Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1923, Volume II

211f.19/3

The Secretary of State to the Panaman Minister (Alfaro)

Washington, July 7, 1923.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge your note of June 25, 1923⁵⁷ in further relation to the request made upon the Government of Panama by the Government of Chile for the extradition of two fugitives from the justice of Chile who embarked for Panama on the steamer arriving at the port of Cristobal May 23.

You refer to the provisions of Article XVI of the Treaty of November 18, 1903,⁵⁸ and you request that the United States enter into an agreement with Panama to carry out what you consider to be one of the purposes of these provisions, namely the cooperation of the authorities of the Canal Zone in the matter of the delivery to the Government of Panama for surrender to another government of fugitives from the justice of the latter government whose extradition may have been granted by the Panaman Government and who may be found in the Canal Zone.

The treaty provisions in question read as follows:

“The two Governments shall make adequate provision by future agreement for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment, detention and delivery within said zone and auxiliary lands to the authorities of the Republic of Panama of persons charged with the commitment of crimes, felonies or misdemeanors without said zone and for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment, detention and delivery without said zone to the authorities of the United States of persons charged with the commitment of crimes, felonies and misdemeanors within said zone and auxiliary lands.”

In your note it is asserted that the words “without said zone” as first contained in the quoted treaty provisions refer to the world in general and were used for the purpose of facilitating the extradition of fugitives from the justice of foreign governments that the Government of Panama might grant.

The Government of the United States is unable to agree with your interpretation on this point, but is clearly of the opinion that the words in question relate to the territory of the Republic of Panama. It will be observed that the same words are used with reference to the delivery of fugitives from the justice of the Canal Zone and the United States would not consider requesting the Republic of Panama to apply to foreign governments for the surrender of persons who may have committed crimes within the Canal Zone.

Furthermore the extradition treaties of the United States uniformly contain mutual agreements to surrender persons accused of certain offenses committed “within the territory” of the other contracting party. In its practice of extradition the United States treats offenses as essentially local in their character and refuses to surrender fugitives unless it be shown that the crime was committed in the territory, actual or constructive, of the demanding government.

The Government of the United States is therefore of the opinion that the provisions of Article XVI of the Treaty of November 18, 1903 between the United States and Panama have been complied with by the agreement to which your note refers and which is set forth in a decree issued by the President of Panama September 22, 1906⁵⁹ and in the Executive Order issued by the Governor of the Canal Zone September 19, 1906⁶⁰ providing for the mutual extradition of fugitives from the justice of the Republic of Panama and of the Canal Zone. It would seem that the Republic of Panama must have shared the view that this agreement complied with the requirements of the treaty provisions in question at the time when the agreement was entered into and for a long period thereafter, because it is only at this late date that the question of a further agreement has been raised by your Government.

Referring to your apparent belief that fugitives from the justice of foreign governments, other than Panama, who may be found in the Canal Zone cannot now be surrendered to such foreign governments by the authorities of the United States, I beg to advise you that Article XII of the Panama Canal Act of 1912⁶¹ provides:

“That all laws and treaties relating to the extradition of persons accused of crime in force in the United States, to the extent that they may not be in conflict with or superseded by any special treaty entered into between the United States and the Republic of Panama with respect to the Canal Zone, and all laws relating to the rendition of fugitives from justice as between the several States and Territories of the United States, shall extend to and be considered in force in the Canal Zone, and for such purposes and such purposes only the Canal Zone shall be considered and treated as an organized Territory of the United States.”

It will thus be seen that no difficulties need arise with respect to acting upon requests made upon the United States by foreign governments for the extradition of fugitives from the justice of such governments who may be found in the Canal Zone.

In conclusion I beg to remind you that by Article III of the Treaty of 1903 Panama grants to the United States all the rights, power and authority within the Canal Zone “which the United States would possess and exercise if it were the sovereign of the territory within which said lands and waters are located to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power or authority.”

Accept [etc.]

Charles E. Hughes

57. Not printed.
58. Foreign Relations, 1904, p. 543.
59. See Annual Report of the Isthmian Canal Commission for the year ending Dec. 1, 1906, appendix 8, p. 75.
60. ibid., appendix 9, p. 77.
61. 37 Stat. 560.