Alert - US/UK Extradition Treaty

An action alert for US readers from the IAUC.

The Senate Foreign Relations committee will vote on the treaty on September 7th. Please take advantage of this time period to phone, fax and/or visit your senators’ offices.

We all need to oppose the US/UK Extradition treaty (See summary of Reasons Below) and contact our Senators (https://www.congress.com/) and the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committees (See Contact Info Below) and express their desire to defeat this treaty.

The Senate is on a vacation until after Labor Day which means they will be in their home states for much of that time. They will be certainly getting summaries of visits, letters, phone calls, faxes & emails (See Sample Letter Below).

The treaty has been denounced by a variety of Irish American political organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union as an assault on the Constitutional rights and basic civil liberties of all Americans. If passed, the treaty would:

:: Remove the judiciary role from the extradition process, and transfer responsibility to the Executive branch.

:: Allow for provisional arrest and detention of American citizens for 60 days without a formal request from Great Britain, thereby denying Americans their right to have their day in court in front of an impartial judge.

:: Provide that American law need not be violated.

:: Permit retroactive application to alleged activity committed before the treaty’s ratification.

:: Eliminate any statute of limitations.

:: Eliminate the need for authorities to demonstrate probable cause.

This treaty is politically motivated and clearly targets Irish American citizens for persecution in British courts and all this just for being active in the struggle to defend the Irish against years of British interference and misrule.

The US/UK Extradition Treaty has skyrocketed to the top of the Senate agenda due to British government pressure. We intend to keep it there, and will continue to voice our objections to a treaty that, if ratified, would set a dangerous precedent. Irish Americans now number over 40 million and we vote.

Bob Linnon

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Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Senator State & Party Fax No. Phone No.

Lamar Alexander TN-R 202-228-3398 202-224-4944
George Allen VA-R 202-224-5432 202-224-4024
Joe Biden DE-D 202-224-0139 202-224-5042
Barbara Boxer CA-D 415-956-6701 202-224-3553
Lincoln Chafee RI-R 202-228-2853 202-224-2921
Norm Coleman MN-R 202-224-1152 202-224-5641
Chris Dodd CT-D 202-224-1083 202-224-2823
Russ Feingold WI-D 202-224-2725 202-224-5323
Chuck Hagel NE-R 202-224-5213 202-224-4224
John Kerry MA-D 202-224-8525 202-224-2742
Richard Lugar IN-R 202-228-0360 202-224-4814
Mel Martinez FL-R 202-224-3041 202-224-3041
Lisa Murkowski AK-R 202-224-5301 202-224-6665
Bill Nelson FL-D 202-228-2183 202-224-6551
Barack Obama IL-D 202-228-0400 202-224-2854
Paul Sarbanes MD-D 202-224-1651 202-224-4524
John Sununu NH-R 202-228-4131 202-224-2841
George Voinovich OH-R 202-228-1382 202-224-3353

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SAMPLE LETTER

The Honorable (Full Name) United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Via Fax: (Ten Digit Number)

Dear Senator (Last Name):

We object to the US/UK Extradition Treaty for many reasons. This treaty:

1. IGNORES THE SEPARATION OF POWERS because it transfers responsibility from the federal courts to the Executive Branch.

2. DENIES THOSE CHARGED WITH HAVING A DAY IN COURT.

3. ALLOWS FOR PROVISIONAL ARREST.

4. PROVIDES THAT AMMERICAN LAW NEED NOT BE VIOLATED.

5. PERMITS RETROACTIVE APPLICATION TO ALLEGED ACTIVITY CONDUCTED EVEN BEFORE THE TREATY’S RATIFICATION.

This treaty has nothing to do with Homeland Security or partisan politics. It is simply an effort to preserve our basic constitutional rights and civil liberties. Surely a short delay of a week or two is not asking too much. Thank you for considering my request.

Sincerely,

Your name signed
Your name typed
Your address
Date

Urgent Appeal