EHRC Allows Britain to Extradite Terrorist Suspects to U.S. In Spite of Likely Detention at Supermax Prison

On April 10, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Britain can extradite five suspects to the United States to face terrorism charges.  The individuals had challenged the extradition by claiming that life imprisonment in a U.S. maximum security facility amounted to a violation of their human rights. The conditions in U.S. prisons, according to the ECHR, did not constitute inhumane or degrading treatment.  The individuals have been accused of a variety of terrorist acts, including kidnapping and the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kenya.  They will likely be extradited under Britain's flexible extradition treaty with the United States, which allows extradition of individuals who did not commit crimes on American soil.[1] [1]               Case of Babar Ahmad and Others v. United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights, Apr. 10, 2012.