US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA7687

UNCLAS BOGOTA 007687 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, OPRC, PREL, SNAR, PGOV, CO 
SUBJECT: "BOOMERANG AGAINST EXTRADITION:" EL TIEMPO'S 
EDITORIAL 
 
1. Leading national daily El Tiempo's August 12 editorial is 
highly critical of an extradition bill under consideration 
by the U.S. Congress. 
 
 
BEGIN TRANSLATION OF THE EDITORIAL: 
 
Boomerang Against Extradition 
 
"There are times when laws, instead of helping to achieve 
what they intend to do, make things more difficult.  A good 
example is the bill recently approved by the U.S. Congress 
to impose a new and arrogant stipulation to countries that 
receive economic assistance from Washington; that of 
freezing this assistance if they prevent the extradition of 
their citizens to the U.S., even though the sentences that 
may be imposed there may include a life sentence. 
 
Passing this law is not good news for the fight against 
transnational crime, one in which our country has paid a 
high price in sacrifice and whose strong commitment (to 
fight crime) is recognized internationally. 
 
For a very simple reason: according to the Constitution, the 
Colombian Government can only extradite citizens on the 
condition that they not be given a sentence which is not 
part of Colombian legislation, as is the case with the death 
penalty or a life sentence.  The Supreme Court has been very 
clear about this, and if the new US regulation goes into 
effect, the [Colombian] National Government would be legally 
bound to stop extraditions to that country. 
 
Nothing could be more contrary to the efforts to combat 
terrorism and drug trafficking through extradition, in which 
the current Colombian Government has broken all records. 
One just has to take a look at the unprecedented number of 
200 Colombians extradited to the United States during 
Uribe's three-year administration. 
 
Because there is no extradition treaty between the two 
countries (in 1986 the Supreme Court voided the treaty of 
1979), the Colombian Government orders all extraditions 
through a Presidential Order with the endorsement of the 
Supreme Court, and in each case, it sends U.S. authorities a 
Diplomatic Note warning them of the sentences they may not 
impose.  This has not avoided an impasse such as the one 
caused by a U.S. judge in 2002, when she sentenced Alex 
Restrepo to life for the murder of a former New York 
policeman. 
 
For this reason, ideally, a new treaty should be signed, 
establishing very clear rules on the subject.  Meanwhile, 
one can only hope that President George W. Bush will not 
sign into law a bill which, in addition to reflecting 
arrogant unilateralism, would become a real boomerang 
against extradition." 
 
END TRANSLATION 
 
WOOD