The case of Manuel Noriega, a former de facto leader of Panama, had several turning points in the last two decades. General Noriega became a military dictator of Panama in 1983 and ruled the country by the year 1989, until was ousted by the US Army forces (The Secret History of America's Disastrous Relationship with Manuel Noriega: CIA Money, 2014).
Starting from the 1950s, Noriega was a US ally and worked closely with the CIA. Being an important intelligence source, Noriega provided US government with opportunities to held military operations in Latin America. The CIA was pretty aware of Noriega’s involvement in drug trafficking; however, was forced to turn a blind eye to his deeds in order not to lose an important ally (The Secret History of America's Disastrous Relationship with Manuel Noriega: CIA Money, 2014).
As mentioned by Frederick Kempe, the author of America's Bungled Affair with Noriega, the US started these relationships without thinking of the possible consequences and never knew what we wanted from Noriega in long term, while Noriega wanted career and prestige received for being an American ally (The Secret History of America's Disastrous Relationship with Manuel Noriega: CIA Money, 2014).
In 1992, Noriega was convicted for drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering. US government planned to send him to a high-security prison in Illinois; however, the defense managed to obtain a prisoner-of-war status for Noriega. The claim was supported by the fact that Noriega had been detained, as a result of US military invasion of Panama in 1989.The POW status under the Geneva Convention guaranteed a prison with better conditions and treatment (Mcclatchydc, 2015).
In 2007, when Noriega was supposed to get a release from prison, France required from US his extradition due to drug-related and money laundering charges. William Hoeveler, the judge who helped Noriega to receive a POW status and Jon May, stated that US was not eligible to decide on the extradition request, since it was unlawful in accordance to the principles of the Geneva Convention. They both agreed that France should have addressed the request to Panama instead. The US attorneys rejected the statement, claiming that the case of Noriega required a different solution (Mcclatchydc, 2015).
References
The Secret History of America's Disastrous Relationship with Manuel Noriega: CIA Money. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIWUPSULu0c
Mcclatchydc,. (2015). Noriega challenges extradition request. Retrieved 6 February 2016, from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article24467152.html
