Home » Should the Government Negotiate the Release of a Citizen Convicted of a Crime in a Foreign Country?

In most cases, no, the government should not negotiate the release of a citizen who breaks the law in a foreign country. Crime is crime no matter where it is committed. Murder, theft, drug dealing or rape are illegal no matter where the criminal commits the act. It is the responsibility of every traveller to familiarize himself with the laws of the country to be visited.

Anyone travelling with the intention of committing an illegal action, should at least research the punishment usually meted out for that crime at his destination site. If he decides that the rewards anticipated are worth the risk of being caught, then he certainly ought to pay the penalty in the country where he chooses to commit the crime.

North American countries have more than enough crimes and criminals at home with which to contend. . Prisons are overcrowded, court systems are clogged with cases waiting to be heard, and costs for keeping the entire justice system operative even at a mediocre level have skyrocketed.

Why should tax-payers be saddled with the costs of negotiations and travel expenses to pick up these felons and bring them home, only to further overburden the court system? Rather, the foreign courts involved should be sent notes of thanks for taking these misfits off our hands. If they will try them, mete out punishment, and supervise their incarceration, so much the better for us.

However, there are two exceptions that perhaps should be made to this otherwise hard and fast rule. If the perpetrator had committed the supposed crime by accident, and had no previous criminal record in his home country. then intervention should be attempted and serious efforts made to bring the alleged wrong-doer home.

Such was the case recently when American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee wandered inadvertently into North Korean territory and were arrested. North Korea is a Communist regime and a dedicated enemy of the United States. There was a possibility that North Korean officials would choose to make an example of the two women. They might have vented their hostility for America by imposing cruel and severe punishments on these two citizens.

Fortunately, former President Bill Clinton flew to North Korea, successfully negotiated their release and brought the women back safely to the United States where grateful families and friends waited to welcome them.

Another exception should be made when citizens of a non-Muslim country are threatened with punishment according to Sharia law. Many penalties imposed by Muslim courts are unreasonable and harsh by Western standards. For example, a thief may have a hand or a foot chopped off. A woman who commits adultery will be stoned, possibly to death. Drinking alcohol or gambling is punishable by flogging or caning. No citizen of a free, democratic nation should be subjected to these barbaric types of punishment.

However, the onus remains on the traveller to learn the laws and customs of any country which he intends to visit. Intervention, if he gets into trouble, may not always possible or completely effective. In fact, it may not even be attempted except in unusual circumstances, such as those outlined above.

The moral of this article is, if you intend to commit a crime in a foreign land, you'd better be prepared to pay the penalty the laws of that country demand. Don't count on your government to help you avoid paying the consequences for your actions.

A much better idea: don't commit any crimes at all, either at home, while travelling or in a foreign land. You'll save your fellow citizens, your government and most of all yourself a lot of time, money and trouble.