Jan. 17, 2004 – Three Mexican citizens held in American prisons have escaped the death penalty while awaiting a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the New York Times reports. In a case brought by Mexico, the United States has been accused of ignoring the rights of Mexican citizens at the time of arrest.
Sign up to receive NewStandard headlines and extras by e-mail weekday mornings!
As stated in an ICJ press release, Mexico claims that the 52 Mexican citizens on death row in 8 US states were not promptly informed of their right to contact their consulate, depriving them of consular protection. In a December hearing, lawyers for Mexico requested that the prisoners' cases be annulled or retried. The final judgment is expected in the spring.
Lawyers representing the US government said that Mexico's demands were "an unjustified, unwise, and ultimately unacceptable intrusion into the United States' criminal justice system," according to the same press release. However, the Times reported that an ICJ request last year led to the delays of three imminent executions of Mexican nationals.
The Times quoted the Oklahoma attorney general as saying that the state's stay of execution occurred 'out of courtesy" to the ICJ.
The disagreement centers upon the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which states that foreign nationals must be informed of their right to contact their consulate 'without delay." In addition, Mexico claims that the United States did not inform the Mexican government of the arrests, according to transcripts of the hearings released by the ICJ.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
In a similar case decided in 2001, the United States was found guilty of violating its "international legal obligation" when it executed two German citizens, according to an ICJ summary of the case's final judgment.
