Abuse of Diplomatic Immunity with an Emphasis on the Torture Case in the American Judicial System

Document Type : Scientific Research

Author

Ph.D. Student of International Law, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Diplomatic immunity is a type of legal immunity according to which political agents and envoys of states will not be prosecuted. In otherwords, two countries are committed to each other not to prosecute each other's diplomats and senior government officials. Karamba was a Zimbabwean diplomat in the United States who was accused of beating or torturing his son violently. But he was not punished due to his immunity. This article aims to examine the problems of diplomatic and consular representatives abuse and their impunity, and especially the need to compensate the victims. which has plagued human societies today. Article 32 of the 1961 Vienna Convention provides only one exception for prosecuting diplomats, which is related to waiver of immunity. What is the solution to assert the rights of the victims of widespread crimes committed by diplomats and prevent them from abusing their diplomatic immunity to escape punishment and pay damages to these victims? This research tries to answer this question with a descriptive-analytical method. In addition to explain the Karamba case, the purpose of this article is to provide solutions to prevent diplomats with immunity to commit crimes. The results of this research is to show that paying attention to the effective factors about of immunity abuse is an effective way to prevent and deal with such violations.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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