Yemeni Business Group Detained at Dulles for Five Hours by Sean OíDriscoll On Sept. 3, a group of diplomats, politicians and businessmen from Yemen were traveling through Dulles International Airport on their way to a symposium on Yemeni culture sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute. The symposium was a big occasion for the Arab nationóa chance to show the United States that it is its political ally and an opportunity for some of the biggest names in the Yemeni business world to make new contacts. The Embassy of Yemen had informed U.S. authorities about the delegationís visit to avoid any unnecessary problems at the airport. However, many of the delegates are alleging that U.S. immigration officials detained them in a small room for five hours, fingerprinting and photographing them before releasing them. According to two senior Yemeni businessmen present during the incident, the director of the Cultural Office in Yemenís largest city was handcuffed and detained for two hours before being released. Ahmed Bazara, chairman of the Shamil Bank of Yemen and Bahrain, was one of those detained for five hours, along with two members of the Yemeni Parliament and the countryís deputy min ister of culture. According to the Embassy of Yemen in Washington, the latter three were carrying diplomatic passports and had explained their position to immigration officials. For Bazara, the incident throws into question the purpose of diplomatic passports, particularly given the fear felt by many Middle Eastern diplomats traveling to the United States in the wake of 9/11. He recalled that delegates had even discussed their fears with the Embassy of Yemen before traveling. ìI was frightened; I was reluctant to come,î Bazara said. ìWe hoped things would be OK because the embassy was kind enough to make arrangements with the U.S. authorities and explained that we were businessmen.î Bazara was the first in his group to reach the immigration desk. ìThey handed me a yellow file and said, ëGo to this room.í I just went there and sat there for five hoursónobody even asked me what was the issue involved,î he said. ìI just waited, and waited and waited. It was very random, very disorganized. There was no sequence. People who came behind were just randomly taken in. At the end, I met an officer who took my fingerprints. He was very politeóI have to be honest. He said he was very sorry for all of this, but I was very, very disappointed and upset.î The most surprising aspect of the detention, Bazara said, was that diplomats were treated no differently from ordinary travelers. ìOne of our group was a diplomatóhe has a diplomatic passport. He is a member the Yemen Senate. Another member of Parliament held a diplomatic passport also. We were all held together, it didnít make any difference. ìWe were just sitting and watching this event. We inquired a few times about how long we had to stay. I would ask, ëAny problems?í ëNo,í they said, ëyou just have to wait.í We just could not move,î Bazara said. ìOne of the people is the director of the Cultural Office at the main city in Yemen. When he came off the plane, he was handcuffed and taken somewhere, I donít know where. I donít know for what reason. They kept him for one or two hours and joined us later,î he added. The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services was contacted for this story but did not respond to inquiries as of press time. Khalid Mustafa, vice chairman of the Chamber of Commerce in Yemenís capital, Sanaía, said he felt like a criminal during the detention. ìWhen we were fingerprinted and photographed, I thought, ëIn other countries, they do this for criminals.í This was very bad,î he said. Mustafa counted three people present who held diplomatic passports, including the deputy minister of culture, Yusuf Abdullah, who Mustafa said had informed the officials of his diplomatic status. ì[The immigration officials] said there was a lot of flights and passengers, this sort of explanation,î Mustafa said. According to attorney Paul Kiyonaga, who specializes in diplomatic law, the actions of the immigration officials may have been in violation of Article 29 of the Vienna Treaty, an agreement that sets out the rules of international diplomacy. That article reads: ìThe person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving state shall treat him with due respect and will take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.î ìI believe that the article may have been tested in this case,î Kiyonaga said. ìTypically, youíre not liable for arrest or detention if youíre a diplomat. The only way in which thatís justified is under a very limited exception where there is an overriding duty to protect human life, such as where a diplomat had been driving while intoxicated, so it would be hard for me to envision any justification for detaining in these circumstances.î Kiyonaga said it was normal for nations to accord diplomatic courtesies to envoys arriving into a country who are not attached to the diplomatic missions in the host nation, as appeared to be the case in this scenario. ìThis is a very interesting case,î he said. ìIt may require a protest to the State Department from the Embassy of Yemen.î Sean OíDriscoll is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.