" An American diplomat who police say was speeding crossed the center line in his SUV and rammed into a full mini-bus, killing a father of three whose widow is six months pregnant, officials said Friday.
U.S. Embassy officials in Nairobi rushed the American and his family out of Kenya the next day, leaving the crash victims with no financial assistance to pay for a funeral and for hospital bills for the eight or so others who were seriously injured."
Yes, this happens. A Russian diplomat ran over two pedestrians in Ottawa. He was tried in Russia. And convicted.
Let’s hope the US owns up to this, punishes the guilty, and pays proper restitution to the victims.
If the facts are as reported, that sure is a classy double standard by the US, which was sure keen to get diplomatic immunity waived on that Georgian diplomat who killed the girl in a drink driving accident in DC several years back.
A SDStaff column from some years back, brilliantly written and researched, on diplomatic immunity.
In this case, it may, or may not, be that manslaughter is the right word to use, although I don’t know the Kenyan legal system at all. But typically a death that arises from a traffic accident – even one that involves speeding – is not “manslaughter” in the United States. State laws will differ, but as a rule you’ve got to show than simply speeding. Recklessly speeding, where you’re going more than, say, 20 mph over the speed limit, or intoxication, or failing to have headlights on at night – all these might be factors to support manslaughter. But without those facts more carefully defined, I’m not on board with the claim of manslaughter.
Now, that said, at the very least we ought to waive his immunity to the extent of permitting the victim’s family to sue, because it seems very clear to me that he’s at fault. Secretary Kerry, time to step to the plate.
I do not know Kenyan Criminal Law, but I do know their legal system is based upon that of England and Wales.
Don’t be so modest! 
Well, you can ask for immunity to be waived, but it is not at all sure that you can get it (the Russian diplomat mentioned by Sunspace did not have his immunity waived and was taken back to Russia, where he was tried). The article written by Bricker and linked to a couple of posts above gives a different case where the US would have liked for immunity to be waived, but it didn’t happen:
(copypaste from the article):
“The system doesn’t always work flawlessly. Salem Al-Mazrooei was arrested in Virginia after he arranged to meet the thirteen-year-old girl he’d been chatting with on the Internet at a Bedford shopping mall. According to Bedford sheriff’s deputies, Al-Mazrooei had made some “very graphic” requests for sex to the seventh-grader. As it happened, the person on the other end of the keyboard was neither a seventh-grader nor a girl but rather a Bedford sheriff’s deputy. The case turned sour when Mr. Al-Mazrooei was arrested and immediately asserted diplomatic immunity – he was a Saudi Arabian diplomat assigned to the Saudi embassy in Washington. After the embassy was informed of the charges, Mr. Al-Mazrooei was removed from his job but permitted to return to Saudi Arabia. He remains outside of U.S. jurisdiction to this day.”
This said, I would like to at least see the diplomat in question tried in the US.
While serving my country, I expressed my opinion that from a security standpoint I didn’t think it was wise to allow Vietnamese nationals free rein to roam about our fire base. In particularly MY squad, platoon, and company areas. The Captain explained to me there could be some Diplomatic Consequences if it was reported I had that sort of attitude. I answered, “Hell, Cap’n. If the Viets want to NPG my ass back to the states, I have absolutely NO problem with that! Where can I sign up?” He thought about that for a while, smiled, and said that as a squad leader, I should try to keep it buttoned around my squad as I might start a movement or something.