The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    jollyroger's picture

    impunity bites

    By jollyroger on Tue, 07/23/2013 - 5:42am |

    There are few occasions for international irritation more abrasive than the refusal by one sovereign to honor the request of another that a fugitive from justice be surrendered to the tribunals if the aggrieved nation.

    Recall that the proximate casus belli for the longest war in American history was the refusal by the Taliban rump Afghan government to extradite Osama Bin Laden.

    Sometimes the tug of war over the person of a wanted fugitive takes on added poignancy where the government holding (or harboring) the fugitive is subject to competing demands from a stronger interlocutor. Thus, it took Panama less than a day to decide that Italy was not, after all, going to bring to justice the **CIA station chief already tried in absentia and sentenced to prison for kidnapping committed in Milan. In that instance the USA put down its ( big) foot and justice was evaded.

    Conversely, when it has suited our purposes, we have denied extradition for accused terrorists and *self confessed mass murderers. One of those accused terrorists, as it happens, was a Chechen whose extradition to the justice system of Russia was refused because (somewhat in eerie echo of Mullah Omar's recalcitrant posture vis- a-vis Bin Laden) we decided that our own independent judgment as to the validity of the charges against him was to be honored over the demands of the aggrieved nation.

    Which brings us to Edward Snowden, and the back of Vlad Putin's hand (or perhaps merely a single digit thereof). Besieged as they are with our importunities, the Russians have taken this occasion to reference some 20 fugitives, demands for whose extradition have brought the Russians no satisfaction.

    On behalf of the families who wait still to see Orlando Bosch before a Cuban court, and the aggrieved Mullah rendered for torture by the fugitive CIA station chief whose extradition we handily blocked, I say , right on, Vlad.

    Stick it to'em. nobody likes a double :standard pleading hypocrite.

    *www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Bosch **http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0719/Italy-eyes-ex-CIA-spook-...

    Comments

    For instance: The Interior Ministry accused the United States of “double standards” in demanding Edward J. Snowden’s return, complaining that the U.S. had refused extradition requests.

    by jollyroger on Tue, 07/23/2013 - 9:15pm

    Did Russia actually ask for the Tsarnaevs? 


    by erica2000 (not verified) on Thu, 07/25/2013 - 2:52pm

    I think they just flagged Tamerlan ...he was, after all, IN Russia for awhile. The chechens specifically cited in the article, were these guys: Andrey Pilipchuk, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, cited the examples of Ilyas Akhmadov, a former senior leader of the Chechen separatist movement who is accused by Russia of terrorism, and Tamaz Nalbandov, who is accused of kidnapping and extortion as part of an organized crime group. Both have been living in the United States for several years.

    by jollyroger on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 12:56am

    Akhmadov: (Wikipedia ) Returning to Chechnya, which had declared independence from Russia in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, he took a job in the political department of the Chechen Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In August 1994 Akhmadov was wounded during the fighting with forces of the warlord Ruslan Labazanov in Argun . After the First Chechen War broke in 1994, Akhmadov fought against the Russian federal forces, serving first as a volunteer fighter and then as the public affairs officer to Aslan Maskhadov , the Chechen headquarters' chief of staff . In 1996, when the Chechens defeated the poorly organised Russian army, he retired to private life. Self-exile On July 29, 1999, a month before the beginning of the Second Chechen War , the President of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov appointed Akhmadov as Foreign Minister. Soon, Akhmadov and his colleagues in the separatist government dispersed and went into hiding, with some again taking up arms against the Russians. Akhmadov himself left Chechnya. In his appeals and meetings with the representatives of UN , OSCE , PACE , European Parliament , UNHCR , U.S. Congress , the U.S. presidential administration and international NGOs, he called for observance of human rights during the conflict. In January 2000, Akhmadov visited the United States, where he met with officials of the State Department . He embarked on a tour of Western capitals, returning twice to the United States in 2000 and again in 2001. This provoked complaints from Russia, which alleged that he was involved in terrorism in Chechnya and elsewhere in Russia. In 2002 Akhmadov claimed asylum in the United States but his initial bid was turned down after opposition from the United States Department of Homeland Security . However, he gained support from members of the U.S. Congress and peace campaigners, who saw him as a moderate (indeed, Akhmadov has repeatedly criticised suicide bombings and hostage-takings by Chechen extremists and has campaigned for peace talks to end the war). In April 2004 an Immigration Judge in Boston issued an order granting Akhmadov asylum in the United States; that ruling became effective in August 2004 following the U.S. Government's abrupt withdrawal of its notice of appeal of the Immigration Judge's decision. ↑Jump back a section

    by jollyroger on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 1:00am

    Bottom line: unless the charges are for behavior that is not criminal in the harboring jurisdiction, with or without a treaty the normative standard is deference to the fact finding tribunals of the nation seeking extradition.

    by jollyroger on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 1:08am

    Akhamadov actually took up arms against Russia...he gets asylum. Compare and contrast Snowden's conduct, even at its worst characterizations.

    by jollyroger on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 1:11am

    Ah! Sorry Jolly, somehow I missed the second article, which made the whole thing make more sense.


    by erica20 on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 2:49pm

    I had to stick it in a comment cuz for some reason couldn't get link working in post itself.

    by jollyroger on Sat, 07/27/2013 - 8:36pm

    It's always tricky to know which of your enemies' enemies are your friends, and whether they're like, best friends, or people you just mostly like but not that much really.

    Especially if they might be Mooslims.


    by erica20 on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 3:14pm

    Or Baath( eg, Saddam)

    by jollyroger on Sat, 07/27/2013 - 8:37pm

    Akhmadov is a very big fish--once Russia's most wanted fugitive.

    by jollyroger on Sun, 07/28/2013 - 12:19am

    "His backers include two former secretaries of state, Madeleine Albright and Alexander Haig; a former defense secretary, Frank Carlucci; a former national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski; and some of the biggest names in elected politics, from Ted Kennedy on one side of the Senate aisle to John McCain on the other." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38200-2005Mar15.html

    by jollyroger on Sun, 07/28/2013 - 12:23am

    "The refugee status in Russia was the first formal support from another government for Mr. Snowden, 30, and seems likely to elicit strong objections from the United States."

     

    YES

     

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/world/europe/edward-snowden-russia.htm...


    by jollyroger on Thu, 08/01/2013 - 10:10am