[Senate Treaty Document 106-34]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
From the Treaty Documents Online via GPO Access
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106th Congress Treaty Doc.
SENATE
2d Session 106-34
_______________________________________________________________________
EXTRADITION TREATY WITH SRI LANKA
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI
LANKA, SIGNED AT WASHINGTON ON SEPTEMBER 30, 1999
June 27, 2000.--Treaty was read the first time, and together with the
accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations and
ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
79-118 WASHINGTON : 2000
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
The White House, June 27, 2000.
To the Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the
Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Extradition
Treaty between the Government of the United States of America
and the Government of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri
Lanka, signed at Washington, September 30, 1999.
In addition, I transmit, for the information of the Senate,
the report of the Department of State with respect to the
Treaty. As the report states, the Treaty will not require
implementing legislation.
The provisions in this Treaty follow generally the form and
content of extradition treaties recently concluded by the
United States.
Upon entry into force, this Treaty would enhance
cooperation between the law enforcement authorities of both
countries, and thereby make a significant contribution to
international law enforcement efforts. The Treaty would
supersede the 1931 United States-United Kingdom extradition
treaty currently applicable to the United States and Sri Lanka.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable
consideration to the Treaty and give its advice and consent to
ratification.
William J. Clinton.
LETTER OF SUBMITTAL
----------
Department of State,
Washington, May 8, 2000.
The President,
The White House.
The President: I have the honor to submit to you the
Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States
of America and the Government of the Republic of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (the ``Treaty''), signed at
Washington on September 30, 1999. I recommend that the Treaty
be transmitted to the Senate for its advice and consent to
ratification.
The Treaty follows closely the form and content of
extradition treaties recently concluded by the United States.
It represents part of a concerted effort by the Department of
State and the Department of Justice to develop modern
extradition relationships to enhance the ability of the United
States to prosecute serious offenders, including, especially,
terrorists, narcotics traffickers, and white collar criminals.
The Treaty marks a significant step in bilateral
cooperation between the United States and Sri Lanka.
Upon entry into force, it will supersede the 1931 United
States-United Kingdom extradition treaty which was made
applicable to Sri Lanka upon entry into force on June 30, 1935,
and which the United States and Sri Lanka have continued to
apply following Sri Lankan independence. The current treaty has
become outmoded and the new treaty will provide significant
improvements. The new treaty can be implemented without new
legislation.
Article 1 obligates each Contracting State to extradite to
the other, pursuant to the provisions of the Treaty, any person
sought by the Requesting State for trial or punishment for an
extraditable offense.
Article 2 concerns extraditable offenses. Article 2(1)
defines an extraditable offense as one punishable under the
laws in both Contracting States by deprivation of liberty for a
period of more than one year, or by a more severe penalty. Use
of such a ``dual criminality'' clause rather than a list of
offenses covered by the Treaty, as in the 1931 United States-
United Kingdom extradition treaty, obviates the need to
renegotiate or supplement the Treaty as additional offenses
become punishable under the laws of both Contracting States.
Article 2(2) defines an extraditable offense to include
also an attempt or a conspiracy to commit, aiding or abetting,
counseling or procuring the commission of, or being an
accessory before or after the fact to, an extraditable offense.
Additional flexibility is provided by Article 2(3), which
provides that an offense shall be considered an extraditable
offense whether or not the laws in the Contracting States place
the offense within the same category of offenses or described
the offense by the same terminology; or whether or not the
offense is one for which United States laws requires the
showing of such matters as interstate transportation or use of
the mails or of other facilities affecting interstate of
foreign commerce, such matters being merely for the purpose of
establishing jurisdiction in a U.S. federal court.
With regard to an offense committed outside the territory
of the Requesting State, Article 2(4) provides that extradition
shall be granted for an extraditable offense regardless of
where the act or acts constituting the offense were committed.
Article 2(5) provides that if extradition has been granted
for an extraditable offense, it will also be granted for any
other offense specified in the request even if the latter
offense is punishable by less than one year's deprivation of
liberty, provided that all other requirements of extradition
are met.
