Supreme Court Considers Foreign Arrests
Decision Will Determine if Federal Agents Can Sneak Into Foreign Countries to Make Arrests

By Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 1, 2003; 1:38 PM

The Supreme Court said today it would consider whether the government has authority to go into another country to make an arrest without the permission of that country's government.

The justices acted at the request of the Justice Department, which argued that denial of that authority would have "profound consequences" on efforts to combat terrorism and illegal drug traffic.

The Justice Department asked the court to overturn an appeals court holding that such seizures exceed the government's legal authority and violate international law.

In theory, the lower court holding could conceivably interfere with the prosecution of al Qaeda suspects -- such as Osama bin Laden -- should they be captured overseas by U.S. agents or at the behest of U.S. agents without the cooperation of the nation harboring them.

The case presents the court with its second important terrorism-related case for the term. Last month, the justices said they would consider the government's denial of traditional legal rights to anti-terrorism detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Today's case involved a Mexican doctor who was indicted in the United States in 1990 in connection with the abduction and murder five years earlier of Enrique Camarena-Salazar, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent operating in Mexico.

After failing using conventional means to get the accused man, Humberto Alvarez-Machain, sent to the United States, the DEA had him kidnapped by Mexican nationals and brought to the United States.

Ultimately, a trial court threw out the charges against Alvarez-Machain. He then sued the government and its agents for false arrest, demanding money damages.