cases and the broader question of whether Israel wanted to go through with extraditions requests . . . Gideon Hausner, who prosecuted Eichmann, said Israel's decision to ask the U.S. to extradite Nazis for trial [in Jerusalem] is an important step. "This creates the opportunity for at least tacit admission of Israel's special position with regard to crimes against Jews anywhere in the world," he says.2 After much negotiations the United States arrested Demjanjuk in November of 1983. On April 15, 1985 United States District Judge Frank Battisti ruled in favor of Demjanjuk's extradition. After the Sixth Court of Appeals affirmed Battisti's ruling and the Supreme Court denied Demjanjuk's petition for certiorari, Demjanjuk arrived in Israel on February 27, 1986. (Lubet and Reed 3) It would appear, from what has been presented, that the extradition process is simple. But this conclusion is not correct because there are a few issues that make extradition problematic. One such issue that complicates the process of extradition is that of identification and proof. Leading Nazi war criminals such as Adolf Eichmann and Klaus Barbie offer no real dispute in the matter of identification, but war criminals that were not so prominent leave room to question whether they truly are who they are accused of being. The type of criminal cases that most of us are familiar with are those that attempt to prove whether a defendant committed a particular act or acts. Extradition cases involve two distinct questions: 1) The prosecution must prove that the defendant is actually the person sought by the requesting country. 2) The court must find probable cause to believe that the accused committed the offense.3 In Demjanjuk extradition case Judge Battisti concluded that identification "requires only a threshold showing probable cause."4 How this threshold is achieved can be done through the aid of a photograph comparison w...
