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.
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:
Watch this site.
