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18 Brook. J. Int'l L. 303 (1992)
The Supreme Court Sanctions Transborder Kidnapping in United States v. Alvarez-Machain: Does International Law Still Matter

handle is hein.journals/bjil18 and id is 311 raw text is: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS THE SUPREME COURT SANCTIONS TRANSBORDER KIDNAPPING IN UNITED STATES v. AL VAREZ-MA CHAIN: DOES INTERNATIONAL LAW STILL MATTER? Steven M. Schneebaum* When Enrique Camarena Salazar, a special agent of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was brutally murdered, apparently by the Mexican narcotics ring he was investigating, United States law enforcement officials were faced with a unique set of problems in apprehending his assas- sins. That the killing was especially sadistic and grisly' at once increased their frustration and strengthened their resolve to bring the perpetrators to justice in the United States. One of those alleged to have played a crucial rule in the murder of Camarena was Humberto Alvarez-Machain. Alvarez, a medical doctor in the tradition of Josef Mengele, is said to have kept Camarena alive over a period of three days, during which he was mercilessly tortured and interrogated until at last he died. Unable to obtain Alvarez by other means, the DEA ar- ranged to have him abducted from his office in Guadalajara on April 2, 1990. He was flown to El Paso, Texas, where he was arrested. A grand jury in Los Angeles indicted him for his role in * B.A. Yale, M.A. Oberlin, B.A. Oxon., M.C.L. (A.P.) G.W. Univ. Professorial Lec- turer, School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University. Part- ner, Patton, Boggs & Blow, Washington, D.C. Board of Directors, International Human Rights Law Group. 1. See United States v. Caro-Quintero, 745 F. Supp. 599, 601-02 (C.D. Cal. 1990), aff'd sub nom. United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 946 F.2d 1466 (9th Cir. 1991), rev'd, 112 S. Ct. 2188 (1992).

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