World Court orders US to stay execution of Mexicans in Texas

It is highly unlikely, however, that the courts ruling will have any effect on the functioning of the state-sanctioned killing machine in Texas. Jose Ernesto Medellin is scheduled to be put to death on August 5. In keeping with US contempt for international law, Texas Governor Rick Perry commented, the world court has no standing in Texas and Texas is not bound by a ruling or edict from a foreign court.

Wednesdays ICJ ruling is the latest in a series of legal decisions on the issue of executing foreign nationals in the US. At various junctures, the Bush administration, Texas authorities and the US Supreme Court have all demonstrated both their flouting of international law and their support for capital punishment, a barbaric practice condemned by the vast majority of the industrialized world.

As of February 29, 2008, there were 122 foreign nationals on death rows across the US, including 53 from Mexico. Article 36 of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) mandates that local authorities must inform all detained foreigners without delay of their right to have their consulate notified of their detention. The US ratified the VCCR in 1969 along with an optional protocol giving the ICJ jurisdiction over the convention.

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