Mexico accused the United States at an International...

Mexico accused the United States at an International Court of Justice hearing on of violating international law over its treatment of more than 50 Mexican nationals on death row. "Mexico is not challenging the use of the death penalty in the United States but is arguing that when it is applied, it must be done strictly in line with international law," said Mexican lawyer Juan Manuel Gomez. Mexico filed a complaint with the ICJ in January accusing Washington of violating the 1963 Vienna Convention which requires states to inform foreign prisoners that they are entitled to consular assistance or legal help from their government. It asked the ICJ, the highest UN court, to order Washington to suspend the executions of more than 50 Mexican prisoners on death row until the ICJ delivers its verdict. In February, the court ordered a temporary stay of execution for three Mexican death row inmates, whose executions were imminent. But a similar stay for the others was not ordered because the court said there was no immediate danger of their execution. Mexico was seeking an order that 52 inmates facing execution are given access to consular assistance. "The purpose of this right is not to hinder the procedures," said another lawyer for Mexcio, Sandra Babcock, raising the plight of one prisoner who waited 11 years before being told of his right to help from his government. She said statements by some inmates who only spoke a certain dialect were wrongly interpreted as confessions, while other prisoners were minors or were mentally impaired.