INTERLOCUTORY DECISIONS Decisions transmitting a communication to the State party (rule 91) and requesting interim measures of protection (rule 86) Communication No. 486/1992 Submitted by: K.C. (name deleted) on 24 February 1992 Alleged victim: The author State party: Canada Declared inadmissible: 29 July 1992 (forty-fifth session) United States of America. Article 6 of the Treaty provides: Subject matter: Request for interim measures of protection pending extradition on charges of alleged murder “When the offence for which extradition is requested is punishable by death under the laws of the requesting and State the laws of the requested State do not permit such punishment for that offence, extradition nay be refused unless the requesting State provides such assurances as the requested State considers sufficient that the death penalty shall not be imposed or, if imposed, shall not be executed”. Procedural issues: Interim measures of protection—Non-exhaustion of domestic remedies Substantive issues: Right to life—Threat to right to life—Death-row phenomenon Articles of the Covenant: 6(1), 7 and 26 Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976, except in the case of certain military offences. Article of the Optional Protocol: 5(2)(b) 2.3 The power to seek assurances that the death penalty will not be imposed is conferred on the Minister of Justice pursuant to section 25 of the 1985 Extradition Act. Rules of procedure: Rules 86 and 92(2) 1. The author of the communication (dated 24 February 1942) is K. C., a citizen of the United States of America born in 1952, currently detained at a penitentiary in Montreal and facing extradition to the United States. He claims to be a victim of violations by Canada of articles 6 juncto 26 and 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 2.4 Concerning the course of the proceedings against the author, it is stated that a habeas corpus application was filed on his behalf on 13 September 1991; he was represented by a legal aid representative. The application was dismissed by the Superior Court of Quebec. The author’s representative appealed to the Court of Appeal of Quebec on 17 October 1991. The facts as submitted by the author 2.1 On 27 February 1991, the author was arrested at Laval, Quebec, for theft, a charge to which he pleaded guilty. While in custody, the judicial authorities received from the United States a request for his extradition, pursuant to the 1976 Extradition Treaty between Canada and the United States. The author is wanted in the State of Pennsylvania on two charges of firstdegree murder, relating to an incident that took place in Philadelphia in 1988. If convicted, the author could face the death penalty. 2.5 Counsel requests the Committee to adopt interim measures of protection because extradition of the author to the United States would deprive the Committee of its jurisdiction to consider the communication, and the author to properly pursue his communication. The complaint 3. The author claims that the order to extradite him violates article 6 juncto 26 of the Covenant; he alleges that the way death penalties are pronounced in the United States generally discriminates against black people. He further alleges a violation of article 7 of the Covenant, in that he, if extradited and Sentenced to death, 2.2 Pursuant to the extradition request of the United States Government and in accordance with the Extradition Treaty, the Superior Court of Quebec ordered the author’s extradition to the 5