JURIST - Paper Chase: US judge prevents deportation of Cuban terror suspect on torture concerns

[JURIST] Texas Judge William L. Abbott ruled Tuesday that former anti-Castro CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles [Wikipedia profile] will not be deported to either Cuba or Venezuela where local officials want to prosecute him for alleged terrorist acts. US attorneys agreed that Posada should not be deported to Cuba, where he is accused of making numerous attempts to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro [Wikipedia profile]. Abbott relied on the Convention against Torture [text] in reaching his decision not to deport Posada to Venezuela. Venezuelan officials have requested that Posada be sent to Venezuela in order to face charges for his alleged role in a 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. Posada escaped from a Venezuelan prison while awaiting trial, but his attorneys told the US immigration judge that Posada would likely be tortured if he were returned to Venezuela. Posada will remain in the custody of Immigration and Customs officials for up to 90 days and the Department of Homeland Security has not ruled out the possibility of deporting Posada to a third country that will agree not to turn him over to Cuba or Venezuela. Wednesday's Sun Sentinel has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...