Death penalty, is the UK government’s stance shifting?

The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid has written to the US attorney general stating that the UK government will not seek assurances over the use of death penalty against two former British citizens and alleged terrorist murderers. This has renewed concerns that the government is loosening its stance on the abolition of the death penalty. The UK government abolished the death penalty for murder in 1965. 

 

Javid has told the US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, that the UK will not seek assurances that the death penalty will not be issued against two former British Citizens, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, if they were convicted in the US for alleged crimes committed in Syria as members of an Islamic State (Isis) cell. The two men were allegedly members of a four-man cell of Isis executioners in Syria and Iraq responsible for the killings of a series of high profile western captives. Both men who have been stripped of their British citizenship, were captured in January, sparked a debate over whether they should be returned to the UK for trial or face justice in another jurisdiction.

 

"The Extradition Act 2003 allows the UK to extradite individuals to certain countries, including the US, but removing someone to the authority of a foreign state is prohibited by statute if that person could face the death penalty - unless the home secretary gets adequate written assurance that it will not be imposed".

 

Both Elsheikh and Kotey were not captured on British soil, and so have not been subject to extradition proceedings. 

 

Javid states in his letter to Sessions, tat he agrees to the US request for "mutual legal assistance" (MLA). 'MLA is a method of cooperation between states for obtaining assistance in the investigation or prosecution of criminal offences'.

 

He reveals that over 600 witness statements have been complied by the FBI and the SO15, the counter-terrorism command of the Metropolitan police. Intelligence implicating the two men in kidnap and murder has been gathered. 

 

Official guidelines for the granting of MLA state that if death is a possible sentence or penalty for the offence under investigation, an "assurance that such a sentence will not be carried out or will be commuted" is required.

 

In this case, however, Javid has decided not to seek a death penalty assurance. In his letter, he says that "the decision does not reflect the UK Government's policy on assistance in US death penalty cases nor its stance on the global abolition of the death penalty".

 

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