Nothing particularly assuring about assurances

Chairman William Delahunt (D-Mass.) presided over a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommitte on international organizations, human rights and oversight. Delahunt explained his opinion and concerns on the use of diplomatic assurances. He proposed that the committee take a deeper look into how the Bush Administration obtains assurances before sending someone back to a country with a poor human rights record.

John B. Bellinger, III, the Legal Advisor to the Secretary of State, was brought before the subcommittee to discuss and further explain the United States’ use of diplomatic assurances.
Delahunt disagreed with Bellinger about the United States’ use of diplomatic assurances, Delahunt saying that the legal standard was not being met. This legal standard says that an immigrant cannot be sent back to their country if “more likely than not” they will be tortured there. Delahunt inquired about the suspected seventy individuals sent from Guantanamo to Egypt, a country where their safety would be under question. Bellinger responded by saying “I don’t think we’ve ever had seventy Egyptians in Guantanamo.” Bellinger explained that diplomatic assurances were used successfully in Guantanamo and only one person out of 500 was sent back to Egypt.

Bellinger spoke of the three different contexts in which these assurances would be practiced by the Department of State: in the surrender of fugitives by extradition from the United States, in immigration removal proceedings initiated by the Department of Homeland Security, and in the transfer of terrorist combatants from detention at the Department of Defense detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Delahunt, however, continued to question Bellinger and the Department of State in their use of assurances. More than once he asked for the Department to release all documents pertaining to diplomatic assurances, saying that he had a right and a responsibility to that information.