Saturday, May 16, 2009

Child Trafficking and Diplomatic Immunity...

I saw a very stressful show on tv where authorities and a tv crew for the show were on covert operation for weeks to catch a suspected pedophile. They followed the foreigner's routine and thrice, they ended up in a parking lot of a condo building where the suspected pedophile lived. The car had diplomatic plates.

Twice the authorities were prevented from entering by security people and when the authorities bypassed the guards on foot it was always too late. The law required that he should be caught in the act. The car owner used a different exit and got away. On the third operation, the authorities coordinated with the condo security. Exits were blocked but when they got there, the authorities were again prevented by guards to proceed to where the car was parked. This time the authorities didn't waste time. They blocked the front and rear of the car. The 47-year old man was arrested. His victim was in the front seat with him. He is a licensed medical doctor and working for a well-known internatinal organization which I sometimes mention in my blog entries.

The foreigner was trembling while being interviewed at the police station. His victims were mostly children - male or female, and the youngest was 10 years old.When questioned at the police staion, the pimp who brought him his victims said he had brought the foreigner about 10 minors "only" and he himself was a victim the year before....sheesh.

The embassy confirmed that the person arrested was from their country and issued a statement that they strongly support the government's efforts against child trafficking. The organization the foreigner works for had not issued any statement.

Following international law, even diplomatic personnel can have diplomatic immunity and cannot be charged with a crime no matter how heinous. They should change the law, especially if the person is caught in the act. Diplomatic immunity can't be made an escape for one's crime.

Am I upset? Yeah I'm upset...more so that the organization the man works for is one I openly support and had not issued any statement on the arrest of their personnel...