Extradition from the United States to France - Manuel Noriega

Last month, former Panamanian dictator General Manuel Noriega’s time in the United States was supposed to come to an end.^[1] Captured after the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 and held as a prisoner of war under the Geneva Conventions, Noriega was convicted of drug trafficking, racketeering and conspiracy in 1992.^[2] Originally sentenced to forty years in prison, his sentence was later reduced to seventeen years as a result of judicial discretion and good behavior.^[3] Noriega was scheduled to leave his apartment-like cell, complete with exercise equipment, television and telephone, at the minimum-security federal detention center in Miami on September 9th.^[4] Instead, he remains in custody as the subject of a bitter extradition battle.^[5]

U.S. and French authorities plan to extradite Noriega to France where he will stand trial on charges of money laundering.^[6] Noriega has been convicted in absentia of laundering over $3 million in drug profits through French banks and using the funds to purchase luxury apartments in Paris.^[7] The French have promised a new trial and Noriega faces a ten year prison sentence if convicted.^[8]

Noriega’s attorneys have now unsuccessfully attempted to block the extradition order three times, with the last denial being made by Judge William Hoeveler.^[9] Hoeveler, the presiding judge in Noriega’s 1992 trial, temporarily stayed the extradition order to allow Noriega’s defense to further argue their case.^[10] Noriega’s attorney, Frank Rubino, maintains that Noriega is entitled to return to Panama by virtue of his prisoner of war status and claims that extradition to France will result in his client being treated like a “common criminal.”^[11] Hoeveler, unconvinced that France would fail to follow the Geneva Conventions and not treat the former general as a prisoner of war, lifted the stay on the extradition.^[12] Rubino announced his plans to appeal the decision to a higher court, and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is expected to delay any completion of the formal extradition paperwork until the appeals process has been exhausted.^[13]

Noriega wishes to return to Panama, where he claims he wishes to live in peace and out of the public eye.^[14] He faces harsher charges in his homeland than he does in France, having been convicted in absentia by a Panamanian court of murder and human rights violations.^[15] However, Noriega would likely serve the twenty-year prison term awaiting him in Panama under house arrest, due to his being more than 70 years old.(Noriega is 73.)^[16] Officials in Panama filed a pending request for Noriega’s extradition with the U.S., and plan to do the same with France should the general’s appeal fail.^[17]

Extradition from the United States to France

Extradition of suspects between the United States and France is governed by the treaty between the two nations last updated in 1996.^[18] The treaty is of the dual criminality variety, stating that extraditable offenses as acts punished under the laws of both States by deprivation of liberty for a maximum of at least one year, or by a more severe penalty.^[19] Dual criminality treaties are advantageous when compared to those that utilize a defined list of offenses, so-called “laundry list” treaties, because they eliminate the need to renegotiate or supplement the treaty as additional offenses become punishable under the laws of both Contracting States.

Geneva Convention and Additional Protocol – Treatment of Prisoners of War

The Geneva Convention defines prisoners of war, in part, as members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.^[20] For criminal violations, a prisoner of war shall be tried only by a military court, unless the existing laws of the Detaining Power expressly permit the civil courts to try a member of the armed forces of the Detaining Power in respect of the particular offence alleged to have been committed by the prisoner of war.^[21] Prisoners of war against whom criminal proceedings for an indictable offence are pending may be detained until the end of such proceedings, and, if necessary, until the completion of the punishment.^[22] (Art 119) Upon completion of punishment, prisoners of war are to be repatriated with the least possible delay.^[23]

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^[1] Tom Brown, Judge strikes down Noriega extradition plea, Reuters Newswire, September 7, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services. [hereinafter Reuters, Judge strikes down plea]
^[2] Id.; See United States v. Noriega, 808 F.Supp. 791 (S.D. Fla. 1992).
^[3] AP Staff, Extradition fight halts former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega's release from U.S. prison, AP Newswire, September 5, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services. [hereinafter AP]
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Reuters, Judge strikes down plea, supra note 1.
^[10] Tom Brown, Lawyers bid to block Noriega extradition to France, Reuters Newswire, September 5, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services. [hereinafter Reuters, Lawyers bid to block extradition]
^[11] Id.
^[12] Reuters, Judge strikes down plea, supra note 1.
^[13] Reuters, Lawyers bid to block extradition, supra note 10.
^[14] Id.
^[15] Id.
^[16] Id.
^[17] AP, supra note 3.
^[18] Extradition Agreement between the United States of America and France, Treaty Doc 105-13, 1996 U.S.T. Lexis 53.
^[19] Id. at Art. 2.
^[20] Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Aug. 12, 1949, Art 4., 6 U.S.T. 3316.
^[21] Id. at Art 84.
^[22] Id. at Art 119.
^[23] Id.