731

Purpose of the Prisoner Transfer Program

The International Prisoner Transfer Program began in 1977 when the Federal Government negotiated the first in a series of treaties to permit the transfer of prisoners from the countries in which they had been convicted to their home countries. Over thirty countries and nationalities are now parties to prisoner transfer treaties with the United States (see this Manual at 740 for a list of participating countries). The treaties and the implementing legislation are intended to relieve the special hardships that fall upon offenders incarcerated in foreign countries, far from home (including United States citizens imprisoned abroad), and are also intended to facilitate the rehabilitation of these offenders. Additionally, the treaties strive to relieve the diplomatic and law enforcement tensions that may arise between nations when large numbers of one country's nationals are incarcerated in another country's prisons. Although most inmates who are transferred out of the United States under these treaties are Federal prisoners, some States also participate in the International Prisoner Transfer Program. Prisoner transfers under the various treaties work both ways, and are available to United States citizens incarcerated abroad as well as to foreign nationals incarcerated in the United States. Because only the latter type of transfer involves the participation of the United States Attorneys' Offices, the focus of this Chapter is on the handling of requests to transfer prisoners from the United States to foreign countries. It should be noted that one of the reasons the United States entered into the various prisoner transfer treaties was to enable it to bring back American prisoners incarcerated abroad, often under particularly harsh conditions. For this reason, and to further diplomatic relations with other countries participating in the International Prisoner Transfer Program, it is important that the United States meet its obligations as established under the various prisoner transfer treaties. [cited in USAM 9-35.010]