That's the title of an editorial in today's Houston Chronicle on the controversial scheduled execution of Jose Medellin. LINK
If Medellin is executed as scheduled on Aug. 5 without a review of his case, it will send other nations the message that they need not honor their commitment to afford detained Americans access to U.S. diplomats. If states or provinces within a nation have the right to ignore the treaty, the safety of U.S. citizens overseas will be jeopardized.
The review of Medellin's case ordered by the World Court would likely have been a swift, pro forma procedure in which a Texas court reaffirmed his confession and conviction, allowing the execution to go forward. By defying international law and rebuffing President Bush and the World Court, Texas would set a precedent Americans traveling abroad will regret.
Texas Governor Rick Perry can prevent that outcome by halting the execution while the necessary court review is carried out. Medellin will still receive the sentence he deserves without creating unnecessary risk for innocent people in the future.
As Justice Stevens noted, "having already put the Nation in breach of one treaty, it is now up to Texas to prevent the breach of another."
The National Law Journal has a web only article today, "Attorneys urge congressional leaders to address issue of Mexican nationals on death rows."
The current president and nine past presidents of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) have written to congressional leaders urging them to take legislative action to resolve a treaty dispute between Mexico and the United States over Mexican nationals on U.S. death rows.
Their action was prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision earlier this year in Medellin v. Texas, involving one of 51 Mexican nationals on death row who did not receive access to their consular officials as required by the Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs, to which the United States is a party. The first of these Mexican nationals is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 5 in Texas.
"Congressional action to ensure compliance with our undisputed international obligations is critically important," said Freshfields partner and ASIL President Lucy Reed. "At stake are important protections of Americans abroad as well as our reputation as a country that lives up to its international agreements and expects others to do the same."
And:
In their letters, the ASIL presidents emphasize that "the United States is poised irreparably to violate the Vienna Convention and a judgment of the ICJ" and that doing so "would set a dangerous precedent, undermining the reciprocal Vienna Convention rights that American citizens are entitled to enjoy while traveling, living, or working abroad."
Additionally, the letters caution that by executing the Mexican nationals without first giving their cases the review and reconsideration called for by the ICJ, the United States would damage its reputation "as a nation that respects its international legal obligations and holds others to the same high standard."
Legislation to bring the United States into compliance with the treaty obligation has been introduced in the House, but there is little time left in the congressional session for action.
Earlier coverage is here. More on Medellin I and Medellin II, via Oyez.org. Earlier coverage of Medellin v. Texas (Medellin II) is here. The legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 6481 -- the Avena Case Implementation Act of 2008, is here.
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