U.S. to Judge: We Can Kidnap Suspects
Extradition is only one way for the U.S. government to get suspected criminals in foreign countries back to American soil for trial. Another legitimate option is to kidnap them, a lawyer representing the United States reportedly told an appellate judge in a United Kingdom case, causing an uproar there once the comment made the news.
During a hearing last month in an extradition case involving a British hotel owner wanted in the U.S. on charges of bank fraud and tax evasion, Alun Jones QC, who was representing the U.S., was asked by a judge about an attempted abduction by American authorities in 2005 of a suspect who was visiting Canada. “Jones replied that it was acceptable under American law to kidnap people if they were wanted for offenses in America,” writes the London Times.
Once a kidnapped foreign suspect is brought to the U.S. for trial, no American court will rule that the abduction was illegal, Jones reportedly said. “If you kidnap a person outside the United States and you bring him there, the court has no jurisdiction to refuse—it goes back to bounty hunting days in the 1860s,” he told the judge. Jones cited as his authority for this position a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of Humberto Alvarez Machain, who was kidnapped by American authorities two years earlier from his medical office in Guadalajara, Mexico. Both Britain and Mexico have extradition treaties with the U.S.
Although British citizens have understood that the U.S. may use such tactics concerning suspected terrorists, the comments by Jones are the first time the British have heard that kidnapping is also considered a legal method of bringing foreign suspects, from virtually any country, back to the U.S. in a wide range of criminal cases, according to the newspaper. Presently, perhaps a dozen British executives are under investigation in the U.S. for possible corporate crimes and could eventually face charges here, the Times notes.
Readers responded to the Internet version of the newspaper article with dozens of critical comments, and a spokeswoman for a human rights group said the U.S. needs to reconsider its position. “This law may date back to bounty-hunting days, but they should sort it out if they claim to be a civilized nation,” said Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty.
The Department of Justice declined to comment.
