Opinion ID: 194806
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the supplementary treaty

Text: Because the Supplementary Treaty departs from accepted extradition protocol, we trace its origins and spotlight its key provisions. In 1972, the United States and the U.K. negotiated new terms governing reciprocal extradition from one nation's territory of persons accused or convicted of certain offenses committed in the other nation. See Extradition Treaty, June 8, 1972, U.S.-U.K., art. I, 28 U.S.T. 227, 229 (Treaty). Under the Treaty, murder was an extraditable offense. See id. art. III(1). Nonetheless, the Treaty allowed a signatory to refuse extradition if it regarded the offense as one of a political character. Id. art. V(c)(i). This exception sired friction between the two traditional allies when federal judges in the United States began interpreting it to bar extradition of members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. See S. Exec. Rep. No. 17, supra, at 2; see also 132 Cong. Rec. 16,558-86 (1986) (collecting cases). To ameliorate this situation, the signatories negotiated treaty amendments aimed at eradicating the political offense exception for acts of violence. See S. Treaty Doc. No. 8, 99th Cong., 1st Sess. (1985) (Proposed Supplementary Treaty); see also S. Exec. Rep. No. 17, supra, at 2. However, when 4 President Reagan submitted the Proposed Supplementary Treaty to the Senate, seeking its advice and consent, the document received mixed reviews. See United States and United Kingdom Supplementary Extradition Treaty: Hearings Before the Senate Comm. on Foreign Relations, 99th Cong., 1st Sess. (1985). Following many months of strident debate, the opposing camps reached a compromise, placing most violent crimes beyond the political offense exception's reach but adding certain novel safeguards for the protection of potential extraditees. See S. Exec. Rep. No. 17, supra, at 4-5. On July 17, 1986, the Senate ratified the proposed treaty subject to the addition of these, and other, amendments. See 132 Cong. Rec. 16,819 (1986). Following approval of the modified version by the House of Commons, instruments of ratification were exchanged on December 23, 1986. See Supplementary Treaty, supra, reprinted at Hein's No. KAV 2053; see also I.I. Kavass et al., Extradition: Laws and Treaties 920.20d-h (1979 & Supp. 1989). At that point, the Supplementary Treaty went into force. An aspect of the Senate-forged compromise lies at the core of the instant case. As ratified, the Supplementary Treaty prohibits extradition if the person sought establishes . . . by a preponderance of evidence that . . . he would, if surrendered, be prejudiced at his trial or punished, detained or restricted in his personal liberty by reason of his race, religion, nationality, or political opinions. Supplementary Treaty, art. 3(a). Appellant's case rests squarely upon this proviso. 5