Humberto Álvarez Machaín



Dr. Humberto Álvarez Machaín, a Mexican physician, was allegedly involved in the 1985 kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar by "prolonging Agent Camarena's life so that others could further torture and interrogate him." (United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655, 657 (1992)).

In 1990, Dr. Álvarez was abducted from Mexico by bounty hunters hired by DEA agents and brought to trial in the United States over the protest of Mexican officials. Legal action reached the United States Supreme Court (as above) focusing upon the effect of illegal extradition upon the trial court's jurisdiction. Invoking the "Ker-Frisbie Doctrine" the U.S. Supreme Court held that the trial court's jurisdiction was not affected by the manner in which the accused was brought before it. This created international alarm and concern as other nations feared that the decision would encourage further such abductions.

Despite vigorous protests from the Mexican government, Álvarez was tried in United States District Court in Los Angeles; the trial, in which his defense focused intensely on the legality of the arrest, resulted in an acquittal. The other suspect, Javier Vasquez Velasco, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder, convicted, and sentenced to three life sentences. It is widely acknowledged the DEA agents arrested the latter suspect with very little tangible evidence.

Dr. Álvarez then sought civil tort relief against the United States and a Mexican national (a Mr. Sosa). Again the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court (124 S. Ct. 2739) and in a controversial decision the court held that the Federal Tort Claims Act's exception to waiver of sovereign immunity for claims “arising in a foreign country,” 28 U.S.C. § 2680(k), bars claims based on any injury suffered in a foreign country, regardless of where the tortious act or omission occurred and that Dr. Álvarez was not entitled to recover damages from Sosa under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. §1350.