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[Senate Treaty Document 106-38]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

106th Congress                                              Treaty Doc.
                                  SENATE                     
 2d Session                                                   106-38
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

 
                    EXTRADITION TREATY WITH BELIZE

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

   EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
  AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF BELIZE, SIGNED AT BELIZE ON MARCH 30, 
                                  2000

 July 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, July 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 Belize, signed at Belize on March 30, 
2000.
    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 explains, 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.
    The Treaty is one of a series of modern extradition 
treaties being negotiated by the United States in order to 
counter criminal activities more effectively. Upon entry into 
force, the Treaty will replace the outdated Extradition Treaty 
between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of 
America, signed at London, June 8, 1972, entered into force on 
October 21, 1976, and made applicable to Belize on January 21 
1977. That treaty continued in force for Belize following 
independence. This Treaty will, upon entry into force, enhance 
cooperation between the law enforcement communities of the two 
countries. It will thereby make a significant contribution to 
international law enforcement efforts against serious offenses, 
including terrorism, organized crime, and drug-trafficking 
offenses.
    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, July 5, 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 Belize, signed at Belize on 
March 30, 2000. I recommend that the Treaty be transmitted to 
the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification.
    The Treaty follows generally the form and content of 
extradition treaties recently concluded by the United States. 
The Treaty will, upon entry into force, enhance cooperation 
between the law enforcement communities of the United States 
and Belize in areas of particular concern to the U.S. law 
enforcement community. The Treaty will replace the Extradition 
Treaty between the United States of America and the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, signed at 
London, June 8, 1972, entered into force October 21, 1976 and 
made applicable to Belize on January 21, 1977. This treaty 
continued in force for Belize following independence. The 
current treaty has become outmoded and the new Treaty will 
provide significant improvements. For example, it will 
establish the coverage of such key offenses as operating a 
continuing criminal enterprise, racketeering, money laundering 
and firearms offenses. The new Treaty will not require any 
implementing legislation.
    Article 1 obligates the Parties to extradite to each other, 
pursuant to the provisions of the Treaty, persons sought for 
prosecution or convicted of an extraditable offense by 
Requesting State authorities.
    Article 2 concerns extraditable offenses. Article 2(1) 
defines an extraditable offense as one that falls within any of 
the descriptions listed in the Schedule annexed to the Treaty, 
or any other offense, provided that in either case the offense 
is punishable under the laws in both States by deprivation of 
liberty for a period of more than one year or by a more severe 
penalty. The Schedule includes 40 of the most common 
extraditable offenses. Use of a ``dual criminality'' clause in 
addition to a list of offenses covered by the Treaty obviates 
the need to renegotiate or supplement the Treaty as additional 
offenses become punishable under the law of both States.
    Article 2(2) defines an extraditable offense further as 
including 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 an extraditable offense 
whether or not (a) the laws in the two States place the offense 
within the same category of offenses or describe the offense by 
the same terminology; or (b) the offense is one for which 
United States federal law requires the showing of such matters 
as interstate transportation, or use of the mails or of other 
facilities affecting interstate or foreign commerce, such 
matters being merely for the purpose of establishing 
jurisdiction in a United States federal court.
    With regard to offenses committed outside the territory of 
the Requesting State, Article 2(4) provides that extradition 
must be granted where the laws in the Requested State provide 
for the punishment of an offense committed outside its 
territory in similar circumstances.
    Article 2(5) provides that if extradition is granted for an 
extraditable offense, it shall also be granted for other 
offenses specified in the request that do not meet the minimum 
deprivation of liberty requirement, provided that all other 
extradition requirements are met.
    Article 3 provides that extradition shall not be refused on 
the ground of the nationality of the person sought. Although 
Belize as a common-law country has no domestic legal bar to 
extraditing its nationals, until 5 years ago it refused to do 
so. Article 3 would assure that Belize could not revert to this 
prior practice.
    As is customary in extradition treaties, Article 4 
incorporates a political and military offense exception to the 
obligation to extradite. Article 4(1) states generally that 
extradition shall not be granted for political offenses. 
Article 4(2) specifies three specific categories of offenses 
that shall not be considered political offenses: (a) a murder 
or other willful crime against a Head of State of one of the 
States parties, or a member of such person's family; (b) an 
offense for which both States have the obligation pursuant to a 
multilateral international agreement to extradite the person 
sought or to submit the case to their respective competent 
authorities for decision as to prosecution (e.g., the 
Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizures of 
Aircraft, done at the Hague on December 16, 1970, 22 UST 1641, 
TIAS 7192); and (c) a conspiracy or attempt to commit any of 
the foregoing offenses, or aiding or abetting a person who 
commits or attempts to commit such offenses.
    Article 4(3) further provides that notwithstanding the 
three 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) provides that extradition may be denied 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 authorities in the 
Requested State have either declined to prosecute or have 
decided to discontinue criminal proceedings against the person 
sought for the same offense for which extradition is requested.
    Article 6 establishes the procedures and describes the 
documents that are required to support a request for 
extradition. It requires that all requests be submitted through 
the diplomatic channel. Article 6(3) provides that, among other 
things, a request for the extradition of a person sought for 
prosecution must be supported by such evidence as would be 
found sufficient, according to the law of the Requested State, 
to justify committal for trial if the offense of which the 
person has been accused had been committed in the Requested 
State.
    Article 7 establishes the procedures under which documents 
submitted pursuant to Article 6 shall be received and admitted 
into evidence in each State when it is the Requested State. 
These provisions are similar to those found in other modern 
extradition treaties.
