[Senate Treaty Document 106-34]
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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.


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