Lluís Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), calls on the US to abide by its international obligation to review cases of death row prisoners denied consular access. According to the CE Press Division, he made the following statement:
"I would like to express my dismay at yesterday`s announcement of a recent date for the execution of José Ernesto Medellin, the Mexican on death row in Texas. Mr Medellin says that he was never given prompt access to consular officials, as required by international law.
Mr Medellin`s execution would be wrong morally, but it would also show a clear disregard for international law and a lack of respect for the UN`s highest judicial body, which has ruled that the United States breached its international obligations in this case and others and ordered it to review them.
I call on the US authorities to abide by their international treaty obligations, and on Congress to intervene if necessary to ensure this takes place. I also invite them to review the cases of Mr Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row who did not receive prompt consular access, as is their right, and as ordered by the International Court of Justice.
I also deplore the execution yesterday of William Earl Lynd, ending a seven-month national suspension of executions following the Supreme Court`s ruling that lethal injection is legal. However it is done, the death penalty is wrong, and my hope is that one day it will cease in the United States too.