Article 3 provides that extradition shall not be refused on
the ground that the person sought is a national of the
Requested State. Neither Contracting State, in other words, may
invoke nationality as a basis for denying an extradition.
As is customary in extradition treaties, Article 4
incorporates a political offense exception to the obligation to
extradite. Article 4(1) states generally that extradition shall
not be granted for a political offense. Article 4(2) expressly
excludes from the reach of the political offense exception
seven categories of offenses: (a) a murder or other violent
crime against the person of a Head of State or Head of
Government of one of the Contracting States, or of a member of
the Head of State's or Head of Government's family; (b)
aircraft hijacking offenses; (c) acts of aviation sabotage; (d)
crimes against internationally protected persons, including
diplomats; (e) acts of violence at airports; (f) any other
offense for which both Contracting States are obliged pursuant
to a multilateral international agreement to extradite the
person sought or to submit the case to their competent
authorities for decision as to prosecution; and (g) a
conspiracy or attempt to commit any of the offenses described
above, or aiding or abetting a person who commits or attempts
to commit such offenses.
Article 4(3) provides that, notwithstanding the seven
exceptions in Article 4(2), extradition shall not be granted if
the executive authority of the Requested State determines that
the request was politically motivated.
Article 4(4) permits the executive authority of the
Requested State to refuse extradition for offenses under
military law that are not offenses under ordinary criminal law
(for example, desertion).
Article 5 bars extradition when the person sought has been
convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for the same
offense, but does not bar extradition if the competent
authorities in the Requested State have declined to prosecute
for the acts for which extradition has been requested. In
addition, extradition shall not be precluded by the fact that
the authorities in the Requested State, after initiating
criminal proceedings, have decided to discontinue them.
Article 6 provides that extradition shall not be barred
because of the laws relating to lapse of time of either
Contracting State.
Article 7 concerns capital punishment. Under Article 7(1),
when an offense is punishable by death in the Requesting State,
but not in the Requested State, the latter may refuse
extradition unless the offense constitutes murder under the
laws in the Requested State or the Requesting State provides
assurances that the death penalty will not be imposed or, if
imposed, will not be carried out. In cases where the Requesting
State has provided such assurances, Article 7(2) states that
the death penalty, if imposed by the courts of the Requested
State, will not be carried out.
Articles 8 to 10 address matters related to the
presentation and processing of extradition requests. Article 8
establishes the procedures and describes the documents and
other information that are required to support a request for
extradition. It requires that all requests be submitted through
the diplomatic channel. Article 8(3)(c) provides that a request
for the extradition of a person sought for prosecution or
punishment be supported by, among other things, such
information as would provide a reasonable basis to believe that
the person to be extradited committed the offense for which
extradition is requested and is the person named in the arrest
warrant.
Article 9 states that criteria under which documents
submitted pursuant to Article 8 shall be received and admitted
into evidence in the Requested State. Article 10 provides that
all documents submitted by the Requesting State shall be in
English.
Article 11 sets forth procedures for the provisional arrest
and detention of a person sought, in case of urgency, pending
presentation of the formal request for extradition. Article
11(4) provides that if the Requested State's executive
authority has not received the request for extradition and
supporting documentation required in Article 8 within sixty
days after the provisional arrest, the person may be discharged
from custody. Article 11(5) provides explicitly that discharge
from custody pursuant to Article 11(4) does not preclude
subsequent re-arrest and extradition of that person upon later
delivery of the extradition request and supporting documents.
Article 12 specifies the procedures governing the surrender
and return of persons sought. The Requested State is required
to notify the Requesting State promptly through the diplomatic
channel of its decision on extradition and, if the request is
denied in whole or in part, to provide the reasons for the
denial of the request. If the request is granted, the
Contracting States shall agree on the time and place for the
surrender of the person sought. The person must be removed from
the territory of the Requested State within the time prescribed
by the law of that State. Otherwise, that person may be
discharged from custody, and the Requested State may refuse a
subsequent extradition request from the Requesting State for
that person for the same offense.
