Posted on 12/16/2003 8:55:05 AM PST by NativeNewYorker
The Hague (dpa) - The United States on Tuesday rejected accusations by Mexico that 52 Mexican nationals were on death row in the U.S. because of a lack of consular protection.
William Taft of the U.S. State Department said there was neither legal basis nor grounds for Mexico's request that the 52 defendants be granted re-trials.
According to Taft, the U.S. had done everything to comply with the judgement of the International Court of Justice at The Hague in regard to a similar complaint by Germany in June 1999.
After the withholding of consular protection resulted in the sentencing and execution of German brothers Karl and Walter LaGrand, the world court ordered the United States to take certain precautions to prevent a repetition.
Taft said the decisions as to which steps needed to be taken were rightly left to the United States, adding that Mexico's attempt to have the U.N. court force the U.S. to alter its legal practice was out of the bounds of the court jurisdiction.
The U.S. had made great efforts after the LeGrand case and was now in compliance with the 1963 Vienna Convention on consular protection, Taft said.
Also, Mexico's claim that the U.S. withheld the possibility of commuted sentences for Mexican nationals was incorrect, Taft said.
Of the 52 Mexicans sentenced to death - all convicted of murder -three have already had their sentences commuted and the remaining 49 were in first appeals, and thus had not exhausted their rights under U.S. law, he said.
U.S. attorneys in addition rejected Mexico's interpretation of the Vienna Convention in which no police investigation of arrested foreigners can take place without consular involvement.
Such a stipulation would be practically impossible to carry out, they said, adding that there was no need for the court to go beyond the precedents made in the LaGrand case.
The arguments continue in The Hague until Friday. The timing of the court's judgement is as yet unknown.
Sounds like an opportunity for Orin Hatch & Ted Kennedy.
I'm expecting an addendum to the DREAM Act. Can't have these poor immigrants left out in the cold.
After the withholding of consular protection resulted in the sentencing and execution of German brothers Karl and Walter LaGrand, the world court ordered the United States to take certain precautions to prevent a repetition.
In January 1982, two German citizens, Karl and Walter LaGrand, were arrested in Marana, Arizona, for robbing a bank and committing crimes including murder and attempted murder. In subsequent proceedings before state courts, they were tried, convicted and sentenced to death - decisions that were upheld by both the Arizona Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court.5
Although the arresting authorities were aware of the foreign nationality of Karl and Walter LaGrand, they did not inform the two brothers of their rights under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (hereinafter the `Consular Convention' or CC) to seek consular assistance.6 As a consequence, the failure of consular notification was not raised in proceedings before state courts.
Having learned of their rights under the Consular Convention through other detainees, in June 1992 Karl and Walter LaGrand informed the German Consulate of their case. In subsequent proceedings at the federal level, both brothers for the first time claimed that their rights under the Consular Convention had been violated. Applying a doctrine of US domestic law, federal courts, however, held this claim to be `procedurally defaulted' because it had not been raised in earlier proceedings at the state level.7
After further rounds of proceedings, the Supreme Court of Arizona set 24 February and 3 March 1999 as the dates of execution. In the following weeks, the German Government took all available diplomatic and legal action to prevent, or postpone, the execution, but to no avail. On 24 February 1999, the first of the two brothers, Karl LaGrand, was executed. On 2 March 1999, hours before Walter LaGrand's execution was scheduled, Germany instituted proceedings with the ICJ for breach of the Consular Convention. Its application was accompanied by a request for interim protection, including a stay of the execution of Walter LaGrand pending the consideration of the case before the ICJ. Without a hearing, the Court granted this request on 3 March 1999.8 Despite this order, the Governor of Arizona and the US Supreme Court refused to stay the execution.9 On 3 March 1999, Walter LaGrand was executed.
Hahaha, ya bucket heads! Next time around, stay in Germany, rob your own banks and kill your own people. Maybe things will work out better for you!
Owl_Eagle
Guns Before Butter.
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