Sandra Babcock Press Release: NATIONS UNITE TO SUPPORT SUAREZ MEDINA APPEAL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 14, 2002 CONTACT: SANDRA L. BABCOCK Counsel to sovereign amici in Javier Suarez Medina v. State of Texas. Telephone: (612) 871-5080 Fax: (612)872-4967

Nations Unite to Support Suárez Medina Appeal

In an extraordinary display of international solidarity and concern, thirteen nations have joined with Mexico in supporting a United States Supreme Court review of the case of Javier Suárez Medina. A Mexican national, Mr. Suárez Medina is scheduled for execution this evening in Texas, despite evidence that Texas authorities violated his right to consular notification and prevented Mexican authorities from providing consular assistance during his 1989 trial. Texas is required to provide notification of consular rights without delay to any detained foreign national, under the terms of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

In a joint amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief filed with the Supreme Court, the 14 countries urge the granting of a full hearing in order to resolve the legal implications of the treaty violation in this case.

The joint brief declares that Texas "should not be permitted to damage the United States' relationship with its allies, invite international condemnation, and increase the danger that nationals detained abroad will be denied their time-honored right to consular assistance and protection." The 14 nations also point out that the United States is under a binding obligation to comply with a judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Last year, the ICJ ordered that US authorities must provide review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence in cases where foreign nationals were deprived of their consular rights and sentenced to death.

"This outpouring of international concern is simply unprecedented," said Sandra Babcock, the attorney representing Mexico and the other intervening nations. The countries which have signed on to Mexico's brief are: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In an appeal filed yesterday with the US Supreme Court, Mr. Suárez Medina cites the failure of the Texas courts to review the treaty violation and asserts that a judicial remedy must be applied to vindicate his right to receive timely consular notification and assistance. The petition is supported by extensive new evidence uncovered through Mexican consular assistance, evidence which would have resulted in a lesser sentence if consular assistance had not been denied at the time of the trial.

"Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, this treaty obligation is binding on all individual states, including Texas," Ms. Babcock said. "The international community is today calling on the Supreme Court to grant consideration of a basic legal right, one which is mandated both under the law of nations and under the supreme law of this land." # # # Return to Press Releases