United States Citizan Protection in Forign Country?
Question by flamboyant: United States citizan protection in forign country?
Hypothetically speaking, what if I were to get into trouble in a foreign country like Yemen where they are notoriously harsh on sentencing. Let’s say I got caught with a small amount of pot or something to that extent. The penalties for possession of drugs in such countries can be life imprisonment, or beheading. Being a US Citizen, facing execution for such a small offense, would the US government negotiate my release into their custody? Would they try to get me back to US soil to face trial here? What is protocol in these situations?
No, I am not going to Yemen, or any other country for that matter!
I am just curious as to how far my country would go to help it’s citizens in such a scenario. So please don’t respond with answers such as “You shouldn’t have had pot in that country” or “You should never have been in Yemen in the first place”. Again, I have no intention of EVER going to any place like this!
Best answer:
Answer by Spotter 888
Here is the extent of your “help”.
http://yemen.usembassy.gov/yemen/layers_info.html
Answer by kittysue2000
The US government does not normally get involved unless it can be shown there was a false accusation or the defendant did not receive a fair trial. But if an American in Yemen is caught with pot, received a fair trial, and the death penalty was standard punishment for that type of crime, then the Embassy would not normally get involved.
When an American visits a foreign country, they are obliged to obey the laws of that country
There have been Americans put to death in countries like Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, etc for drug trafficking. And there are thousands of Americans in foreign jails for various crimes.
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While your previous two answers are correct, it’s hard to know exactly what would be done. In the 90’s there was an 18 year old in Singapore who got in trouble for spray paining some cars. Singapore’s punishment for that is to cane people. The US stepped in asserting that the punishment was too severe. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay)
There have been other examples of the US stepping in to protect nationals from what they view as unduly harsh courts. Special courts have been set up for Americans in developing countries, jurisdiction has been found on boats in foreign harbors, and governments have been petitioned for reductions in sentences. The thing is though, all of these are very very rare.
While the US may step in in some extreme situations, they aren’t very likely to do so unless politically necessary (either domestically or internationally). Also, consider what may be a minor offense to you (possession of pot) may not be to the US government.