World Court Says 51 Mexicans Were Denied Access to Help From Consulates

By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service

MEXICO CITY, March 31 -- The International Court of Justice ordered the U.S. government on Wednesday to review the cases of 51 Mexicans facing the death penalty, saying they had been denied access to consular officials who could have aided their defense. Mexican officials and human rights groups applauded the ruling as vindication of Mexico's claim that the United States had systematically violated the prisoners' rights.

The ruling was a victory for Mexico on an emotional issue that has created friction for years with the United States. Mexico, which has neither a death penalty nor life imprisonment, has long viewed the U.S. death penalty as cruel and unusual punishment meted out disproportionately to minorities, including Mexicans. The Mexican government routinely -- and always unsuccessfully -- petitions the United States to stop the execution of Mexican citizens.

The Bush administration had no immediate response to the decision, which was issued in The Hague. Adam Ereli, the State Department deputy spokesman, told reporters in Washington that U.S. officials were studying the "very complex ruling" and "will decide on appropriate steps based on that study."

Mexican President Vicente Fox, in a speech in the border city of Reynosa, said, "We receive with jubilation the resolution of the International Court in The Hague," calling the decision "a triumph for international law, for human rights." Arturo Dager, a top Foreign Ministry official, said at a news conference that he had "full confidence" that the United States would comply with the court's ruling, which cannot be appealed.

The timing of the ruling was especially significant, because one of the 51 Mexicans on death row, Oklahoma prisoner Osvaldo Torres Aguilera, convicted of a double murder during a 1993 burglary, is scheduled to be executed May 18.

Mexico filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, in January 2003, alleging that the United States had violated the rights of Mexicans on death row. The Mexican government argued that U.S. law enforcement officials had failed to comply with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which guarantees people access to their country's diplomatic missions when accused of a crime in a foreign country.

The following month the court issued a unanimous decision by its 15 members calling for the United States to stay the executions of three Mexicans while the court considered Mexico's case. None of the three -- Torres, and Texas inmates Cesar Fierro Reyna and Roberto Moreno Ramos -- has been executed, but all have exhausted their legal appeals. In November, the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, refused to consider an appeal by Torres based on the consular notification issue, although Justices John Paul Stevens and Stephen G. Breyer expressed misgivings about that decision.

In August 2002, Texas authorities executed a Mexican man, Javier Suarez Medina, after Fox had personally appealed to President Bush and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R). The United Nations, the European Union and rights groups also had asked for a stay. When Suarez was executed by lethal injection, Fox canceled a scheduled visit with Bush at his Texas ranch -- a visit that finally took place earlier this month.

Ana Maria Salazar, a political analyst, said Mexicans would be outraged, but not surprised, if Torres were executed despite the court's ruling. "It's happened before," she said, noting that the United States ignored a World Court ruling in 1999 and executed two German brothers who had not been advised of their consular rights. "The important thing is that Fox took a public stand and did the right thing by using international institutions to try to defend the rights of Mexican nationals."

In pleadings before the court, Mexican lawyers argued that consular notification is especially important in capital cases. They said a defendant has a better chance of avoiding a death sentence with an experienced lawyer who speaks the same language, along with the help of the Mexican government investigating possible mitigating circumstances. They said those services can be provided when consulates are notified. Otherwise, many defendants end up facing capital charges with an inexperienced lawyer who may not speak Spanish.

"Today's decision could make the difference between life and death for foreigners prosecuted in the United States," Jamie Fellner, director of the U.S. Program at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Giving defendants access to consular officials means that they can get good defense lawyers -- the surest way to avoid the death penalty."

Critics of the U.S. position said that it could lead other countries to deny arrested U.S. citizens the right to see U.S. consular officials. The issue puts the State Department in the position of trying to persuade other countries to follow a treaty that U.S. officials routinely ignore.

Ereli, the State Department spokesman, said U.S. officials have "already made efforts to improve our record of compliance with the Vienna convention" through "education and coordination between local and federal law enforcement and judicial bodies."

Lawyers representing the United States did not dispute Mexico's assertion that the defendants were not advised of their right to speak to Mexican consular officials. But they said that each of them was given due process under the U.S. legal system, including all rights to a fair trial and all appeals allowed by law.

© 2004