Extradition from Britain to the United States—Abu Hamza

Backing off from earlier statements maintaining that the United States would wait for “radical” cleric Abu Hamza to finish his jail sentence before requesting his extradition, “U.S. prosecutors urged a British court Wednesday to extradite” him now.^[1] Abu Hamza is accused of being connected to the alleged terrorist camp in Bly, Oregon, that never got beyond preliminary planning stages. ^[2] Other individuals that we have discussed recently are also accused of being involved in those plans; Oussama Kassir and Haroon Rashid Aswat are both in other countries fighting their extradition.

The United States is trying to take advantage of a new provision in Britain’s extradition framework that allows for temporary surrender of a suspect before he completes his prison sentence in Britain.^[3] If it is successful, it would mean the “one-eyed, hook-handed cleric could become one of the first Britons to be extradited to a foreign court mid-sentence.”^[4] If he is extradited and convicted in the United States, “he would return to Britain to complete his jail term before being extradited once again … to serve any penalty received in the United States.”^[5]

Abu Hamza, however, is currently appealing his conviction for incitement to murder and “stirring up” racial hatred in the UK.^[6]

Under the terms of the 2003 extradition treaty between the UK and the US (which has not yet ratified it), temporary surrender is allowed.^[7] If the extradition request has been granted by the Requested State, “the Requested State may temporarily surrender the person sought to the Requesting State for the purpose of prosecution.”^[8] That person must remain in custody during the period of prosecution, and then returned to the Requested State “after the conclusion of the proceedings against that person.”^[9] However, the Requested State does not have to temporarily surrender the individual; it may defer the extradition proceedings until after the person has served his sentence in the Requested State.^[10] Section 186 et seq. of the UK’s Extradition Act of 2003 covers the re-extradition proceedings that will be necessary if a temporary surrender was allowed, the individual was convicted, and returned to finish his sentence.

There are a number of conditions that must be satisfied before an individual can be re-extradited. First, the individual must have been extradited to a category 1 or 2 territory.^[11] Second, the individual must have been serving a sentence of imprisonment in the UK before being extradited.^[12] Third, the request for the person must have been accompanied by a statement that the person was accused of the commission of an offense.^[13] Fourth, there must be a certificate issued by a judicial authority in the Requesting State that a sentence of imprisonment for at least four months was imposed and that the sentence was in specified in the warrant or was committed before his extradition.^[14] Finally, the person must have been returned to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence.^[15]

The individual also goes through a re-extradition hearing, which must be done at the time at which the person would be released from prison in the UK.^[16] If he is not given a hearing “as soon as practicable” then he must be discharged.^[17]

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[1] U.S. Prosecutors Urge British Court to Extradite Radical Cleric, Associated Press, Mar. 1, 2006. (subscription only); see also US Want Jailed Cleric Hamza, Press Association (via Yahoo!), Mar. 1, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] See Extradition Treaty, Mar. 31, 2003, U.S.-U.K., art. 14, para. 1, S. Treaty Doc. No. 108-23.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Id. art. 14, para. 2.
[11] Extradition Act, 2003, c. 41, § 186(2).
[12] Id. § 186(3).
[13] Id. § 186(4).
[14] Id. § 186(5).
[15] Id. § 186(6).
[16] Id. § 187(1) & (2).
[17] Id. § 187(3).