The EU and the US will next week (28 October) sign a treaty intended to simplify and accelerate the extradition of those suspected of serious crimes.
Human-rights defenders have expressed concerns, though, that clauses in the treaty could allow the US to execute extraditees and continue the practice of extraordinary rendition, the transfer of suspected terrorists without the usual legal formalities.
The treaty, which will come into force next year, broadens the definition of serious crime to overcome problems with old bilateral treaties, which, for example, listed rape as an extraditable crime only if it involved a man and a woman.
It also grants greater access to information in investigations of serious crime, including access to bank accounts.
However, human-rights groups fear a murder suspect extradited to the US could face the death penalty since the treaty simply states that member states “may” seek assurances that the suspect would not be executed if found guilty.
www.europeanvoice.com
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