Raymond Allen Davis is a former United States Army soldier, private security firm employee, contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and convicted criminal who killed three Pakistani men and triggered a major diplomatic crisis between the United States and Pakistan in 2011.
On January 27, 2011, Davis shot two men in the back, killing both, in Lahore, Pakistan. At least one of the men was armed. Immediately after the shooting, a car coming to aid Davis killed a third Pakistani man, Ibadur Rahman, in a hit and run while speeding on the wrong side of the road. In the aftermath of the incident, the U.S. government contended that Davis was protected by diplomatic immunity because of his employment with the American consulate in Lahore. However, he was jailed and criminally charged by Pakistani authorities with two counts of murder and the illegal possession of a firearm. On March 16, 2011, Davis was released after the families of the two killed men were paid in diyya (a form of blood money compensation in Islamic law). Judges then acquitted him on all charges, and Davis immediately left Pakistan.
The incident led to a diplomatic furor and deterioration in Pakistan–United States relations. A major focus of the incident was the U.S. government's assertion that Davis was protected under the principle of diplomatic immunity due to his role as an "administrative and technical official" attached to the American consulate in Lahore. The United States claimed that Davis was protected under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and demanded he be released from custody immediately. Barack Obama, then-President of the United States, asked Pakistan not to prosecute Davis and recognize him as a diplomat, stating, "There's a broader principle at stake that I think we have to uphold." Pakistani officials disputed the claim of immunity from a murder charge, asserting that Davis was involved in clandestine operations, and questioned the scope of his activities in Pakistan. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated that "this matter is sub judice ["under adjudication"] in a court of law and the legal process should be respected." Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated that, according to official records and experts in the Foreign Office, Davis was "not a diplomat and cannot be given blanket diplomatic immunity"; Qureshi claimed that his stand on the issue allegedly led to him being sacked as the foreign affairs minister.
The aftermath of the shooting led to widespread protests in Pakistan, demanding action against Davis.
Almost a month after the incident, U.S. officials revealed Davis was a contractor for the CIA after it was reported in The Guardian. According to The Telegraph, he was the acting CIA Station Chief in Pakistan.
An unnamed official with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) stated that Davis had contacts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border and knew both of the men that he had shot. He stated that the ISI would investigate the possibility that the encounter on the streets of Lahore stemmed from a meeting or from threats to Davis. Some media outlets have suggested, according to anonymous sources, that data retrieved from Davis's phones and GPS device indicated that he had been to Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and some areas in the tribal belt of the country that have been the subject of U.S. drone attacks. These attacks were interrupted for several weeks after Davis's arrest before resuming on March 18, 2011, in a strike at Datta Khel, two days after Davis left Pakistan.
Incident Davis indicated in his written statement that the incident happened when he was coming from the consulate, although the report from Pakistani police stated that the GPS record showed he was coming from his private residence at Scotch Corner, Upper Mall. Davis stated that after withdrawing cash from a bank cash machine, he was driving alone in his white Honda Civic and had stopped at a traffic light near Qurtaba Chowk in the Mozang Chungi area of Lahore when two men pulled alongside him on a motorbike. After one of the young men allegedly brandished a pistol, Davis opened fire and killed both of them with his own 9mm Glock pistol.
The two men were identified as Faizan Haider, 22 years old and Faheem Shamshad (also known as Muhammad Faheem), 26 years old. Davis told police that he acted in self-defence. The police were unable to find any eyewitnesses to support Davis's contention that the deceased men brandished a weapon. Police confirmed that Faheem was carrying a pistol at the time of the shooting. According to the investigative officers, when Davis fired at Faizan and Faheem, they were sitting on their bike in front of his car with their backs towards Davis. Davis shot them through his windshield. After the shooting, Davis is alleged to have exited his car to take pictures and videos of the casualties with his cell phone. There are additional reports that Davis shot five rounds through his windshield, got out of his vehicle and shot four more rounds into the two men as they lay on the pavement.Greg Miller and Karen DeYoung, "U.S., Pakistani officials at diplomatic odds in fatal shooting" (February 9, 2011). The Washington Post. The police report notes that both witnesses and Davis reported that Davis fired from behind Haider as Haider was running away.
