Jamaica did not enter an extradition treaty with the United States with a gun to the head of its leaders. Its terms were negotiated by the Edward Seaga administration of the 1980s as a successor to the a 1931 agreement between Britain and the United States, to which Jamaica, which used to be a British colony, adhered.

Under Article 20 of the treaty, either party can withdraw by giving six months' written notice. Nobody, so far as we are aware, is forcing Jamaica to stay in the agreement.

Indeed, if Jamaica, after 20 years of operating the treaty, is dissatisfied with some of its provisions, Prime Minister Bruce Golding can institute a renegotiation.

But for now, the agreement is the agreement; it is what we have, and we should play by the rules rather than attempt to play fast and loose with our international obligations. Which, Mr Golding, despite his government's attempt to walk on water, must readily concede is how it appears regarding Jamaica's handling of the request by the Americans for the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

Drug trafficking

The Americans accuse Mr Coke of smuggling narcotics into their country via Jamaica and say that he ran guns from the United States to Jamaica. Illegal guns are a bane to Jamaica. They are used to murder more than the 80 per cent of the more than 1,600 people killed in Jamaica annually. The Jamaican police seize more than 500 illegal guns each year, but say that is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Mr Coke has not been charged by the Jamaican police for any of the crimes the US authorities claim he committed. In Jamaica, Mr Coke is sometimes called a 'don' or community leader, and is considered to be a powerful and influential man, particularly in West Kingston and Tivoli Gardens, the stronghold of Mr Golding's party and the prime minister's parliamentary constituency.

In Jamaica, there is a sometimes murky relationship between politics, politicians and political parties and men of influence who are described as community leaders. It is a relationship, the experts say, that helped to create political garrisons, or zones of political exclusions. The nature of that relationship has grown complicated given, in some cases, the community leaders' growing independence from politicians given an increasing command of their 'own' resources.

Serious accusations

Fifteen years ago, Edward Seaga, Mr Golding's successor as leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and in the West Kingston constituency, made serious accusations against Mr Coke. The police declined to act for the absence of evidence.

In the past year, at least 15 Jamaicans have been extradited to the United States under the current treaty, either after they waived their right to a hearing in the domestic courts, or local judges ruled that prima facie cases had been established against them.

In the case of Mr Coke, the Government has for five months failed to sign an extradition order so that Mr Coke can have his day in court, locally or in the United States. It has asked the US authorities for more information about his indictment.

Most people see dithering and political delay. It erodes confidence. Perhaps we can look forward to the 'Coke amendment' in the extradition treaty.

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