By Prensa Latina,
Washington : The American Society of International Law demanded on Friday congressional intervention in the case of five Mexicans sentenced to death in Texas.
According to ASIL president Lucy Reed, it is vital for legislators to act to make federal government comply with obligations contracted before the world.
Reed’s call refers to Texas Governor Rick Perry’s refusal to accept a ruling of the UN International Court of Justice, requesting the US Executive to stop the executions in order to study a lawsuit filed by Mexican authorities.
The ruling is intended to buy time so that once the suit is settled, the final ruling of the International Court does not lack validity if the accused are dead.
However, under a ruling of the US Supreme Court of Justice, Washington lacks legal authority to force federal entities to quash its sentences.
In Reed’s opinion, the position assumed by Perry stakes US reputation as a country that has to respect international agreements in order to demand others to follow suit.
In a letter addressed to Congress, several members of ASIL warn that violating the ruling of the judicial body will have adverse effects for the treatment of US people abroad.
The document says that, as claimed by the Mexican government, the convicted immigrants had no access to their country’s consular authorities in violation of UN agreements in this regard.