Extradition between Germany and Colombia

German citizenship precludes extradition under Article 16 II of the German Basic Law (GG). The German constitution only provides exceptions for extraditions to EU member states and international courts. Colombia is not an EU member state, so Germany will not extradite its citizens there.

Citizens of other EU countries also enjoy certain protection against extradition. However, EU states are not obliged to protect all EU citizens from extradition. Rather, the protection of EU citizens consists of the fact that the respective EU state of origin must be informed of the extradition request. The state of origin then has a priority right to transfer its national.

The imbalance between the protection of German nationals and non-German EU citizens does not violate the general prohibition of discrimination or the free movement of persons under Article 18 TFEU and Article 21 TFEU.

First of all, the alleged offence must be an extraditable offence. This is the case if the crime in question is also punishable under German law and is punishable by a maximum of one-year imprisonment, cf. Section 3 IRG.

According to Section 6 IRG, the person concerned may not be extradited if the criminal proceedings against them are politically or personally motivated. Personal motivation is always given in the case of persecution based on religion, ethnicity or nationality. Furthermore, extradition is not permitted if the person concerned is threatened with the death penalty in the requesting state, Section 8 IRG. If the person concerned is to be transferred, extradited or deported to a third state, the requested state must give its prior consent, Section 11 IRG.

The tense human rights situation in Colombia may stand in the way of an extradition request. According to Art. 3 ECHR, no one may be subjected to torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment. If there are concrete indications that the person concerned would be subjected to such treatment in the target state, extradition must be refused under German law.

In 2021, the UN Commission on Human Rights expressed its concern about violence on the part of the Colombian police and military.  Of concern are not only abuses against detainees but systematic killings of human rights activists and people who publicly oppose Colombian drug production.

Women, especially black women, experience sexualised violence in prisons. People who are not, or do not appear to be, heterosexual or do not dress or behave in a gender-typical way are also increasingly exposed to violence by security forces in prisons.