Study Says Mexican Nationals Most-Represented Group Facing Execution in US Víctor Mayen - The News
go to original May 11, 2013

The United States has long had an uneasy relationship with the International Court of Justice, which primarily arbitrates legal disputes among UN member nations that recognize its jurisdiction. The United States disagreed with the court's stance that it failed to fulfill its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in 2005 in cases involving Mexican nationals on death row. Recently, the United States has increased its engagement with the ICJ especially with respect to individuals who are facing the death penalty in the United States, making considerable efforts to come into compliance, despite serious obstacles within its own constitutional system. (cfr)

MEXICO CITY – A total of 61 Mexicans are currently on death row, according to a report sent yesterday by the Foreign Relations Secretariat (SRE) to the Mexican Senate.

The document — solicited by Labor Party (PT) vice-coordinator in the Senate David Monreal Ávila — lists 61 Mexicans on death row, along with 70 whose trials are ongoing but could face the death penalty if found guilty.

The 61 Mexicans account for 42.36 percent of the 144 foreigners on death row in the U.S., making Mexico the most-represented country.

Members of the North American Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Senator Marcel Guerra Castillo, have said that they will ask the SRE to keep them up to date on the situation of all Mexicans on death row. “It’s very important for the SRE to keep us informed about the situation … checking why they have been handed the sentence … and what condition they are in,” Guerra Castillo said.

The SRE report used information collated by the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program (MCLAP), created in 2000, which gives legal support to Mexicans living outside Mexico, regardless of their crime, verdict or immigration status.

Since its inception the MCLAP has helped 832 Mexicans evade the death penalty. Out of the 53 sentenced since 2000, only five have been executed, while nine sentences have been commuted.

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