h a l f b a k e r yThis is what happens when one confuses "random" with "profound."
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There are several cases where contries have arrested people for crimes that have been comited in different countries. Normally the country where the crime was comited would have to apply for extradition, asking the country where the person was arrested to deport them.
To avoid this, when a person
is arrested they could be held in an international prison. These would be neutral prisons run by international groups (UN, EU etc) and would be in as many countries as possible. Trials could be conducted by video link (which is not uncommon). This could ease dificulties with international relations and would also allow crimes commited in multiple countries to be brought to justice.
United Nations Prisons
http://www.slate.com/id/2133918/entry/0/ [theircompetitor, Jan 09 2006]
[link]
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spelling:
comited = committed.
contries = countries.
dificulties = difficulties.
deport = extradite. |
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I'm going to avoid a vote right now, but I see rather severe problems with the assumptions made in this one. |
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On the planet in which I live, there really is no such thing as "neutral" -- especially when matters like crime are involved. |
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Too many problems trying to define what is a 'crime' in all countries - would you define researching democracy as a crime? It is in China (or will certainly get you some close scrutiny from the state police). Or how about plane-spotting in Greece? We're already having problems with the European arrest warrant. |
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This is more for crimes which are common to all countries, for example smuggling, murder, theft.
It is designed to allow governments to prosecute people who have fled the country to avoid conviction, however they would still be able to appeal under human rights grounds if they were to be arrested under unfair circumstances (eg Chinese political arrests). |
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would Guantanimo Bay count as an international prison? |
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Stain on international conscience, perhaps. Reminds me of the worst parts of school, bully going unchallenged just cos they're big 'n mean. Anyway, musn't rant, this idea is fraught with difficulty - wouldn't this international prison require an international police force? What would happen in the case of a felon who had committed crimes in multiple countries? Who will fund the thing? Who will police its operation? How will the difference in severity of punishment for same crime in different regimes be reconciled (eg. French citizen commits murder in Texas. Are they eligible for the death penalty or "merely" life imprisonment?) |
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In Europe (Where I see the idea working most effectively due to the EU) the prisons would be funded by the EU. |
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If crimes were commited in multiple countries then the prison would have the facilities for each country to go through the due process of that country and apply a prison term to the prisoner. These prison terms would be served in succession in the one prison. This would also allow for the differences in severity of crimes between countries. |
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The death penalty is a special case and extradition would be required, however in many cases countries refuse to extradite people if the they do not support the death penalty and they person is going to be tried for it. |
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The running of the prison can be made up of an international group of workers. It creates work and so people will fill the roles. |
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//The death penalty is a special case and extradition would be required, however in many cases countries refuse to extradite people if the they do not support the death penalty and they person is going to be tried for it. // You've corectly identified the problem, but how does this idea advance us towards a solution? |
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It removes the need to extradite for other crimes |
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True, but if the biggies (murder, treason, murderous treason etc) are unresolvable with this, then you have the same old extradition problem. Let's face it, no government loses much sleep over failure to extradite someone accused of shoplifting. Mass murder, enormous theft, treason, terrorism etc, these are the crimes your new solution needs to be capable of dealing with, in order to be of value. |
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What I mean is, it removes the need to extradite people for crimes that they have commited in other countries other than those crimes which would warrant (and the prosecution would seek to impose) the death penalty. |
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It would also allow people who have commited crimes across multiple countries to be brought to justice. Both these things eliminate the ability of people to travel across a border to avoid being arrested. |
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