DSK
Argues
He's Immune
Under
Convention IMF
Can Waive, US
Hasn't Signed
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
BRONX
NY,
September 26
-- In the
sexual abuse
civil case
pending
against
him in The
Bronx,
Dominique
Strauss-Kahn
now argues
that he is
absolutely
immune under
the 1947
Convention on
the Privileges
and
Immunities of
the
Specialized
Agencies.
Strauss-Kahn
acknowledges
that the US is
not a party to
the
Convention,
but argues
the courts in
The Bronx are
still bound by
it in DSK's
Memo of Law,
obtained by
Inner City
Press and put online here.
It
is elementary
that the US is
not bound by
treaties and
conventions
which it
hasn't
signed and
ratified.
Plaintiff
Nafissatou
Diallo's
lawyer quickly
argued in an
email.
“Strauss-Kahn’s
claim of
diplomatic
immunity
will clearly
fail because:
(1) he is not
a diplomat;
(2) according
to his own
story he was
in New York on
‘personal’
business; (3)
he, not the
IMF, paid for
his room at
the Sofitel;
and (4) he was
obviously
acting in his
personal
capacity when
he violently
attacked
Ms. Diallo.”
But
it is also
worth
noting that
the
Specialized
Agencies
Convention
says that
"[e]ach
specialized
agency shall
have the right
and duty to
waive the
immunity of
any official
in any case
where, in its
opinion, the
immunity would
impede the
course of
justice and
can be waived
without
prejudice to
the interests
of the
specialized
agency."
That
is to say,
the IMF can
and should
waive any
immunity that
DSK is arguing
for.
DSK - will IMF
now waive the
immunity he
claims?
Many
disputed
having DSK
replaced by
other French
political
official,
on the theory
that his
successor
would have a
conflict of
interest in
deciding such
questions as
whether to
waiving
argued-for
immunity.
Now that issue
is here: what
will Christine
Lagarde do?
Inner City
Press has
asked the IMF:
"the
IMF
can waive any
immunity that
is being
argued for.
The question:
will the IMF
waive the
IMF-based
immunity for
which Mr.
Strauss-Kahn
is arguing, or
will the IMF
shield him
from the
charges?"
Watch this
site.
* * *
At
UN,
Deby On TNC's
"Hypocrisy, "
400,000
Chadians
"Blocked" in
Libya, "No
Prisoners in
Chad"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 19
-- Chad's
President
Idriss Deby
told Inner
City Press on
Monday that
there remain
400,000
Chadian's
"blocked"
inside Libya.
He
said the vast
majority had
gone to Libya
to work. Some
had been
recruited to
fight but by
both sides, he
insisted,
Gaddafi and
the National
Transitional
Council.
He said that
going forward
the
international
community
should help
reconcile all
Libyans,
"including
those who
worked with
Gaddafi." Video here, 1st part
of interview.
Deby
accused the
leaders of the
"New Libya,"
the National
Transitional
Council, of
hypocrisy as
many of them
previously
worked with
Gaddafi. He
said there
should be
greater
African Union
involvement in
the New Libya,
and chafed at
Inner City
Press'
statement that
South Africa
has led on
that issue,
and on that of
African
migrants.
"There
are other
African
countries on
the Security
Council," he
said, naming
Gabon and then
Nigeria.
Inner
City Press
asked Deby for
his view of
developments
in Sudan. Deby
spoke of
Southern
Kordofan and
"Nil Bleu,"
Blue Nile,
then said that
much remains
to be solved
between North
and South
Sudan.
On
this, Inner
City Press
asked Deby to
respond to reports
that the
publication
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo was
told not to
compare South
Sudan to
Southern Chad:
"In
the
October 14 to
17 edition of
the local
newspaper
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo, the
publishers
included an
article
comparing
southern Sudan
with southern
Chad. The
prime minister
called the
article
'dangerous'
and asked the
HCC to act on
the matter. On
October 19,
the HCC met
with
journalists
and warned
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo in
particular and
all media
houses in
general to
"observe
ethics rules"
by not
printing
articles that
risked
inciting
hatred,
violence, or
separatist
sentiment."
Deby
said he didn't
know about the
case. He said
"come to Chad"
to see the
freedom of the
press, and
also said that
"there are no
political
prisons in
Chad." Inner
City Press
began to ask
of one example
-- Ibni
Oumar Mahamat
Saleh --
but Deby
didn't answer
on it.
Deby and the
author, smiles
on Libya,
other answers
not show
The
interview was
over, and
Inner City
Press left the
Plaza Hotel.
Deby will
speak before
the General
Assembly on
Friday, after
meeting with
Ban Ki-moon
the day
before. "Mais
vous savez de
tout,"
Deby said. Not
as much as
we'd like to.
Watch this
site.
, 
