U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

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79–118

" ! SENATE 106TH CONGRESS

2d Session

TREATY DOC.

2000

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

(III)

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.

(V)

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 StatesUnited 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.
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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.
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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
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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 fortyfive 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 indi-
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vidual 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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