Mexico Under Siege

U.S. BROKE OBLIGATIONS IN MEXICAN'S EXECUTION

The International Court of Justice Says the U.S. Violated Its Ruling
Ordering Reviews of Death-Row Cases Involving Mexican Citizens When
Texas Executed One of the Convicts.

The International Court of Justice ruled Monday that the United States
violated its order last year when Texas proceeded with the execution
of a Mexican national convicted of murder and rape.

The court, based in The Hague, said the United States remains bound by
a 2004 ruling to review the cases of 51 Mexican citizens on death row
despite its failure to do so in the past. That earlier decision said
the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular
Relations by not advising the Mexican arrestees of their right to seek
help from their nation's consular officials.

But in Monday's ruling, the court, also known as the World Court,
rejected Mexico's request that it require that U.S. authorities
provide a guarantee to review and reconsider each case.

Mexico formally outlawed the death penalty in 2005, and the execution
of Mexicans for capital crimes in the United States is a hot-button
issue here. Many Mexicans believe their countrymen are more likely to
face the death penalty than U.S. citizens charged with the same crimes.

After Monday's ruling, Mexico called on the incoming Obama
administration to ensure that the United States meets its obligations
under international treaty to safeguard the rights of Mexican arrestees.

The ruling centered on the Aug. 5 execution of Jose Ernesto Medellin
Rojas, convicted in the rape and murder of two teenage girls in 1993.
Mexico sought to reopen all 51 remaining death-row convictions in
hopes of winning new trials or getting charges dropped.

In 2005, President Bush directed Texas and other states to review
death-row cases involving Mexican nationals in order to comply with
the World Court ruling. But Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, refused to
put off the Medellin execution, saying the World Court has "no
standing in Texas."

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Bush, saying he lacked authority
on his own to force states to comply with an international treaty. In
a last-ditch action, the World Court ordered that none of the five
Mexican nationals facing imminent execution in Texas be executed until
their cases could be reviewed under the 2004 ruling.

But Medellin was executed by lethal injection three weeks
later.

U.S. government lawyers told the international court that the United
States sought to comply, but could not control state courts.

In Monday's ruling, the court said "the United States breached the
obligation incumbent upon it" when Medellin was put to death and is
still bound by the 2004 decision.

Critics said the Medellin execution could leave Americans abroad
vulnerable to being convicted or executed without being offered the
chance to seek help from U.S. consular officials.