Is Edward Snowden Protected By International Law? Good read

[malaise]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/edward-snowden-international-law_n_3544679.html
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Snowden argued during a press conference in Moscow that he is protected by the principle of non-refoulement, which would bar Russia, one of 145 signatories of the 1951 Convention, from sending him anywhere that would lead him back to the U.S.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees' Handbook on Procedures and Criteria
for Determining Refugee Status under the UN Convention states that a crime should be considered political if "it has been committed out of genuine political motives and not merely for personal reasons or gain" and there is "a close and direct causal link between the crime committed and its alleged political purpose and object."

Based on his statements, Snowden's alleged crimes appear to be political in nature. His decision to leak classified documents appears to have been motivated by his political opinions about the overreaches of U.S. surveillance programs, and his goal of bringing an end to these overreaches could not have been achieved without said leaks. As Ben Saul, a professor of international law at the University of Sydney, said: "crimes like 'espionage' are widely regarded as classic 'political offenses.'"

If Snowden can fly to the Russian Far East airport of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and charter a plane across the Pacific Ocean, as Fisher suggests, he may be able to reach a Latin American country without crossing any unfriendly airspace. From there, he is guaranteed safe passage as a Venezuelan asylee under the 1928 Havana Convention on Asylum, which is signed by most Latin American countries. However, such a flight is both literally and figuratively a long shot.

[xchrom]

1. du rec.