NCJ Number
138995
Journal
Virginia Journal of International law Volume: 32 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1991) Pages: 233-264
Date Published
1991
Length
32 pages
Annotation
Using as a focal point the abduction of Mexican Dr. Humberto Alvarez-Machain, suspected of complicity in the torture-murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agent Enrique Camarena in 1985, by 10 Mexican citizens acting under authority of the DEA, this article explores the increasing use of abductions by the U.S. as a means of bringing to trial in this country foreigners accused of crimes connected with drug trafficking.
Abstract
The article first analyzes the problem of extra- territorial criminality by outlining the parameters of the abduction problem and analyzing the law of piracy, which presents certain legal and political rationales for the extra-territorial application of law. The current legal approach to extra-territorial law enforcement is discussed, as is the compatability of the current abduction policy with the analytical structure upon which jurisdiction over pirates was based. The author concludes that the current U.S. policy of selective abduction is legally justifiable and parallels in some ways the development of the law of piracy. He notes that the extra-territorial enforcement of domestic criminal law cannot proceed by treating all nations as equals and that such differential treatment of foreign citizens is legally justifiable. 159 notes