Mexico asks World Court to stay executions in U.S.

By Arthur Max

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:03 p.m. June 5, 2008

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Mexico appealed to the U.N.'s highest court Thursday to block the executions of Mexicans in the United States, arguing U.S. officials have failed to comply with a judgment ordering a review of their trials.

The International Court of Justice said Mexico asked the court for an “interpretation” of an earlier ruling to clarify its meaning when it asked the U.S. to “review and reconsider” the cases of the condemned prisoners.

Until that can be done, Mexico said the United States “must take any and all steps necessary” to ensure that none of its citizens is executed, and asked the court to take urgent measures to intercede.

The court, informally known as the World Court, ruled in 2004 that the convictions of some 50 Mexicans on death row around the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention, which provides that people arrested abroad can have access to their home country's consular officials.

The court, which sits in The Hague, said the Mexicans should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether the violation affected their cases.