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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 June 2025
Introduction
This chapter describes three cases involving legal claims by extraditees that their surrender would have serious consequences on their physical and mental health. In the case of Julian Assange, extensive delays have contributed to his deteriorating mental health and a high risk of suicide if he is surrendered to the US to face numerous charges of espionage. The case of Dorin Savu introduced evidence that surrender would raise potential exposure to torture in the requesting state, while the extradition proceedings considered the significance of his status and rights as a refugee in Canada. The case of Elias Perez raised arguments against extradition that focused on his potential exposure to violations of the CAT if he was surrendered to face trial in Mexico and related arguments involving the rule of noninquiry. The individual rights arguments in all of these cases were largely rejected because courts considering the request were willing to support the overarching authority of the requesting nation to prosecute each suspect for various crimes. The chapter will describe key factual and legal details raised in each case and demonstrate how they reveal the need for reform to the process of extradition given the limited recognition of the obligation to protect the rights of extraditees, as well as their physical and mental welfare.
Julian Assange, Mental Health and Delay
Australian citizen Julian Assange's attempts to avoid extradition from the UK, first to Sweden to face questioning over alleged sexual offences and then the US on serious espionage charges, spanned a total of 13 years. This includes seven years of self-imposed exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid surrender to Sweden, largely due to fears he would be unlawfully sent to the US despite prohibitions against surrender to third-party states in extradition treaties. Assange has repeatedly claimed the legal processes for extradition would lead to his unlawful transfer to the US, resulting in a possible maximum term of 175 years in prison (Australian Associated Press 2021). His charges are linked to the activities of WikiLeaks, a website launched in Sweden by Assange in 2006 as a forum for maintaining accountability for governments throughout the world through the ‘principled leaking’ of confidential documents (Karhula 2011, 1).
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