U.S. CITIZEN SPOUSE OF AFGHAN DIPLOMAT REPORTS

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000320 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR IO/UNP - S.EDMONDSON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OFDP UN AF PREL SUBJECT: U.S. CITIZEN SPOUSE OF AFGHAN DIPLOMAT REPORTS DOMESTIC ABUSE ¶1. This message is unclassified but sensitive - please treat accordingly. ¶2. USUN Host Country Law Enforcement Coordinator was recently contacted by NYPD regarding a report of domestic violence it received from Lalla Khan-Amin, the U.S. citizen wife of Afghan Mission Second Secretary Wahidullah Amin. Ms. Khan-Amin is an attorney employed at the Saudi Arabian Mission to the UN. Ms. Khan-Amin has twice filed police reports of domestic abuse against Mr. Amin; one for harassment, and one for stalking, neither of which is considered a felony. 3, Ms. Khan-Amin stated in her February 4, 2008 report to the 109th NYPD Precinct that her husband threatened to hit her, and told her in graphic detail how he was going to kill her. Ms. Khan-Amin has since left the marital home and has been staying with her parents. Ms. Khan-Amin's April 2, 2008 report to the 17th NYPD Precinct states that Mr. Amin forcefully grabbed her arm, and followed her into meetings at work, insisting that she return home and stating he would tell her boss she was a "worldly woman" and she would "get fired," and further saying "If you leave me I will kill you and I will kill myself." Ms. Khan-Amin fears these threats are credible due to Mr. Amin's anger and his immunity from criminal jurisdiction. ¶3. USUN Host Country Minister-Counselor and Host Country Law Enforcement Coordinator met with Ms. Khan-Amin in the offices of the NY Commission for the UN on April 4, 2008. Ms. Khan-Amin further reported information concerning her husband's parents, who are apparently in the U.S. on A2 visas. She states that her father-in-law, Mohammad Amin, has also pressured her to return to her husband, and has made credible threats against her. She stated also that both Mohammad and Wahidullah Amin have pressured her father, UN senior staff member Sarbuland Khan, to make her return to her husband's residence. Ms. Khan-Amin has obtained an order of separation, but Mr. Amin refuses to sign it. Ms. Khan-Amin has said she does not want the Department or USUN to request a waiver of Mr. Amin's immunity, as she fears if Mr. Amin is sent back to Afghanistan, his parents or other relatives in the U.S. will extract revenge and harm her. ¶4. USUN Missoffs met with Mrs. Khan-Amin again on April 8, specifically in regard to an allegation that she made on April 4 that she had been raped by Mr. Amin before she was married and whether she would be prepared to bring that incident to the attention of local law enforcement. It appears that she is not prepared at this time to go to the authorities with regard to any such incident. ¶5. Host Country Minister-Counselor called in Afghan PermRep Ambassador Zahir Tanin later on April 8 and used the following Department-provided talking points with regard to the case: (1) USUN had been informed by NYPD of some very serious allegations against Mr. Amin made by his wife relating to harassment and stalking; (2) as a result she advised local authorities that they had separated; (3) there have been additional unreported allegations of violence as well; (4) the USG views these matters seriously and asks the PermRep's assistance so that there will be no more incidents of this nature; (5) because under US law acts of violence, stalking or even threats of violence are serious matters, diplomats may not engage in such actions and will be held accountable if they do; and (6) USUN appreciates the PermRep's understanding and assistance and requested the PermRep report back that he had spoken to Mr. Amin and that Mr. Amin understood what was expected of him. ¶6. Ambassador Tanin thanked USUN for bringing this serious matter to his attention. He said that Afghan diplomats in the United States have a special obligation to be good guests in this country, particularly as Americans are giving their blood and lives for his country's liberty. He said that he was very surprised that Wahidullah Amin - "a calm and honorable young man" would have engaged in such activities, particularly as he was only recently married. He said if the couple could not reconcile their differences, it was clear that Mr. Amin would have to step aside and not continue to engage his wife in any way that would be difficult for her or make trouble for the host country. Ambassador Tanin promised to speak with Amin and report his conversation and Mr. Amin's understanding of it by telephone to USUN in the next days. Khalilzad