Madam, - There is growing concern as to the circumstances and the manner of the arrest of Seán Garland in Belfast on October 7th and the request from the US authorities to the UK for his extradition to the United States.
Of particular concern is the legislation under which it is proposed to process the extradition request, ie the UK-US Extradition Treaty 2003.
This is a most controversial piece of legislation and until now, most Irish people will have been unaware of just how draconian its effects are and of the by-passing of the British Parliamentary process to enable its enactment.
The new UK-US Extradition Treaty 2003 was signed by the then British home secretary, David Blunkett, with the US attorney general, John Ashcroft, during a visit to the US on March 31st, 2003. The UK parliament was not consulted at all and the text was not made publicly available until the end of May 2003.
The new treaty removes the requirement on the US to provide prima-facie evidence when requesting the extradition of people from the UK. A Home Office press release announcing the new treaty (to parliament and the public alike) stated that a detailed statement of the facts of the case would be required. Facts here do not mean evidence but refer instead to allegations. In addition, the new treaty removes or restricts key protections previously open to defendants in a whole host of areas, including the political offences rule which afforded protection to the requested person if the prosecution is seen as political persecution (wholly relevant given the stated views of the current Bush administration and the political views of Seán Garland).
These are alarming details and go some way to answering the question which many people have asked as to why, if Seán Garland had committed any offence, these were not dealt with by the Irish judicial system. In the UK the treaty became law by way of Orders in Council, a wholly undemocratic procedure designed to avoid parliamentary debate or scrutiny of the new treaty. In that light those who have rushed to pass judgment on Seán Garland and his requested extradition to the US should think again.
As well as the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the right to a fair trial and the safeguarding of a citizen's civil and human rights in a hostile political environment (the US), there is a growing awareness that unless there is intervention by the Irish Government to protect the rights of an Irish citizen in these adverse circumstances, we could witness an unprecedented miscarriage of justice. - Yours, etc,
JOHN LOWRY, The Workers' Party, Dublin 1.