Photo Credit: courtesy Roth family
{Reposted from the author’s blog}
Trying to bring the central figure in our daughter’s murder to justice has been one of the hardest and most painful things my wife and I have ever had to do.
That person, a Jordanian woman called Ahlam Tamimi, should have been put on trial in Washington under US law a long time ago. The charges against her were unsealed by senior Department of Justice officials almost exactly four years ago to the day, on March 14, 2017. We had already planned to mark that somber anniversary with a renewed call to the US government for meaningful pressure to be brought to bear on its ally and treaty partner, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
It is inexplicable to us that Jordan, which signed a treaty with the US more than a quarter century ago for the mutual extradition of fugitives like Tamimi, remains in flagrant breach of that treaty even while it continues to be a recipient of colossal sums in US foreign aid each year.
Today we learned of a further reversal: the blunt and unwelcome announcement by Interpol on March 8, 2021 that it has succumbed to pressure from the fugitive’s family, lawyers and clan in Jordan and has cancelled the Red Notice which operated until now to encourage member governments to arrest her if she enters their jurisdiction.
We learned about this via the Arabic-language media and are trying to get clarification from the US justice system.
My wife and I will not give up in our efforts to see this loathsome person – the embodiment of murderous bigotry – eventually brought to justice to answer for her crimes.
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