    Article 8 provides that extradition shall not be denied 
because of the prescriptive laws (e.g., statute of limitations) 
of either State.
    Article 9 sets forth procedures for the provisional arrest 
and detention of the person sought in cases of urgency, pending 
presentation of the formal request for extradition. Article 
9(4) provides that, if the Requested State's executive 
authority has not received the formal request for extradition 
and the supporting documents required by Article 6 within sixty 
days from the date of provisional arrest, the person may be 
discharged from custody. During that time the person arrested 
must have access to the courts for such remedies and recourses 
available under the Requested State's laws. Article 9(5) 
explicitly provides that the release of a person from custody 
pursuant to Article 9(4) does not prejudice subsequent re-
arrest and extradition if the extradition request and 
supporting documents are delivered at a later date.
    Article 10 specifies the standard procedures governing the 
extradition decision and the surrender and return of persons 
sought. Article 10(1) provides that extradition shall be 
granted only if the evidence is sufficient under the law of the 
Requested State either to justify the committal for trial of 
the person sought if the offense had been committed in the 
Requested State or to prove that the person is the identical 
person convicted by the Requesting State. Article 10 further 
requires the Requested State to provide prompt notice through 
the diplomatic channel to the Requesting State of its decision 
on the request for extradition and to provide reasons for any 
complete or partial denial of a request. If extradition is 
granted, the relevant authorities of the States must agree on 
the date and place for the surrender of the person sought. 
Article 10(5) provides that if the person sought is not removed 
from the territory of the Requested State within the time 
period prescribed by the law of that State, the person may be 
discharged from custody; the Requested State, in its 
discretion, may subsequently refuse extradition for the same 
offense.
    Article 11 concerns temporary and deferred surrender. If a 
person whose extradition has been granted is being proceeded 
against or is serving a sentence in the Requested State, the 
Requested State may temporarily surrender the person to the 
Requesting State for prosecution. The person so surrendered 
must be kept in custody in the Requesting State and returned to 
the Requested State after the conclusion of the proceedings 
against that person, on conditions agreed between the States. 
Alternatively, the Requested State may postpone the extradition 
proceedings until its prosecution has been concluded or the 
sentence has been served.
    Article 12 again reflects the U.S. practice in modern 
extradition treaties, setting forth a non-exclusive list of 
factors to be considered by the Requested State in determining 
to which State to surrender a person sought by more than one 
State.
    Article 13 provides that if extradition is granted, the 
Requested State may, to the extent permitted under its law, 
seize and surrender to the Requesting State all articles, 
documents, and evidence connected with the offense. Such items 
may be surrendered even if the extradition cannot be carried 
out due to the death, disappearance, or escape of the person 
sought. Surrender of the property may be conditioned upon 
satisfactory assurances concerning its return, or may be 
deferred if the property is needed as evidence in the Requested 
State. Article 13(3) provides that any rights of third parties 
in such property must be duly respected.
    Article 14 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 was 
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 specialty is granted 
by the executive authority of the Requested State. Similarly, 
the Requesting State may not extradite the person to a third 
state for an offense committed prior to the original surrender 
unless the surrendering State consents. These restrictions do 
not apply if the person has left and voluntarily returned to 
the territory of the Requesting State or if the person has had 
an opportunity to leave the territory of the Requesting State 
after extradition and has not done so within ten days.
    Article 15 permits surrender by the Requested State without 
further proceedings if the person sought consents to be 
surrendered.
    Article 16 governs the transit through the territory of one 
State of a person being surrendered to the other State by a 
third State.
    Article 17 contains provisions on representation and 
expenses that are similar to those found in other modern 
extradition treaties. Specifically, the Requested State must 
bear the expenses incurred and represent the interests of the 
Requesting State in any proceedings arising out of a request 
for extradition. The Requesting State must pay all expenses 
incurred in translation of extradition documents and the 
transportation of the person surrendered.
    Article 17(3) clarifies that neither State can make any 
pecuniary claim against the other State arising out of the 
arrest, detention, examination, or surrender of persons sought 
under the Treaty.
    Article 18 provides that the Department of Justice of the 
United States and the Attorney General of Belize may consult 
with each other directly in connection with the processing of 
individual cases and in furtherance of maintaining and 
improving procedures for the implementation of the Treaty.
    Article 19, like similar provisions in most recent U.S. 
extradition treaties, states that the Treaty is applicable to 
offenses committed before as well as after the date the Treaty 
enters into force, provided that extradition shall not be 
granted for an offense committed before the Treaty enters into 
force which was not an offense under the laws of both States at 
the time of its commission. The Article also provides that 
nothing in the Treaty can be construed to criminalize any 
conduct not subject to criminal sanctions at the time it 
occurred.
    Article 20 contains final clauses dealing with the Treaty's 
ratification and entry into force. It provides that the Treaty 
is subject to ratification and that the Treaty shall enter into 
force upon the exchange of instruments of ratification, which 
is to take place as soon as possible. Article 20(3) provides 
that, upon entry into force of this Treaty, the Extradition 
Treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United 
States of America, signed at London June 8, 1972, shall cease 
to have any effect between the United States and Belize. 
Nevertheless, the Article notes that the Treaty shall continue 
to apply to any extradition proceedings in which extradition 
documents have already been submitted to thecourts of the 
Requested State at the time the Treaty enters into force, except that 
Article 14, addressing the rule of specialty, and Article 15, providing 
for voluntary surrender, shall apply to persons found extraditable 
under the prior treaty.
    Article 21 provides that either State may terminate the 
Treaty by giving six months written notice to the other State.
    A Technical Analysis explaining in detail the provisions of 
the Treaty is being prepared by the United States negotiating 
delegation, consisting of representatives from the Departments 
of Justice and State, and will be transmitted 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 an early 
date.
    Respectfully submitted,
                                                Madeleine Albright.

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