.

Believe it or not, this is standard procedure for arrestees who have been taken into custody, since you never know what a person may be carrying on their bodies, or where they may be carrying it. This is also standard procedure for anyone going through military induction.

So what's the problem?

A foreign diplomat got caught breaking the law, and believes that just because she holds diplomatic status, she should be treated better than any other criminal. So she appeals through the media to get her case thrown out so that she can continue to abuse her diplomatic status.

John Kerry has already caved and apologized for her mistake, which is exactly the kind of thing that makes America look weak and hypocritical.

Looks like the Americans have shot themselves in the foot (again). The diplomatic row has gone tit for tat and now American diplomats in India face being arrested for breaking laws there for things that are not illegal in America e.g. India's infamous anti-homosexual laws means some American diplomats could face imprisonment for being gay. Diplomatic immunity exists for a reason. America has gone out of its way to poison relations with India which have taken many years to build up.

It seems that we'll all just have to wait and see how this all pans out.

Someone gets arrested for visa fraud, strip-searched and stuck in a holding cell with other criminals - big deal. People who break the law should get arrested, and those who get arrested should face the same treatment.

However, make that person a pretty, brown-skinned female, and suddenly it's a civil rights issue.

Add on diplomatic status, and suddenly it's an international outrage.

But let it happen to thousands of ordinary citizens every day, and the resounding silence is deafening.

Your hearts bleed only because she's pretty, non-white, and a foreign diplomat -- ugly white males are beneath your collective compassion.

Hypocrisy at its finest.

If she had been arrested for drug related crimes or a violent offense, I probably wouldn't have started this thread. I have been strip searched before, and it was done in a completely legal manner. I would not have as much of an issue with my experience if there had been a plausible reason other than "suspicion."

The reason for the outrage in this case is not about her being pretty and non-white. Plenty of pretty women and plenty of non-whites get this treatment every day. The thing that put this into the media (although coverage has been fairly limited) is the fact that she is a diplomat that has been treated with a complete lack of dignity and respect, which does not happen in the US (until now).

Here is a fact that is worthy of note: Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general did not have Diplomatic Immunity at the time of her arrest. Instead, she had only "Consular Immunity", which privileges are described in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 (VCCR).[1][2] Consular immunity offers protections similar to diplomatic immunity, but these protections are not as extensive, given the functional differences between consular and diplomatic officers. For example, consular officers are not accorded absolute immunity from a host country’s criminal jurisdiction, they may be tried for certain local crimes upon action by a local court, and are immune from local jurisdiction only in cases directly relating to consular functions.

Another fact: Khobragade, 39, is accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her Manhattan housekeeper, an Indian national. According to prosecutors, Khobragade claimed she paid the woman $4,500 a month, but actually paid her around $3 per hour. That's about $520 per month, people, or $130 per week. This "Diplomat" that you've all fallen in love with has been exploiting foreign labor for her own benefit and has lied about it to U.S. Government officials.

By the way ... I notice that none of you seem at all concerned for the poor girl that was being exploited ... why is that?

References:

[1] Vienna Convention on Consular Relations - 1963 (National University of Singapore)
[2] Vienna Convention on Consular Relations - 1963 (United Nations)