Chuckie Taylor Sentenced

Earlier I posted about Chuckie Taylor, son of Charles Taylor on trial in Miami for human rights violations. Here is an update: He was convicted last week in Federal Court of committing torture when he was with his father in Liberia.

What makes Taylor’s conviction news (although only news overseas, apparently, since it didn’t make any of the leading U.S. newspapers) is that it is the first conviction under the 1994 Extraterritorial Torture Statute, 18 U.S.C 2340 and 2340A, which was enacted to implement U.S. obligations under the Convention Against Torture. This statute has a very broad scope and is one of those few U.S. criminal statutes that appears to embrace a theory of universal jurisdiction. Typically, U.S. criminal statutes confine themselves to prescriptive jurisdiction based on territory, effects, nationality, etc. But 18 USC 2340(A)(b) makes clear that this statute applies to acts committed in a foreign country whether or not the defendant is a U.S. national or whether or not the victim is a U.S. national.

The district court in this case rejected a number of constitutional challenges to the law, citing the treaty power and the “define and punish offenses against the law of nations” power as the source of congressional authority under the act. I haven’t examined these arguments carefully, but they sound right to me although there is, as far as I know, relatively little judicial precedent on these questions. The most difficult challenge is not presented here, but might be presented in a future case involving the prosecution of a non-U.S. national for actions he or she took outside the territory of the U.S. that did not affect any U.S. nationals or U.S. interests. In other words, has Congress embraced a theory of universal jurisdiction in 18 USC 2340(A)(b)? It certainly seems that way.

[HT: Exploring International Law]