Mexico Challenges Us Use of Death Penalty

The use of the death penalty in the United States is to be challenged by a case brought by the Mexican government on behalf of 51 Mexicans awaiting execution in jails across the border.

The case highlights the international unease about the US justice system that has intensified since the retiring governor of Illinois, George Ryan, commuted the sentences of nearly 170 Death Row inmates earlier this month.

At the core of the case brought by Mexico this week in the international court of justice in the Hague is a claim that 51 Mexicans on Death Row in the US were not given the consular advice to which a foreigner arrested on a serious offence is entitled. The right, guaranteed by the 1963 Vienna convention on consular relations, protects foreign citizens unfamiliar with the legal system of the country where they have been arrested.

The Mexican government is arguing that the accused are entitled to a retrial because their rights have been violated.

The US says they all had a fair trial and dismisses the suit as unwarranted intrusion into its justice system.

Mexico is seeking an injunction to prevent any of the prisoners being given an execution date before the court has ruled.

One case of particular concern to Mexico is that of Cesar Fierro, who was 22 in 1980 when he confessed to murdering a taxi driver in Texas and was sentenced to death. His confession was found to have been coerced and police involved in the investigation were accused of perjury.

Initially the case involved 54 Mexicans, but three of them had their sentences commuted to life in prison by Governor Ryan in Illinois, whose decision spared the lives of 167 inmates.

Mexico will argue that the denial of the consular advice for the accused may have decreased their chances of avoiding a conviction.

"These repeated violations are particularly perturbing given that they have as a consequence the sentencing of an individual to death," said Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo, the senior counsel for Mexico.

Mr Robledo has argued that many of the public defenders assigned to Mexicans speak little Spanish and are unable to offer a proper defence to clients.

The US claims that if Mexico's request was granted it would represent an illegal interference with its criminal justice system.

If the case succeeds, other countries with citizens on Death Row in the US may decide to bring similar cases.

The attorney for the US, James Tessin, told the court that Mexico was seeking "a sweeping prohibition on capital punishment for Mexican nationals in the US, regardless of US law".

Last year, Mexico's president, Vicente Fox, cancelled a trip to Texas after his request for a stay of execution for a Mexican prisoner had been rejected. The man was executed last August.

Since 1976, 20 foreigners have been executed, of whom five were Mexican, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre. A total of 113 foreigners are on Death Row.

Between 1995 and 2000, 75% of those sentenced to death in the US have been Latino or African-American. Since 1973, 102 people sentenced to death were released after an appeal found them to be innocent.

The United States has already come under international pressure from other countries about the issue. Many countries refuse to extradite suspects to the US on capital charges unless a guarantee is given that they will not face the death penalty. Amnesty International, which opposes all executions, has led a campaign to end the death penalty in the US.

The case comes amid a climate of cooling relations between the US and Mexico. The relationship between President Bush and President Fox began brightly, with much talk about easing border controls and the granting of some limited form of amnesty for the millions of Mexicans illegally living in the US. But after September 11, border security was tightened again by the US and any talk of a deal on immigration was downgraded.

The rejection of Mr Fox's plea for clemency in the Texas Death Row case has added to the tension.