Can Foreign Diplomats In America Really Commit Crimes?

Making sure governments are able to work with each other safely by using envoys and diplomats as go-betweens has been a common goal for countries since antiquity. Diplomatic immunity is one solution, since it ensures diplomats can perform whatever duties they must without fear of being arrested. On the other hand, diplomats throughout history have committed crimes due to the knowledge that they possess said immunity, and thus, can't be arrested in the first place.

Diplomats are subject to a vast series of procedures once they have committed a crime. Governments have the option to revoke the diplomat's immunity and leave them at the mercy of whatever government they were sent to. On the other hand, they might also stand by their diplomat, ensuring they are released. Overall, diplomatic immunity covers a broad range of actions, not to mention people, through its different levels. So, yes, diplomats can — with caveats depending on the situation — commit crimes in America. Therefore let's talk about the hows and whys of diplomatic immunity, as well as the types of crimes diplomats have committed.

Diplomatic immunity has different levels depending on the diplomat's mission and rank. Whatever level of immunity a staff member has can influence what happens to them if they commit a crime while on foreign soil.

Diplomatic agents have the highest number of privileges, while service staff members only have certain privileges, such as official acts immunity. Official acts immunity means that a diplomat may be arrested, but if their act is described in the courtroom as being part of an official act, the case must be dismissed, writes the U.S. Department of State. Family members and domestic employees of diplomats have different levels of privilege as well.

Diplomats are granted safe travel with little chance of delays while performing official duties. However, according to ThoughtCo, they can still be sent out of the country they're working in. It should be noted, though, that the U.S. can be generous in regards to immunity for foreign diplomats, due to the vast number of United States diplomats serving in other parts of the world where conditions may be harsher. The U.S. aims to be gentler with diplomats so that their countries don't retaliate harshly with their own foreign ambassadors — namely, those from the United States.

In 2010, Qatari diplomat Mohammad al-Madadi smoked in an airport bathroom for a long time during a flight, causing a scare. He made a joke about using his shoes for a bomb, and he was arrested after the flight landed in Denver. He was later released and didn't face charges, writes CNN. Air marshals and the FBI did question al-Madadi about the incident, however. Due to a Nigerian underwear bomb threat the previous Christmas, airline officials had been on high alert for suspicious behavior of the type al-Madadi exhibited. They were concerned that al-Madadi could be another Richard Reid, otherwise known as the man who inadvertently forced the TSA to include removing shoes at airport security due to his bomb threat in 2001, writes CNN.

Al-Madadi was on official business and planned to visit college students in Colorado. It was also discovered that he was planning to visit al-Qaida member Ali al-Marri in Florence, Colorado, as part of a series of consular visits. According to NPR, al-Marri pleaded guilty in 2009 to conspiring to help fund a terrorist organization.

Slate writes that as the third secretary in Qatar, al-Madadi likely falls under the category of highly-ranked diplomats who cannot be arrested due to their status. Though the diplomat was arrested, he was quickly released, showing just how powerful his immunity was.

With diplomatic immunity helping, some diplomats have gotten away with physical abuse. For example, in Washington, D.C., it is unknown how many diplomats abuse their servants, due to the protection of immunity, writes NPR. Many servants come with the diplomat and their family from their country of origin, and due to unknown knowledge of what happens behind closed doors, there may be much physical abuse. Due to not being citizens and with the families having immunity, there is little the U.S. government can do or even investigate, in contrast with U.S. abusers (via NPR).

Abuse can also come from within a family, as well. In 1988, a Zimbabwean diplomat's son was sent back to Zimbabwe under a foster family after he was discovered to have been abused by his father, according to AP News and the Washington Post. 9-year-old Terrence Karamba was originally placed in U.S. foster care after suspicious bruises were discovered while he was at school. However, his well-being quickly became the focal point in a tug-of-war between two major governments and his parents. After undergoing counseling and having a guardian appointed, Karamba was eventually sent home to Zimbabwe. His father, Floyd Karamba, an attache to Zimbabwe's U.N. mission, was sent away from the U.S. over the incident. However, the criminal charges were dropped due the attache's diplomatic immunity (via the Washington Post).

Diplomats have been found to smuggle both goods and people, which is otherwise known as human trafficking. In 2011, human trafficking allegations with relation to diplomats shed light on whether the U.S. was doing enough to stamp out abuse. According to the Center for Public Integrity, Qatari diplomat Essa Mohamed Al Mannai was sued that March for trafficking four women who worked as domestic workers for him and his family — albeit working for extremely little pay and in awful conditions. The women were allegedly brought to the U.S. under fraudulent visas. They were promised work at $7.25 an hour and ended up working for as little as 55 cents an hour (via Center for Public Integrity). Sadly, human trafficking of this sort isn't new, and immunity means that diplomats get away with it more often than not.

Another smuggling case took place in April 1984, when a Bhutanese diplomat named Kunlay Wangdi was caught smuggling drugs into New York. He was carrying 56 pounds of cocaine separated into 23 smaller bags, dispersed throughout two suitcases, writes the New York Times. He flew through Bombay and Frankfurt before reaching New York. A counselor attached to the Royal Bhutan Foreign Service, Wangdi was not traveling for a diplomatic purpose at the time, so although he held a diplomatic passport, Wangdi did not have diplomatic immunity. He was subsequently held instead of paying his $5 million bail.

Many United Nations diplomats have child support that is owed but not paid. It can be difficult to track down said diplomats, considering they are immune from civil process and therefore must be served through diplomatic channels, writes City Journal. Finding personal addresses can be next to hopeless, and if said diplomat is serving internationally, international law makes everything even more confusing.

Before 1994, suing for child support was considered just about impossible. Now, thanks to a change in U.N. regulations, the vast number of cases implies that it can be done, but in reality, it's still very difficult. Kwadwo Nyamekye, a diplomat from Ghana, has an illegitimate American son whom he did not support monetarily for 15 years. The child's mother finally filed a petition for support in 1995, and Nyamekye agreed to pay a monthly amount. All the while, he had been benefiting from child and education credits.

Even after the agreement, according to City Journal, the diplomat didn't pay the agreed-upon amount, so the U.N. took money from his paychecks for child support. Even then, the organization was unsure where to send it and ended up sending it not to the mother or child but to the court who ruled the case in the first place. Family law is messy, even for diplomats and the United Nations.

Some diplomats are listed as diplomats, even if they're actually intelligence officers — otherwise known as spies. Since every government in the world has spies, many governments turn a blind eye to most actions — unless something obviously illegal happens, writes BBC. Even if some spies are caught and sent home, however, more will be waiting in the wings to take their places.

In February 2022, the U.S. government expelled 12 Russian diplomats for espionage-like activities, writes The Hill; diplomatic privileges were revoked in the process. Though the removal was apparently in-process for months, it did happen to fall just four days after Russia invaded Ukraine. In December 2021, the U.S. removed privileges from 27 other Russian diplomats, as well as their families. Nearly 100 other Russian diplomats were sent home between 2016 and 2018, partly due to suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election, and partly as the American response to the 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Soviet spy who had been living in the U.K.