EC/SCP/14 page 7
"1. Extradition shall not be granted if the offence in respect of which it is requested is regarded by the requested Party as a political offence or as an offence connected with a political offence.
2. The same rule shall apply if the requested Party has substantial grounds for believing that a request for extradition for an ordinary criminal offence has been made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing a person on account of this race, religion, nationality or political opinion, or that that person's position may be prejudiced for any of these reasons (emphasis added)
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24. Article 3 of the European Convention on Extradition formed the model for a later provision figuring in the European Convention on the Suppresion of Terrorims adopted on 27 January 1977. According to Article 5 of the last-mentioned Convention:
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"Nothing in this convention shall be interpreted as imposing an obligation to extradite if the requested State has substantial grounds for believing that the request for extradition for an offence mentioned in Article 1 or 2 has been made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing a person on account of his race, religion, nationality or political opinion, or that that person's position may be prejudiced for any of these reasons."
A provision identical with Article 5 of the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism figures in Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Taking of Hostages adopted by the General Assembly on 12 December 1979.
26. The various conventions on the unlawful seizure of aircraft and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons do not impose upon States an unqualified obligation to extradite offenders 1. Instead, the contracting States are given the option of extraditing or themselves prosecuting the offender, according to the principle of aut dedere, aut punire. One of the reasons for this choice is precisely to allow contracting States to refuge extradition and to grant asylum, if this is considered justified. An examination of State practice in this regard shows that, in cases involving bona fide refugees, States have chosen to refuse extradition and to prosecute the offender under their own legislation.
27. On the American continent, mention should be made of the Convention to prevent and punish Acts of Terrorism taking the form of Crimes against Persons and related Extortion that are of International Significance, adopted by the Organization of
Convention on Offences and Certain other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, Tokyo, 14 September 1963 (Article 16); Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, The Hague, 16 December 1970 (Article 7); Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation. Montreal, 23 September 1971 (Article 7); Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, New York, 14 December 1973 (Article 7).