Mexico seeks to aid citizens on death row in America

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico alleges that all 54 Mexican inmates on death row in the United States were denied access to consular officials, and asked the World Court on Thursday to intervene.

The foreign relations department claims that U.S. officials violated the 1963 Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, the department said in a statement. The convention requires authorities to inform detained foreign nationals that they have the right to assistance from the consulates of their native countries.

The 54 Mexican nationals "didn't receive the timely assistance from Mexican consular representatives that could have avoided application of the death penalty," the statement said.

A spokesman with the U.S. State Department had no comment Thursday about the appeal.

The issue is an important and sensitive one for Mexicans. Mexican law prohibits the death penalty and Mexico won't extradite its own citizens to face criminal charges in the United States in cases where the death penalty or a life sentence may be applied.

In August, President Vicente Fox canceled a scheduled visit with President Bush after Bush refused to pardon a Mexican national on death row in Texas. There are more than 3,500 people on death row in the United States, the Department of Justice says.

Fox contended that the prisoner, Javier Suarez Medina, was never told he could contact the Mexican consulate for help after his 1988 arrest. U.S. officials said that it wasn't clear if Suarez, who had spent most of his life in the United States, was even Mexican. Medina was executed in August.

Mexican officials asked the World Court, in the Hague, Netherlands, to order U.S. authorities to review the convictions and death sentences of the 54 inmates. It also asked the court to ensure that the prisoners are not executed or scheduled to be put to death until their cases are resolved.

The foreign relations department said it submitted its petition to the court because it had "exhausted every recourse" with local and federal authorities in the United States and other international agencies.

"Despite those efforts ... in the past decade five Mexicans have been executed," the release said.

The statement made clear that Mexico does not want to damage relations with the United States.

"Mexico's petition does not constitute a political confrontation that will affect bilateral relations with the United States," the document said. "It seeks to obligate the state and local authorities to comply with their obligations in terms of consular notification."