U.S. ambassador to Bogotá William Brownfield asked Colombia’s Supreme
Court to meet with U.S. judicial delegates to find a way to coordinate
extradition procedures after the high court’s refusal to allow the
extradition of two FARC guerrillas.
Brownfield told Caracol Radio that the U.S. Government “accepts and respects” the high court’s decision to not extradite the two guerrillas who were the guards of three U.S. military contractors, but said that following the refusal to extradite them the two countries should “find solutions for the situation we find ourselves in, that the legal systems in Colombia and the United States come to different conclusions in the same cases.”
“We have the obligation as governments to see how we can solve this difference,” Brownfield added.
According to the ambassador, the important thing is “to prevent changes in a system that has worked very well and that has served to take criminals out of circulation that have threatened the people of both countries.”
Colombia’s Supreme Court recently refused the extradition request for ‘Gafas’ and ‘César’, saying the crimes they committed fell under Colombian jurisdiction.
Colombia has collaborated with U.S. justice since the 1990’s and has extradited hundreds of Colombians to its north American ally to be tried for drug trafficking related charges.