Davis then radioed for backup. Minutes later, four men in a Toyota Land Cruiser with fake registration plates made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the scene. Stopped in a traffic jam, the driver of the Land Cruiser jumped the median on Jail Road and traveled against the oncoming traffic. The Land Cruiser collided with a motorcyclist unconnected to the initial incident, later identified as Ebadur Rehman (also transliterated Ibad-ur-Rehman). Faizan Haider died at the scene, while both Faheem Shamshad and Ibad-ur-Rehman were taken to Services Hospital, Lahore and subsequently also died. Security camera footage of the damaged vehicle after its fatal collision with Rehman were later shown on Pakistani Geo TV.YouTube – American Consulate Car hits Ibad ur Rehman-CCTV Footage Pakistani official requested the U.S. to produce the men, who had come from the same suburban house where Davis lived and had the same diplomatic visas, for questioning, but the U.S. refused and the men left Pakistan.
After the accident, the vehicle fled the scene and proceeded without stopping to the U.S. Consulate, jettisoning items outside Faletti's Hotel. Police say they included four magazines containing 100 bullets, various battery cells, a baton, scissors, a pair of gloves, a compass with knife, a black colored mask/blindfold, and a piece of cloth bearing the American flag. Davis also attempted to leave the scene in his vehicle, but he was apprehended by two traffic wardens at Old Anarkali Food Street in Anarkali Bazaar and handed over to police.Exclusive Footage of American shooter in Lahore Incident YouTube – Exclusive Footage of American shooter in Lahore Incident
According to news sources, items recovered from Davis's car included a Glock handgun, an infrared light, a portable telescope, GPS equipment, two cellphones, a satellite phone, 9mm ammunition, multiple ATM and military ID cards, and a camera containing pictures of "prohibited areas such as installations along the border with India". Pakistani media also reported that Davis also carried multiple ATM and military ID cards and what was described as a facial disguise or makeup. The Pakistani official said Davis also carried identification cards from the U.S. consulates in Lahore and Peshawar but not from the U.S. embassy in Islamabad.
Investigation Police stated that the two men that were shot by Davis were carrying sidearms but that no shots were fired from these weapons. It is disputed whether the firearms were licensed or not."Relatives grieve as funeral held – Families demand justice" (January 29, 2011). Pakistan News. A senior police officer has said that Haider had a criminal record and was previously involved in dacoity, but neighbors, friends and family of the young men stated that they had no criminal records or history of illegal activity.
The police officer in charge of the investigation, Zulfiqar Hameed, was initially reported as having said that eyewitness testimony suggested that the men were trying to rob Davis. Later press statements from the Lahore Police Chief, Aslam Tareen, explain that police rejected Davis's plea of self-defence precisely because of eyewitness statements. Tareen, describing the shooting as "a clear-cut murder," explained that the self-defence plea "had been considered but the eyewitnesses, the other witnesses and the forensic reports ... showed that it was not a case of self-defence."
The Toyota Land Cruiser that killed Rehman had the fake number plates LZN-6970. Investigations have revealed that the car number was actually registered in the name of Sufi Munawwar Hussain, a resident of Sahiwal district in Punjab province. The men driving the car were allegedly heavily armed and came from Davis's suburban house, raising concerns amongst officials that they were also CIA. The men, who had the same diplomatic visas as Davis, left the country after the U.S. refused Pakistani requests to interview them.
After the incident multiple Pakistani officials told ABC News that both men Davis killed were working for Inter-Services Intelligence and were following Davis because he was spying and had crossed a "red line". This was initially denied by U.S. officials. The Express Tribune also reported that the two dead motorcyclists were intelligence operatives, quoting a Pakistani security official who requested not to be identified since he was not authorized to speak to the media. Pakistani officials alleged that Davis had travelled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and met with some people without the approval of ISI and therefore was being followed in an attempt to intimidate him. Davis alleged that the men he shot were trying to rob him but the police delayed registering cases against Haider and Shamshad.
Diplomatic status The U.S. and Pakistani governments did not agree as to Davis's legal status in Pakistan at the time of his arrest. The U.S. government claimed that Davis was a diplomat and should neither have been arrested nor should be prosecuted under Pakistani law because he had diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The Punjab authorities (the province in which Davis was arrested) claimed that Davis was not on a diplomatic visa but on an official business visa.
According to U.S. officials cited in The New York Times, senior Pakistani officials "believed in private that Davis had diplomatic immunity but that the government was unwilling or unable to enforce the protocol". After senior Pakistani official, Information Secretary of the PPP Fauzia Wahab made statements reflecting her personal belief that Davis did have diplomatic immunity, she resigned her post rather than testify. A contempt of court petition was filed against her in the Lahore High Court.Wahab quits as PPP information secretary Wahab quits as PPP information secretary – The Express Tribune PTI flays Fauzia Wahab 15, 2011 PTI flays Fauzia Wahab