UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: To be taken on trust? Extraditions and US assurances in the ‘war on terror’

March 2008
This document considers the question of detainee transfers to the United States of America (USA) in the context of the “war on terror”, and was prompted by the US government’s request for the extradition from the United Kingdom (UK) of two UK nationals, Babar Ahmad and Haroon Aswat, who have been indicted in US federal court on terrorism-related offences.  The US Embassy in London has provided diplomatic assurances that the two men will be tried in federal court, will not be subjected to the death penalty, and not be designated as “enemy combatants” or prosecuted before a military commission. The two men are challenging their extradition in the European Court of Human Rights, raising their concerns that, in the context of the USA’s conduct in the “war on terror”, such diplomatic assurances do not guarantee respect for their human rights.