| | |  Editorials | Issues | August 2008 
Execution Prompts Concern for Detained Mexicans
 Jorge Vargas - Associated Press
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| | This handout photo received in March 2008 courtesy of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in Austin shows death row inmate Jose Medellin, who has been executed in Texas. (AFP/TDCJ-HO) | | |
Nuevo Laredo, Mexico - Mexico is protesting the execution of one of its citizens in Texas despite a world court ruling for a new hearing, expressing concern for the rights of other Mexicans detained in the United States.
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said it sent a note of protest to the State Department about Jose Medellin's case, which drew international attention because of allegations that Medellin wasn't allowed to consult the Mexican consulate for legal help following his arrest.
Texas executed Medellin, 33, late Tuesday for the 1993 rape and killing of two teenage girls in Houston.
Medellin was convicted of participating in the gang rape, beating and strangling of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14. Prosecutors said he and five fellow gang members attacked the girls as they were walking home on a June night, raped and tortured them for an hour, then kicked and stomped them before using a belt and shoelaces to strangle them.
"I'm sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbor hate," Medellin said to those gathered to watch him die. "Never harbor hate."
In Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where Medellin was born, a small group of his relatives condemned the execution.
"This is another murder because no one has the right to take someone else's life, only God," said Medellin's cousin Reyna Armendariz.
A large black bow and a banner that read "No to the death penalty ... may God forgive you," hung from an iron fence in the front of the house where Medellin lived before moving to the United States at the age of 3.
Armendariz said the family hopes Medellin's body would be return to Mexico.
"He signed a paper saying he wanted his remains to go to a friend. Who knows if they will bring him here," Armendariz said sobbing.
The Mexican government statement said officials "were concerned for the precedent that (the execution) may create for the rights of Mexican nationals who may be detained in that country."
An international court ruled in 2004 that the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row around the United States violated the Vienna Convention, which calls for people arrested abroad to have access to their home country's consular officials.
Texas state officials say Medellin didn't ask to do so until well after he was convicted of capital murder.
The International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, said the Mexican prisoners should have new court hearings to determine whether the violation affected their cases.
President Bush asked states to review the cases, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year neither the president nor the international court can force Texas to wait.
Associated Press Writer Olga R. Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed to this report. |
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