Honoraryconsuls enjoy at least partial diplomatic immunity while being subject to little oversight. Often, the position is abused by criminals, reports a joint investigation by DeutscheWelle, ICIJorg propublica, and others.👇SerdarVardar_ pelinunker
Honorary consuls, or volunteer diplomats, operate in a legal grey zone, enjoying at least partial diplomatic immunity around the world while being. And such privilege is being abused to the point that it could threaten rule of law, a broad new investigation shows.
The wide-ranging investigation has found that the honorary consuls system — originally meant to leverage the generosity of honorable citizens — may be morphing into a risky form of rogue diplomacy that threatens rule of law around the world. They can also perform limited consular work but do not receive money for it. However, the title of honorary consul opens the lucrative world of diplomacy to its holder, allowing them to enjoy some of the same advantages as professionally employed diplomats.
This was the case with Marco Carrai, an honorary Israeli consul in Florence, Italy. Carrai was suspected of having illegally financed a political party. When Italian investigators searched his office for evidence in 2019, they had to leave many documents untouched because Carrai simply declared they were related to consular matters. When asked, he declined to comment on the allegations.
For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many honorary consuls around the world helped thousands of people return to their home countries. David Asher, a former senior counterterrorism financing expert assigned to the US Department of Defense, said:"Hezbollah has realized that if they use these honorary consuls … they can basically move stuff with impunity and no one is ever going to bust them — you flash your diplomatic passport, no questions asked."Experts assume terrorist organizations have been abusing the privileges of honorary consuls for many years.
Recognizing such risks, countries such as the US, Argentina, Canada, Bolivia and Costa Rica do not appoint honorary consuls.