5.2.03

La Corte internazionale agli Usa :�Sospendete l'esecuzione di tre messicani�

 La Corte internazionale di Giustizia, principale organo giudiziario dell�Onu, ha ordinato mercoled� agli Stati Uniti di sospendere l�esecuzione di tre cittadini messicani condannati in territorio americano.

 La Corte ha accolto un ricorso del Messico che ha chiesto la sospensione delle esecuzioni dei 54 cittadini messicani condannati a morte negli Usa perch� secondo le autorit� messicane non sarebbero stati rispettati gli accordi della Convenzione di Vienna del 1963, secondo la quale gli imputati giudicati in paesi diversi da quello di origine hanno diritto all�assistenza consolare.

 Per ora la sospensione della pena � avvenuta per C�sar Roberto Fierro Reyna, Roberto Morenon Ramos e Osvaldo Torres Aguilera, ma Laurence Blairon, portavoce della Corte internazionale di Giustizia, ha sottolineato che presto verranno adottate misure supplementari per gli altri cittadini messicani in attesa di esecuzione della condanna a morte.

 Un caso simile fu portato avanti dalla Corte sempre contro gli Stati Uniti in seguito alle richieste avanzate dalla Germania affinch� si sospendesse l�esecuzione di un cittadino tedesco condannato in America senza che gli fosse garantito il diritto all�assistenza consolare, Walter Lagrand, il 3 marzo 1999 . L�organo giudiziario dell�Onu ordin� all�America di fermare la condanna a morte. Ma l�esecuzione avvenne lo stesso.

World Court Tells U.S. to Delay Executing 3

February 6, 2003

By MARLISE SIMONS

PARIS,  - The International Court of Justice at The Hague ordered the United States today to postpone the executions of three Mexicans until the court has had a

chance to rule on a complaint filed by Mexico. 

 Mexico maintains that the 51 Mexican citizens on death row in the United States should be retried because they were informed of their rights to communicate with their consulates, as provided in an international treaty.

 The court, an arm of the United Nations, has no way to enforce its decisions, although it can complain to the Security Council if ignored.

 In their decision today, the 15 judges of the court reserved the right to rule on other Mexican citizens on death row but said they had singled out the three men because they "are at risk of execution in the coming months or possibly even weeks."

 The court rejected Washington's argument that Mexico was seeking "a sweeping prohibition" that "would drastically interfere with United States sovereign rights."

 Mexico contends that state and local officials in America ignored the 1963 Vienna Convention, signed by both the United States and Mexico, which requires governments to inform foreign prisoners of their rights to communicate with their consulates.

 In a past ruling that drew much publicity, the World Court said that the United States had committed a similar violation in the case of a German citizen, Walter LaGrand.

He was executed in Arizona in 1999 despite the court's request for a postponement.

World Court to Rule on Mexicans' U.S. Executions

By Abigail Levene 

AMSTERDAM - The World Court at The Hague  will rule Wednesday whether the United States must stay the executions of 51 condemned Mexicans whose rights to consular help Mexico says were violated. Mexico last month took the U.S. to the International Court of Justice, arguing that state and municipal officials breached an international treaty by failing to inform the Mexicans of their right to consular assistance after their arrests. Mexico, which has long fought with the United States over the treaty, says the men should be retried because their rights were denied. But it could take the United Nations' highest court years to consider the merits of the case. 

With that in mind, Mexico is requesting an urgent injunction forbidding the United States from putting to death any Mexicans or fixing execution dates for them -- and that is what the court will rule upon Wednesday. Mexico argues that its rights and those of its nationals under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations were systematically breached by U.S. authorities. 

The Vienna Convention obliges local authorities to inform an arrested person without delay of his right to speak to consular officials from his country. "It is Mexico's experience that the involvement of consular officers can make the difference between life and death for a Mexican national facing capital charges," Mexico said in its written application to the Hague-based World Court. 

The overall case concerns 54 Mexicans held in 10 states. But three of them are in Illinois whose governor last month took the unprecedented step of commuting the sentences of everyone on the state's death row, declaring the execution system "broken." Mexico wants stays of execution for the other 51 inmates, saying at least one of the prisoners could be executed within weeks if the World Court did not intervene. 

The United States, for its part, says Mexico has neither proved its rights under the Vienna Convention have been harmed nor that there is an urgent need for the emergency injunction. Such an injunction would interfere with the United States' sovereign right to administer its criminal justice system and would mark an unwarranted intrusion by the court into U.S. affairs, it argued at a World Court hearing on January 21. 

The court action reflects deep disquiet among some of Washington's closest allies over capital punishment, which has led to protests from leading European states and Pope John Paul (news - web sites). The United States and Japan are the only rich industrialized nations to execute convicted criminals. 

The last person executed in the European Union (news - web sites) was guillotined in France in 1977. A similar case came before the court in 2001 when the United States was found to have breached the Convention in the case of two German-born brothers executed in Arizona in 1999. 

5 de febrero de 2003, 

La Corte Internacional de Justicia ordena a Estados Unidos que suspenda las ejecuciones de tres mexicanos 

 LA HAYA, 5  La Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ), principal �rgano judicial de la ONU, orden� hoy a Estados Unidos que adopte todas las medidas necesarias para impedir la ejecuci�n de tres mexicanos condenados a muerte en ese pa�s, C�sar Roberto Fierro Reyna, Roberto Moreno Ramos y Osvaldo Torres Aguilera, cuya sentencia se cumplir� pr�ximamente, hasta que tome una decisi�n en el contencioso iniciado por M�xico contra Estados Unidos por falta de asistencia consular a los reos. 

