Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) announced plans last week to visit 55 of its citizens sitting on death row in the United States

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) announced plans last week to visit 55 of its citizens sitting on death row in the United States, in the wake of 2 recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that lifted a moratorium on prisoner executions. (see March 25 and 31). CNDH representative Andres Calero says the agency will attempt to first visit penitentiaries in California and Texas, where 60 % of Mexican death row prisoners reside. As part of the agency's anti-death penalty program, officials will interview prisoners about potential human rights violations in their cases, gather legal data and prepare to petition U.S. authorities to delay execution, according to Calero. Mexico, which opposes the death penalty, hoped the case might have overturned the sentence of Jose Medellin, who, like other Mexican prisoners, was not informed of his consular rights guaranteed in the Vienna Convention. The anti-death penalty program is one of Mexico's longest running human rights campaigns, petitioning state and federal governments for stays of execution on behalf of Mexican citizens and appealing their cases to international judicial bodies.