Article 13 concerns temporary and deferred surrender. If a
person whose extradition is sought is being prosecuted or is
serving a sentence in the Requested State, that State may,
subject to its laws, temporarily surrender the person to the
Requesting State for the purpose of prosecution. Alternatively,
the Requested State may postpone the extradition proceedings
until the domestic prosecution has been concluded or any
sentence imposed has been served.
Article 14 provides that if the Requested State receives
requests from more than one state for the extradition of the
same person, the executive authority of the Requested State, in
consultation with the Requesting State, shall determine to
which state it will surrender the person.
Article 15 provides for the seizure and surrender to the
Requesting State of property connected with the offense for
which extradition is granted, to the extent permitted under the
law of the Requested State. Such property may be surrendered
even when extradition cannot be effected due to the death,
disappearance, or escape of the person sought. Surrender of
property may be deferred if it is needed as evidence in the
Requested State and may be conditioned upon satisfactory
assurances that it will be returned. Article 15(3) imposes an
obligation to respect the rights of third parties in the
affected property.
Article 16 sets forth the rule of specialty. It provides,
subject to specific exceptions, that a person extradited under
the Treaty may not be detained, tried, or punished in the
Requesting State for an offense other than that for which
extradition has been granted or a differently denominated
offense based on the same facts on which extradition has been
granted (provided such offense is extraditable or is a lesser
included offense). Exceptions to the rule of specialty include
an offense committed after the extradition of the person or an
offense for which a waiver of the rule of speciality is granted
by the executive authority of the Requested State. Similarly,
the Requesting State may not extradite the person to a third
state or to an international tribunal for an offense committed
prior to the original surrender unless the surrendering State
consents. These restrictions do not apply if the extradited
person leaves the Requesting State after extradition and
voluntarily returns to it or fails to leave the territory of
the Requesting State within ten days with respect to the
territory of the United States and within forty-five days with
respect to the territory of Sri Lanka of the day on which that
person is free to leave.
Article 17 provides that the Requested State may, subject
to its laws, surrender the person as expeditiously as possible
without further proceedings if the person sought consents to
the surrender.
Article 18 governs the transit through the territory of one
Contracting State of a person being surrendered to the other
Contracting State by a third State.
Article 19 contains provisions on representation and
expenses. Specifically, the Requested State is obligated to
represent the interests of the Requesting State in any
proceedings arising out of a request for extradition. The
Requesting State is required to bear the expenses related to
the translation of documents and the transportation of the
person surrendered. Article 19(3) provides that neither
Contracting State shall make any pecuniary claim against the
other Contracting State arising out of the arrest, detention,
examination, or surrender of persons sought under the Treaty.
Article 20 states that the United States Department of
Justice and the Attorney General's Department of Sri Lanka may
consult with each other directly in connection with the
processing of individual cases and in furtherance of
maintaining and improving Treaty implementation procedures.
Article 21, like the parallel provision in almost all
recent United States extradition treaties, states that the
Treaty shall apply to offenses committed before as well as
after the date the Treaty enters into force.
Article 22 contains final clauses dealing with the Treaty's
ratification and entry into force. Article 22(1) states that
the Treaty shall be subject to ratification, and the
instruments of ratification shall be exchanged as soon as
possible. Article 22(2) states the Treaty shall enter into
force upon the exchange of instruments of ratification. Article
22(3) provides that upon entry into force of this Treaty, the
Treaty for the Mutual Extradition of Criminals between the
United States of America and Great Britain, signed at London,
December 22, 1931, shall cease to have any effect between the
United States and Sri Lanka, except for pending extradition
proceedings in which the extradition documents have already
been submitted to the courts of the Requested State at the time
the Treaty enters into force (with Article 16 of the new Treaty
applicable to such proceedings).
Article 23 provides that either Contracting State may
terminate the Treaty at any time by giving written notice to
the other Contracting State, and the termination shall be
effective six months after the date of such notice.
A Technical Analysis explaining in detail the provisions of
the Treaty is being prepared by the United States negotiating
delegation and will be submitted separately to the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations.
The Department of Justice joins the Department of State in
favoring approval of this Treaty by the Senate at the earliest
possible date.
Respectfully submitted,
Madeleine Albright.