Washington About to Annul three Anti-terrorist Treaties
Havana, January 24, 2006 (AIN) The United States could annul three treaties
against terrorism with its denial to extradite Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela.
The three different document support the formal request of that country, said
lawyer Jose Pertierra who represents the Venezuelan government in the extradition
case of the author of the 1976 bombing of a Cubana airliner off the coasts
of Barbados killing 73 people on board.
The documents cited by the lawyer are the 1922 treaty signed by Venezuela and
the US; the Treaty for the Repression of Illegal Acts against Civil Aviation
Security, signed by both countries on September 23, 1971 and the International
Treaty to Repress Terrorist Bomb Attempts, approved by the United Nations on
December 15, 1997. Pertierra explains that the US administration has avoided
the use of the term terrorist in the Posada Carriles case and has turned the
case
into a common immigration issue by accusing the man only of having entered
US territory illegally.
The reason for that is that a Federal Rule prohibits the indefinite detention
of undocumented immigrants, explained Pertierra. If the government cannot deport
an undocumented person in a reasonable period of time, then it is obliged to
release that person. However, such a rule is not applied to terrorists. There
are enough laws in the US to keep this terrorist arrested; but it takes political
will. Since this drama began, George W. Bush has wanted to protect and avoid
bringing this terrorist to trial, the lawyer explains. A cynical double standard
prevails in this story. You cannot launch a war against terror "la carte" by
fighting enemy terrorists and protecting friendly terrorists. Terrorism is
terrorism...and that's that, period, stressed Jose Pertierra.