Archivado en: internacional | escrito por goleech | 05/23/2005 | 15:41

La Suprema Corte de justicia de los Estados Unidos rechazó postergar/anular la sentencia de muerte en contra del mexicano Jose Medellin. La defensa de Medellín, apoyada por un reclamo internacional por parte del gobierno de México en la Corte Mundial, argumenta que se le sentenció sin haber notificado a las autoridades consulares, una violación de la Convención de Ginebra.

El reclamo del gobierno de México tuvo eco en los 51 casos de connacionales sentenciados a muerte. El Presidente Bush ordenó una "revisión a fondo" en todos los casos a principios de este año. Pero en cerrada votación, 5-4, la Suprema Corte de los Estados Unidos argumenta que, en el caso Medellín, el acusado "todavía no había agotado todas sus vías de apelación en las cortes del estado".

The case of Mr. Medellín, who was 18 when he took part in the gang rape and slayings of two teen-age girls in the Houston area in 1993, has been closely followed because he is one of 51 Mexicans in several states who are under death sentences. Capital punishment is an issue that has divided the United States and some of its closest allies in recent years, with the execution of Mexicans in Texas a particular sore point.

The Supreme Court decision today means the cases of Mr. Medellín, and probably the other 50 Mexican citizens, will continue to draw judicial and diplomatic scrutiny. The Vienna Convention, which the United States embraced in 1969, requires the authorities of a government detaining a foreign citizen to act "without delay" in notifying the prisoner of the right to seek help from a consul of his home country. Mexico sued the United States in the World Court last year on behalf of Mr. Medellín and the other 50 Mexican nationals.

The United States opposed the suit, arguing that Mexico's suit amounted to an unacceptable intrusion into the American criminal justice system. In ruling for Mexico, the World Court said the United States should provide an "effective review" of all 51 cases.

The New York Times, 23 de mayo de 2005