Cite as: 524 U. S. 666 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
erer and prosecutor made one nation the agent of the other, rendering fear of foreign prosecution tantamount to fear of a criminal case brought by the Government itself.
Whether such an argument should be sustained may be left at the least for another day, since its premises do not fit this case. It is true that Balsys has shown that the United States has assumed an interest in foreign prosecution, as demonstrated by OSI's mandate 18 and American treaty agreements 19 requiring the Government to give to Lithuania and Israel any evidence provided by Balsys. But this interest does not rise to the level of cooperative prosecution. There is no system of complementary substantive offenses
18 According to Order No. 851-79, reprinted in App. 15-17, the OSI shall "[m]aintain liaison with foreign prosecution, investigation and intelligence offices; [u]se appropriate Government agency resources and personnel for investigations, guidance, information, and analysis; and [d]irect and coordinate the investigation, prosecution, and any other legal actions instituted in these cases with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Attorneys Offices, and other relevant Federal agencies."
19 The United States and Lithuania have entered into an agreement that provides that the two governments "agree to cooperate in prosecution of persons who are alleged to have committed war crimes . . . agree to provide mutual legal assistance concerning the prosecution of persons suspected of having committed war crimes . . . will assist each other in the location of witnesses believed to possess relevant information about criminal actions . . . during World War II, and agree to intermediate and endeavor to make these witnesses available for the purpose of giving testimony in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Lithuania to authorized representatives of the United States Department of Justice." Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States Department of Justice and the Office of the Procurator General of the Republic of Lithuania Concerning Cooperation in the Pursuit of War Criminals, Aug. 3, 1992, reprinted in App. in No. 96-6144 (CA2), pp. 396-397.
The District Court found that though it had not been made aware of a treaty between the United States and Israel requiring disclosure of information related to war crimes, OSI had shared such information in the past and that it would be consistent with OSI's mandate from the Attorney General for OSI to do so again. 918 F. Supp. 588, 596 (EDNY 1996).
699
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