The McAllen Monitor has, "Mexico: Men in 'immediate' danger of execution."
Mexico urged the United Nation's primary court to act quickly Thursday and block the imminent executions of five of its citizens in Texas.
If not, the men - including two sentenced to die for crimes committed in Hidalgo County - could be put to death before the International Court of Justice comes back with a decision on their case, advocates for Mexico argued.
"All of their requests for review were denied," said Sandra Babcock, clinical director for the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University in Chicago. "As a result, they are in immediate danger of being scheduled for execution."
Babcock and others who argued on behalf of Mexico on Thursday said the United States had breached its international obligations by disregarding a previous ruling by the international court.
In 2003, the body ordered states to grant reviews for more than 50 Mexican nationals who were not advised that they could communicate with the nearest consulate after their arrests - a right stipulated in the 1963 Vienna Convention.
"World Court hears attempt to block US executions," is the AP dispatch via Google News.
Mexico made an emergency appeal to the U.N.'s highest court Thursday to block the execution of its citizens on death row in the United States.
Lawyers for the U.S. cautioned, however, that the court's interference could complicate Washington's efforts to save the lives of Mexican convicts condemned to death by state courts.
Mexico contends the United States is defying a 2004 order by the International Court of Justice to review the cases of 51 condemned Mexican prisoners.
That ruling said the inmates had been denied the right to help from their consulate after their arrests. It said the death row prisoners were entitled to a reconsideration of their trials and sentences to determine whether the violation affected their cases.
Informally known as the World Court, the tribunal is the U.N.'s judicial arm for resolving disputes among nations. Its decisions are binding and final, but it has no enforcement powers.
Mexico's chief advocate Juan Manuel Gomez-Robledo told the court the cases had not been systematically reviewed, and the U.S. was "in breach of its international obligations."
And:
John B. Bellinger III, the U.S. legal adviser, said federal government had gone to "extraordinary lengths" to carry out the World Court's directive and to intercede with the state courts.
After the World Court's ruling, President Bush issued a directive to the state courts to abide by the decision. He also asked Texas specifically to review the case of Jose Medellin, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection Aug. 5.
Those steps were "highly unusual," Bellinger said. "It almost never happens that the federal government enters an appearance in state court proceedings."
Texas refused, and in March the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 vote that Bush lacked the authority to compel state courts to comply with the judgment from The Hague.
Mexico filed to the court again two weeks ago.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Michael Mukasey jointly wrote to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, urging him to review Medellin's case, Bellinger said.
But Rice and Mukasey could do nothing more than "respectfully request" Texas' help to carry out the nation's international legal obligations, said Bellinger.
AFP reports, "Mexico accuses US of violations in death sentence dispute," also via Google News.
In its 2004 judgment, the UN court held the United States in breach of the Vienna Convention for having failed to inform 51 Mexican nationals of their rights to consular access and assistance during trial.
It directed the state to review and reconsider the convictions and sentences "by means of its own choosing" -- but it is this phrase that is at the heart of the current dispute.
Mexico has now approached the court for closer interpretation of the 2004 judgement, saying all but one of the 51 review requests, have been denied.
One of the Mexican convicts, 33-year-old Jose Medellin, has since been scheduled to be executed on August 5 for the rape and murder of two teenaged girls in Texas in 1993.
At least four others were in "imminent danger" of having execution dates set by Texas with notice periods of between three and nine months, said Mexico.
Gomez-Robledo told a panel of 12 judges Thursday that Mexico had made several failed attempts to get its northern neighbour to comply.
Canada's National Post has Reuters coverage, "Mexico fights to stop US execution."
Under the Vienna Convention, foreign nationals under arrest have a right to talk to consular officers.
Texas has acknowledged Medellin was never told he could talk to Mexican officials. But it has argued that claim cannot be made now because he never raised it at trial or sentencing.
Even if his treaty rights had been violated, it would not have made any difference in the case's outcome, the state said.
The ICJ is responsible for handling disputes between UN member states. Its rulings are binding and not subject to appeal.
Earlier coverage is here. More on Medellin I and Medellin II, via Oyez.org. Earlier coverage of Medellin v. Texas (Medellin II) is here.
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