On March 31, 2003, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and U.K. Home
Secretary David Blunkett signed a new treaty providing for extradition
between the two countries of persons accused of crimes. The new treaty,
which has yet to be ratified by the U.S. Senate, marks an unprecedented
departure from two centuries of American extradition practice. America has
always been a refuge for those fleeing tyranny overseas, and a "political
offense exception" to extradition has been an essential element of every one
of our extradition treaties since Thomas Jefferson refused extradition of an
opponent of the French Revolution.
Although the new treaty pays lip service to the political offense
exception, it removes that essential protection for those seeking refuge on
our shores. Worse, it subjects U.S. citizens to extradition based solely on
unproven allegations by the British government. Any American active in
Irish affairs faces potential detention, and transportation to the United
Kingdom, without any proof of guilt, and without judicial review. Never
before in its history has the United States government subjected the