There are currently 120 foreign nationals from 32 countries on death rows across the U.S. These are individuals who have been condemned to death in this country but are not citizens of the U.S. In many cases, these defendants were not informed of their rights under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. This treaty was signed and ratified by the U.S., but many defendants from countries that are also parties to the Vienna Convention were not told of their right to contact the consulate of their native country. The consulates were also not promptly informed of the arrest of one of their citizens. (DPIC’s page on Foreign Nationals provides further details. Information on foreign nationals is from Mark Warren of Human Rights Research, updated May 24, 2006).

The U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases this term involving the rights of such foreign nationals. Although neither defendant was sentenced to death, resolution of the cases will decide legal questions that will likely affect those on death row. The cases are Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon and Bustillo v. Johnson. Decisons from the Supreme Court are expected this month. See law firm of Debevoise and Plimpton for briefs in the above cases.