Extradition

Extradition is a formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government is handed over to another government for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence.

Controversies

International strains

The refusal for a country to extradite suspects or criminals to another may lead to international relations being strained. Often, the country to which extradition is refused will accuse the other country of refusing extradition for political reasons (whether or not this is justified). As an example:

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• Some US journalists and officials of the state of Pennsylvania accused France of wanting to make a point about justice in the United States and the death penalty by refusing to extradite Ira Einhorn (who was eventually extradited after 3 years of procedure).
• A widespread belief in the French public is that the United Kingdom intentionally delayed the extradition of Rachid Ramda (see 1995 Islamist terror bombings in France) in order to buy safety from Islamic terror attacks on British soil. As of 2005, 10 years after the events, extradition has not yet occurred. (See Londonistan.)

The matters are often complex when the country from which suspects are to be extradited is a democratic country with a rule of law. Typically, in such countries, the final decision of extradition lies with the national executive (prime minister, president or equivalent). However, such countries typically allow extradition defendants recourse to the law, with multiple appeals. These may significantly slow down the procedures. On the one hand, this may lead to unwarranteds international difficulties, as the public, politicians and journalists from the requesting country will ask their executive to put pressure on the executive of the country from which extradition is to take place, while that executive may not in fact have the authority to deport the suspect or criminal on his own. On the other hand, certain delays, or the unwillingness of the local prosecution authorities to present a good extradition case before the court on behalf of the requesting state, may possibly result from the unwillingness of the country's executive to extradite.

Related Topics:
Rule of law - Prime minister - President

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Extradition and abduction

Issues of international law relating to extradition have proven controversial in cases where a state has abducted and removed an individual from the territory of another state without previously requesting permission, or following normal extradition procedures. Such abductions are usually in violation of the domestic law of the country in which they occur, as infringements of laws forbidding kidnapping. Many also regard abduction as violation of international law — in particular of a prohibition on arbitrary detention. Therefore, only a handful of countries resort to kidnapping.

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Notable or controversial cases involving abduction of foreign citizens:

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• Adolf Eichmann from Argentina by Israel in 1960
• Ronnie Biggs from Brazil by independent bounty hunters in 1981
• Mordechai Vanunu from Italy by Israel in 1986
• Alvarez-Machain from Mexico by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
• Mir Aimal Kasi from Pakistan by the CIA in 1997
• Martin Mubanga from Zambia to Guantanamo Bay by the United States in 2002
• Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr from Italy to Egypt by the CIA in 2005

Extraordinary rendition

:See main article: extraordinary rendition.

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Extraordinary rendition, which has been called a euphemism for torture by proxy, refers to a procedure practiced by the government of the United States (and possibly aided by other western countries) whereby suspects are sent to countries in which torture is routinely used in interrogation. As described in various reports in the media, suspects have been arrested, blindfolded, shackled, and sedated, and transported by private jet or other means to the destination country. The reports also say that U.S. agencies have provided interrogators with lists of questions. Although Egypt has been the most common destination, suspected terrorists have been renditioned to other countries, such as Jordan and Syria.

Related Topics:
United States - Torture - Interrogation - Egypt - Jordan - Syria

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These actions are not like extradition in the usual sense of the word regarding a country with a rule of law, none the less because suspects are not given any recourse to the law.

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