The land of the free...and the home of the cowardly
American official’s wife allowed to hide from justice behind diplomatic immunity after flight back to the US
IF EVER there was a test of Boris Johnson’s newfound friendship with Donald Trump, we are seeing it now. Amid the Brexit chaos, as the Prime Minister seeks to keep America sweet for a trade deal, transatlantic diplomacy has been shown to mean nothing to the current White House administration.
After the tragic death of teenager Harry Dunn, not only did the American involved in the accident flee to the States, so did every shred of US decency.
The 19-year-old lost his life following a collision with the car of Anne Sacoolas, the wife of an Oregon-born intelligence officer stationed at RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.
Initially the 42-year-old mum-ofthree co-operated with police, but after it became apparent she may be charged, she was “put on a plane” with her family to return to the States.
According to Harry’s parents, he was hit head-on by her car as she drove 400 yards on the wrong side of the road just three weeks after the Sacoolas arrived in the UK.
At first, she said she had no plans to leave the country.
But days later the American cited diplomatic immunity, which was bestowed on those working in RAF Croughton and their families in a 1994 deal between Britain and America.
Officials at the US embassy could have issued a waiver for investigating officers to question Sacoolas further, but Northamptonshire Police’s request was refused. Now Harry’s family have been left to “beg” Mr Johnson to call on Trump to return the suspect to Britain as they endure the pain of losing a child.
Every mother and father hopes that they will be gone long before their sons or daughters. They are the feelings that unite all parents across the world. In the case of Sacoolas, you can only question how she would feel, what she would want, what America would demand, if the tables were turned.
The use of diplomatic immunity under such circumstances is an abuse of powers. Ever since the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, foreign embassy staff and countless government officials have been immune to the laws of the land in which they live.
The reasoning behind this is sound, it protects diplomats from harassment by host governments while ensuring they are kept from facing corrupt justice systems.
You only have to think back to the Cold War to envisage how a diplomat could succumb to a latter-day Anna Chapman honeytrap (the Russian spy arrested in the US in 2010) or a suave Bond-like character, to see the dangers they face.
But the B4031 outside Croughton is a far cry from honeytraps and clandestine rendezvous.
These days diplomatic immunity has become akin to a ‘Get out of jail free’ card on a Monopoly board.
Whether it be the Libyans, the Saudis, the French or the Americans, all have hidden behind the Vienna Convention while laughing at the UK.
And we are not just talking serious crimes, such as the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, killed by a shot from Libya’s London Embassy in 1984.
Diplomats in the UK have dodged paying more than £111 million in traffic fines with America the biggest offenders, racking up more than £12m in penalties. While Mayor of London, Mr Johnson openly criticised then US ambassador Robert Tuttle for refusing to pay the capital’s then £8 daily congestion charge over three years.
“I think it’s the Geneva Convention which prevents me from slapping an ASBO on every single diplomat who fails to pay, I think it’s an unbelievable scandal,” he said at the time. The case of Anne Sacoolas is the “unbelievable scandal”.
While Harry’s family have shown incredible restraint, respect and dignity in their darkest days, Sacoolas continues to hide in plain sight of her fellow Americans.
The shame is not just hers, it is equally that of US authorities who plotted and planned her move back to the States.
If Donald Trump values the ‘special relationship’ with new pal Boris, he should demand Sacoolas be sent back to Britain.
If not, he too should feel the shame. International law may protect Sacoolas, but the spirit of human decency is calling for her to face justice.
Let’s not hold our breath.