The evidence against Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh could well be overwhelming. If they were still British citizens, the UK could demand their repatriation, and request the evidence which is in the hands of US and Kurdish authorities, so that they could stand trial here. We would certainly not support their rendition to a jurisdiction where they could face the death penalty. But they are not British, they are stateless as a result of Mrs May's action when Home Secretary, which at the time was seen as a breach of the UK's international obligations.
All the ministers involved in the decision to cede all powers over the pair to the Americans say that this is an exceptional and unique decision. One trusts that this, and the removal of citizenship which led to the situation, are seen as aberrations, and do not, along with the rendition of British residents under Jack Straw, comprise the thin end of a nasty wedge.
If we are not prepared to convince the US (presumably) federal courts that capital punishment should not be an option because of our principles, we should at least echo the judgment of the mother of one of Da'esh's victims, James Foley, that to execute the perpetrators would only create martyrs. We know only too well from Irish history how powerful a recruiting tool for men of violence that can be.
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