Consular law protects Americans, too
March 27, 2008
The International Court of Justice ruled that Mr. Medellín and 50 other Mexican citizens deserved to have their cases reviewed because their rights under the treaty had been violated. To enforce the treaty, President Bush requested that the Medellín case be retried. But the Supreme Court ruled that a retrial wasn't appropriate because Congress had never passed a law requiring states to abide by the treaty.
Written by Editorial, The Dallas Morning News
The Supreme Court
It's hard to argue with the Supreme Court ruling in the case of José Ernesto Medellín, a Mexican who confessed to killing a Houston girl in 1993. There was a technical flaw in his conviction: The Mexican Consulate was not notified of his arrest, as required under a 1963 treaty.
The International Court of Justice ruled that Mr. Medellín and 50 other Mexican citizens deserved to have their cases reviewed because their rights under the treaty had been violated. To enforce the treaty, President Bush requested that the Medellín case be retried. But the Supreme Court ruled that a retrial wasn't appropriate because Congress had never passed a law requiring states to abide by the treaty.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court's decision doesn't end this controversy; Congress still has to fix that loophole.
Just as foreigners should respect the letter of the law in this country, the United States should abide by its treaty obligations – not just at the federal level, but in state and local jurisdictions as well.
Millions of Americans travel abroad every year. Thousands of them are arrested, often in countries with dubious human rights records. An arrest abroad is among the most frightening experiences any traveler can have.
The 1963 treaty is all that stands in the way of foreign police holding American citizens without ever notifying U.S. consular officials so they can arrange legal assistance or notify family members back home.
Some countries don't provide food for prisoners, and that consular visit is the only way of ensuring that the detainee will even be fed.
By failing to enforce this treaty, America sends a signal to other countries that they don't have to enforce it either. To protect the rights of John Q. Traveler, the tourist who somehow gets arrested in Mexico for tackling the guy who just stole his wallet (and it happens), we also must protect the legal rights of murderers such as Mr. Medellín.
Congress left a huge gap when it ratified the 1963 treaty but failed to enact state-level enforcement legislation. If we want our citizens protected abroad, we have to practice minimal respect for our treaty obligations at home.
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