II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 654 

To prohibit the expulsion, return, or extradition of persons by the United 

States to countries engaging in torture, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2005 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. DODD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To prohibit the expulsion, return, or extradition of persons 

by the United States to countries engaging in torture, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Convention Against 

5 Torture Implementation Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN TRANSFERS OF PER7 SONS. 

8 (a) PROHIBITION.—No person in the custody or con9 trol of a department, agency, or official of the United 
2 

•S 654 IS

1 States Government, or of any contractor of any such de2 partment or agency, shall be expelled, returned, or extra3 dited to another country, whether directly or indirectly, 

4 if— 

5 (1) the country is included on the most recent 

6 list submitted to Congress by the Secretary of State 

7 under section 3; or 

8 (2) there are otherwise substantial grounds for 

9 believing that the person would be in danger of 

10 being subjected to torture. 

11 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

12 (1) WAIVERS.— 

13 (A) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of State 

14 may waive the prohibition in subsection (a)(1) 

15 with respect to a country if the Secretary cer16 tifies to the appropriate congressional commit17 tees that— 

18 (i) the acts of torture that were the 

19 basis for including that country on the list 

20 have ended; and 

21 (ii) there is in place a mechanism that 

22 assures the Secretary in a verifiable man23 ner that a person expelled, returned, or ex24 tradited to that country will not be tor25 tured in that country, including, at a min-
3 

•S 654 IS

1 imum, immediate, unfettered, and con2 tinuing access, from the point of return, to 

3 such person by an independent humani4 tarian organization. 

5 (B) REPORTS ON WAIVERS.— 

6 (i) REPORTS REQUIRED.—For each 

7 person expelled, returned, or extradited 

8 under a waiver provided under subpara9 graph (A), the head of the appropriate 

10 government agency making such transfer 

11 shall submit to the appropriate congres12 sional committees a report that includes 

13 the name and nationality of the person 

14 transferred, the date of transfer, the rea15 son for such transfer, and the name of the 

16 receiving country. 

17 (ii) FORM.—Each report under this 

18 subparagraph shall be submitted, to the 

19 extent practicable, in unclassified form, but 

20 may include a classified annex as necessary 

21 to protect the national security of the 

22 United States. 

23 (2) EXTRADITION OR REMOVAL.—The prohibi24 tion in subsection (a)(1) may not be construed to 

25 apply to the legal extradition of a person under a bi-
4 

•S 654 IS

1 lateral or multilateral extradition treaty or to the 

2 legal removal of a person under the immigration 

3 laws of the United States if, before such extradition 

4 or removal, the person has recourse to a United 

5 States court of competent jurisdiction to challenge 

6 such extradition or removal on the basis that there 

7 are substantial grounds for believing that the person 

8 would be in danger of being subjected to torture in 

9 the receiving country. 

10 (c) ASSURANCES INSUFFICIENT.—Written or verbal 

11 assurances made to the United States by the government 

12 of a country that persons in its custody or control will 

13 not be tortured are not sufficient for believing that a per14 son is not in danger of being subjected to torture for pur15 poses of subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2), or for meeting the 

16 requirement of subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii). 

17 SEC. 3. REPORTS ON COUNTRIES USING TORTURE. 

18 Not later than 30 days after the effective date of this 

19 Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall 

20 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re21 port listing each country where torture is known to be 

22 used. The list shall be compiled on the basis of the infor23 mation contained in the most recent annual report of the 

24 Secretary of State submitted to the Speaker of the House 

25 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela-
5 

•S 654 IS

1 tions of the Senate under section 116(d) of the Foreign 

2 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)). 

3 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 

4 (a) INTERIM REGULATIONS.—Not later than 60 days 

5 after the effective date of this Act, the heads of the appro6 priate government agencies shall prescribe interim regula7 tions for the purpose of carrying out this Act and imple8 menting the obligations of the United States under Article 

9 3 of the Convention Against Torture, subject to any res10 ervations, understandings, declarations, and provisos con11 tained in the Senate resolution advising and consenting 

12 to the ratification of the Convention Against Torture, and 

13 consistent with the provisions of this Act. 

14 (b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after interim regulations are prescribed under subsection 

16 (a), and following a period of notice and opportunity for 

17 public comment, the heads of the appropriate government 

18 agencies shall prescribe final regulations for the purposes 

19 described in subsection (a). 

20 SEC. 5. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

21 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to eliminate, 

22 limit, or constrain in any way the obligations of the United 

23 States or the rights of any individual under the Conven24 tion Against Torture or any other applicable law. 
6 

•S 654 IS

1 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED AUTHORITY. 

2 Section 2242 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Re3 structuring Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–277; 8 U.S.C. 

4 1231 note) is repealed. Regulations promulgated under 

5 such section that are in effect on the date this Act becomes 

6 effective shall remain in effect until the heads of the ap7 propriate government agencies issue interim regulations 

8 under section 4(a). 

9 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

10 (a) DEFINED TERMS.—In this Act: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.— 

12 The term ‘‘appropriate government agencies’’ 

13 means— 

14 (A) the intelligence community (as defined 

15 in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 

16 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4))); and 

17 (B) elements of the Department of State, 

18 the Department of Defense, the Department of 

19 Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, 

20 the United States Secret Service, the United 

21 States Marshals Service, and any other Federal 

22 law enforcement, national security, intelligence, 

23 or homeland security agency that takes or as24 sumes custody or control of persons or trans25 ports persons in its custody or control outside 

26 the United States, other than those elements 
7 

•S 654 IS

1 listed or designated as elements of the intel2 ligence community under section 3(4) of the 

3 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

4 401a(4))). 

5 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committees on Armed Services, 

9 Homeland Security and Government Affairs, 

10 Judiciary, Foreign Relations, and the Select 

11 Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

12 (B) the Committees on Armed Services, 

13 Homeland Security, Judiciary, International 

14 Relations, and the Permanent Select Committee 

15 on Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

16 (3) CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE.—The 

17 term ‘‘Convention Against Torture’’ means the 

18 United Nations Convention Against Torture and 

19 Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 

20 Punishment, done at New York on December 10, 

21 1984, entered into force on June 26, 1987, signed 

22 by the United States on April 18, 1988, and ratified 

23 by the United States on October 21, 1994 (T. Doc. 

24 100–20). 
8 

•S 654 IS

1 (4) EXPELLED PERSON.—A person who is ex2 pelled is a person who is involuntarily transferred 

3 from the territory of any country, or a port of entry 

4 thereto, to the territory of another country, or a port 

5 of entry thereto. 

6 (5) EXTRADITED PERSON.—A person who is ex7 tradited is an accused person who, in accordance 

8 with chapter 209 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 surrendered or delivered to another country with ju10 risdiction to try and punish the person. 

11 (6) RETURNED PERSON.—A person who is re12 turned is a person who is transferred from the terri13 tory of any country, or a port of entry thereto, to 

14 the territory of another country of which the person 

15 is a national or where the person has previously re16 sided, or a port of entry thereto. 

17 (b) SAME TERMS AS IN THE CONVENTION AGAINST

18 TORTURE.—Except as otherwise provided, the terms used 

19 in this Act have the meanings given those terms in the 

20 Convention Against Torture, subject to any reservations, 

21 understandings, declarations, and provisos contained in 

22 the Senate resolution advising and consenting to the ratifi23 cation of the Convention Against Torture. 
9 

•S 654 IS

1 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act shall take effect on the date that is 30 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 9. CLASSIFICATION IN UNITED STATES CODE. 

5 This Act shall be classified to the United States Code 

6 as a new chapter of title 50, United States Code. 

Æ