US Says Death Penalty No Block to EU-US Extradition

Mar 22

By Marie-Louise Moller

THE HAGUE - The United States believes differences with the European Union (news - web sites) on use of the death penalty should not hamper efforts to forge a mutual extradition treaty in the war on terror, a top U.S. official said on Friday.

The EU and United States are considering an unprecedented mutual legal assistance and extradition deal covering terrorism and organized crime, and the EU has said any deal would have to include U.S. guarantees against the use of the death penalty.

 But Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff said Washington would prefer only to give such guarantees on a case-by-case basis for suspects extradited from Europe.

 "Our experience is that these things are worked out best case-by-case," Chertoff told reporters in the Hague (news - web sites) after meeting EU law enforcement officials.

 "I hope it is not an obstacle. We respect the fact that we each have our own views on these matters. The key is to work out an accommodation," he said.

 Any deal could lead, for example, to creation of joint EU-U.S. law enforcement investigations, including interrogations using video conference techniques, diplomats say.

 Chertoff said international cooperation was the only way to safeguard citizens across the world against terrorism. "We are facing in terrorism a global menace in which terrorists pay no heed to borders," he said.

 U.S. diplomats say any EU-U.S. deal on extradition would be better than the 15 existing bilateral agreements, if all EU member states agreed to extradite their own nationals.

 Only four EU members -- Britain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy -- extradite their own nationals. Most of the others are constitutionally barred from doing so.

 Chertoff made it clear that Washington would not accept any EU-U.S. deal in the area of mutual legal assistance which could undermine current bilaterals.

 "We have had very good experiences bilaterally working with both exchange of information and extradition... We are not going to be seeking to replace existing agreements, we are going to be looking to supplement them," he said.

 Washington has bilateral agreements on mutual legal assistance, covering exchange of information and cooperation in crime busting with Spain, Britain, France, Belgium, Greece, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

 Similar agreements have been signed, but not ratified, with Sweden and Ireland. There are no agreements with Germany, Denmark, Finland and Portugal.