U.S. and Dominican Republic sign new extradition treaty.

AutorGiron, Crosby

Although the US and the Dominican Republic have had an extradition accord for more than a century, last year both countries decided to renew the existing agreement to cover new forms of illegal activity such as drug trafficking and tax evasion, among others.

In January, it was reported that the US and the Dominican Republic had signed the new extradition treaty. The aim, according to the authorities, is to ensure that the agreement is more efficient in prosecuting criminal activity. The new treaty includes cybercrime, terrorism, and mercenary assassination.

During a press conference, Dominican Foreign Minister Andres Navarro said that, as well as strengthening cooperation between the two countries and prosecuting a number of crimes, the treaty establishes the requirements that need to be met to request an extradition, the procedures that need to be followed, and the steps that need to be taken to secure the provisional arrest of the accused. He said the new treaty would guarantee that the human rights of those detained are respected.

Navarro says that by signing this agreement the US is renewing its commitment to work with its partners and underscoring that fighting crime using extradition as a key tool to reduce crime rates is a shared responsibility.

US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James Brewster said that signing the extradition treaty was a "historic achievement." He told the local press that times change and criminal activity evolves, which meant that a new extradition agreement was necessary and was long overdue.

Brewster said that when the agreement comes into effect it will broaden the scope of extraditable offenses based on clear and modern procedures. In his opinion, this will strengthen citizen security in the Dominican Republic and in the entire region by making it possible to prosecute a number of crimes.

Under the terms of the new agreement, both countries agree to hand over individuals accused of committing a crime so that they can stand trial or serve a sentence for conspiring to take part in or participating in varying degrees of crime. For instance, crimes such as fraud, tax evasion, contraband, and money laundering are extraditable.

The treaty stipulates that political or military crimes as well as murder, homicide, grievous bodily harm, rape, and attempted rape are not extraditable.

With this new agreement, both countries will be able to use extradition as an important tool for fighting organized crime and in...

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