JURIST - Paper Chase: Thursday, November 25, 2010

[JURIST] The Guatemalan Foreign Ministry [official website, in Spanish] on Thursday defended its handling [press release, in Spanish] of the extradition of former interior minister Carlos Vielmann. A Spanish judge ordered Vielmann's release [JURIST report] Tuesday after Guatemalan authorities failed to request his extradition to face charges before the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) [official website, in Spanish]. Guatemalan authorities were accused of purposely frustrating these efforts [AP report] by CICIG head Francisco Dall'Anese, who alleged that the Foreign Ministry had withheld papers necessary to the extradition for two weeks without reason. The ministry responded by insisting that it had "complied with all terms and acted promptly in the extradition process." It went on to state that the delay was due to the need to obtain the necessary signatures from the Spanish embassy, and the extradition papers were held by the ministry for only three days. The request process was then suspended in compliance with an order [text, in Spanish] to do so by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court [official website, in Spanish]. The Guatemalan government has until December 13 to request the extradition, but Dall'Anese expressed skepticism at the prospects of this.

The arrest warrant was issued in August [JURIST report] in relation to the extrajudicial execution of seven inmates at the Pavon prison in 2006. Vielmann has maintained his innocence, contending that the inmates died in a prison riot. Official corruption has been an ongoing problem in Guatemala. In June, the Constitutional Court removed Attorney General Conrado Reyes from office after the former head of CICIG, Carlos Castresana, accused him of ties to organized crime [JURIST reports]. In March, the US State Department released its 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report [text, PDF], which highlighted Guatemala as a key player in the Latin American drug trade. Corruption among high-ranking officials was cited as one of the country's biggest problems. The Guatemalan Congress voted to create CICIG [JURIST report] in 2007 in order to investigate organized crime and official corruption.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Wednesday urged the US [press release] to become a state party to the Mine Ban Treaty [text], repeating a plea made in March [JURIST report]. The call was prompted by the release of "Landmine Monitor 2010" [materials], an annual report detailing the treaty's progress released by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) [advocacy website]. The 2010 report shows international progress in preventing deaths from landmines, as well as in eradicating their use. HRW criticized the US government's stance on the issue while noting that it, along with almost all 37 states who have not joined the treaty, "are in de facto compliance with most of the treaty's provisions." HRW stated:

The US should not be on the outside looking in at the most successful humanitarian and disarmament treaty of the past decade. The Obama administration has been pondering the Mine Ban Treaty for more than a year now. It's time to make the right decision.

The US State Department said last November that the US would be maintaining its current policy [JURIST report], with spokesperson Ian Kelly stating [text] that "[the Obama administration] ... determined that we would not be able to meet our national defense needs, nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we sign this convention." Despite this, the US government sent representatives to the December 2009 convention of state parties, where it announced that US landmine policy was under review. US representatives will attend the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty [summit website], convening in Geneva next week.

The US is one of only two countries in the western hemisphere that is not a party to the treaty. The treaty currently has 156 state parties worldwide, with two additional signatories who have not ratified the treaty. In 2004, the Bush administration geared US policy away [CDI backgrounder] from signing the mine treaty and substituted usage of persistent mines with non-persistent mines. The Clinton administration did not sign the Mine Ban Treaty, but in 1998 issued Presidential Decision Directive 64 [FAS backgrounder], instructing the US military to explore alternate weapons and outlining US commitment to sign the treaty by 2006. The treaty opened for signature in December 1997, and signatory countries ban the use [ICBL backgrounder] of anti-personnel mines, destroy stockpiles and take measures towards clearing mines, as well as help countries with fewer resources clear mines and give assistance to victims.

[JURIST] A jury for the 331st Criminal District Court [official website] of Texas found former US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) [JURIST news archive] guilty of money laundering and conspiracy Wednesday, after deliberating for 19 hours. The charges stemmed from $190,000 donated by corporate interests to DeLay's political action committee (PAC) during the 2002 midterm election, which was allegedly funneled through the Republican National Committee (RNC) [party website] for use in state elections. The RNC then distributed the money to seven legislative candidates at DeLay's direction in order to circumvent a state election law [Tex. Elec. Code § 253.094] forbidding corporate contributions to political campaigns, according to prosecutors. The former congressman faces anywhere from five years to life in prison [VOA report] although the judge may elect probation instead. DeLay maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict, calling the trial both an abuse of power and a miscarriage of justice [AP report]. DeLay is set to be sentenced on December 20 [WP report].

In August, DeLay's lawyer confirmed that a US Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal probe into DeLay's association with lobbyist Jack Abramoff [JURIST news archive] had been dismissed without charges being filed [JURIST report]. The investigation lasted six years and included grand jury testimony from former aides as well as a review of more than 1,000 documents and e-mails from DeLay's office. In August 2008, a Texas appeals court allowed the money laundering indictment [JURIST report] against DeLay's associates to stand. In 2007, a Texas appeals court ruled against reinstating a charge of conspiracy to violate the state's election law against DeLay and his two associates. After he was indicted, DeLay stepped down as House majority leader and later resigned from Congress [JURIST reports].