HUMAN RIGHTS SUB-COMMISSION URGES UNITED STATES TO STAY EXECUTION OF MEXICAN NATIONAL

8 August 2002


The statement below was issued today by the Chairperson of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro. The Sub-Commission, the main subsidiary body of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, is currently meeting in Geneva.


“The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, recalling Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/77 of 25 April 2002 and its own resolution 2000/17 of 17 August 2000, wishes to draw the urgent attention of the United States authorities to the situation of Mr. Javier Suárez Medina, a Mexican national detained on death row in the State of Texas for 13 years who is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on 14 August 2002.

“Javier Suárez Medina was only 19 years old when he was sentenced to death, and a number of serious breaches of his right to a defence occurred during his trial. In particular, United States authorities did not comply with their obligations pursuant to article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 which guarantees consular assistance for foreign detainees.

“These obligations have been strongly reaffirmed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its Advisory Opinion OC-16/99 of 1 October 1999, The Right to Information on Consular Assistance in the Framework of the Guarantees of the Due Process of Law, and by the International Court of Justice in its Judgment in the LaGrand case (Germany v. United States) on 27 June 2001.

“The Sub-Commission urges the United States authorities to do everything possible to stay the execution of Mr. Suárez and to re-examine his case, guaranteeing him his right to consular protection and to a fair trial”.




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