Un total de 54 ciudadanos mexicanos esperan en c�rceles estadounidenses para ser ejecutados, seg�n datos ofrecidos por M�xico, que no han sido confirmados por Estados Unidos. Una portavoz de la CIJ, Laurence Blairon, apunt� que si otros ciudadanos mexicanos pasan a tener muy cerca el cumplimiento de la pena capital que le fue impuesta, el Tribunal tomar� medidas suplementarias para impedir su ejecuci�n. El CIJ responde as� parcialmene a la petici�n hecha por M�xico para suspender la ejecuci�n de 54 ciudadanos mexicanos en Estados Unidos, a la espera de una sentencia en el proceso iniciado por M�xito al considerar que Estados Unidos ha violado la Convenci�n de Viena sobre las relaciones consulares de 1963, que prev� informar a los acusados extranjeros de su derecho a una asistencia consular. En un contencioso parecido llevado ante el TPI por Alemania, el Tribunal orden� a Estados Unidos suspender la ejecuci�n de un ciudadano alem�n, Walter Lagrand, el 3 de marzo de 1999, a pesar de lo cual el condenado fue ejecutado.

  5 de febrero de 2003, 

     EEUU/M�xico

La Corte Internacional de Justicia ordena a Estados Unidos que suspenda las ejecuciones de tres mexicanos

LA HAYA, 5 La Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ), principal �rgano judicial de la ONU, orden� hoy a Estados Unidos que adopte todas las medidas necesarias para impedir la ejecuci�n de tres mexicanos condenados a muerte en ese pa�s, C�sar Roberto Fierro Reyna, Roberto Moreno PUBLICIDAD Ramos y Osvaldo Torres Aguilera, cuya sentencia se cumplir� pr�ximamente, hasta que tome una decisi�n en el contencioso iniciado por M�xico contra Estados Unidos por falta de asistencia consular a los reos.

 Un total de 54 ciudadanos mexicanos esperan en c�rceles estadounidenses para ser ejecutados, seg�n datos ofrecidos por M�xico, que no han sido confirmados por Estados Unidos. Una portavoz de la CIJ, Laurence Blairon, apunt� que si otros ciudadanos mexicanos pasan a tener muy cerca el cumplimiento de la pena capital que le fue impuesta, el Tribunal tomar� medidas suplementarias para impedir su ejecuci�n. 

El CIJ responde as� parcialmene a la petici�n hecha por M�xico para suspender la ejecuci�n de 54 ciudadanos mexicanos en Estados Unidos, a la espera de una sentencia en el proceso iniciado por M�xito al considerar que Estados Unidos ha violado la Convenci�n de Viena sobre las relaciones consulares de 1963, que prev� informar a los acusados extranjeros de su derecho a una asistencia consular. 

En un contencioso parecido llevado ante el TPI por Alemania, el Tribunal orden� a Estados Unidos suspender la ejecuci�n de un ciudadano alem�n, Walter Lagrand, el 3 de marzo de 1999, a pesar de lo cual el condenado fue ejecutado. 

5 f�vrier 2003, 

  Les Etats-Unis doivent surseoir � l'ex�cution de trois Mexicains condamn�s � la peine capitale, estime la CIJ

 LA HAYE - Les Etats-Unis doivent surseoir � l'ex�cution de trois ressortissants mexicains condamn�s � la peine de mort, a estim� mercredi la Cour internationale de justice de La Haye.

 Les quinze juges de l'instance de l'ONU ont consid�r� � l'unanimit� qu'un d�lai �tait n�cessaire alors que la cour enqu�te afin de d�terminer si ces hommes -ainsi que 48 autres Mexicains condamn�s � la peine de mort aux Etats-Unis- ont bien b�n�fici� de leur droit d'obtenir une aide juridique des autorit�s mexicaines.

 La cour n'a pas le pouvoir de faire appliquer ses d�cisions et par le pass�, les Etats-Unis n'ont pas suivi ses jugements.

 Le juge Gilbert Guillaume, qui pr�side la cour, a d�clar� mercredi que la CIJ soutenait les arguments du Mexique selon lequel l'ex�cution de ces hommes porterait atteinte de fa�on "irr�parable" � leurs droits si la cour venait � se prononcer en faveur de la position mexicaine.

 Le Mexico a intent� une action contre les Etats-Unis le mois dernier, demandant � la cour de surseoir � l'ex�cution de ses 51 ressortissants condamn�s � la peine capitale sur le sol am�ricain. La cour a toutefois estim� que cela ne pouvait �tre le cas que dans trois dossiers.

 "Les Etats-Unis doivent prendre toutes les mesures n�cessaires pour s'assurer que (ces hommes) ne seront pas ex�cut�s dans l'attente du jugement d�finitif", a soulign� le juge Gilbert Guillaume.

 La cour a demand� aux Etats-Unis de surseoir � l'ex�cution de Cesar Fierro, de Roberto Ramos et d'Osvaldo Torres Aguilera, qui ont �puis� tous leurs recours et dont la date d'ex�cution devait prochainement �tre fix�e.