Texas Rejects Obama’s Appeal to Stop Execution

The case of Humberto Leal Garcia, a Mexican national who was executed this Thursday in Texas, could have serious repercussions in terms of foreign policy.

This Thursday, Humberto Leal Garcia, 38-year-old son of Mexican immigrants, was executed by lethal injection in Texas. Garcia was given the death penalty in 2010 for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in 1994. Despite hard evidence linking him to the victim, he has always claimed his innocence.

Last Thursday, the White House intervened and asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution. Not to debate Leal’s guilt or innocence nor to question the morality of the death penalty, the Washington Post adds, but to obtain a stay of execution so as to examine any possible violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which the United States is a signatory.

According to the Vienna Convention, Humberto Leal Garcia should have benefited from the help of the Mexican Consulate at the time of his arrest. American authorities should have immediately informed him of his right. And yet it wasn’t until he was on death row that he learned of it, Fox News writes.

Violation of the Vienna Convention?

It is not just an issue of a “technical violation”* of an international treaty, comments a member of Garcia’s defense team, Sandra Babcock. The Mexican Consulate would have provided experienced and highly qualified attorneys “who would be likely to yield mitigating evidence against the accusation.”*

This isn’t the first time a possible violation of the Vienna Convention has come to light. In 2004, an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling asked for the suspension of the executions of 51 Mexicans, including Leal, who were sentenced to death in the United States, for the same breach of treaty. The ruling is ineffective to this day. The Supreme Court decided in 2008 that a federal legislation had to be put into effect in order to implement rulings by the ICJ. There is still no such legislation.

“Mexico appreciates the Obama administration’s efforts … and everything it has done in order to respect the ICJ,”* said the Mexican minister of foreign affairs in a statement this Tuesday. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights also called for a review of the Mexican national’s case.

Texas Stands Its Ground

Texas does not take well to such exterior forces, whether they come from the U.N., Mexico or Washington. It remains uncompromising: The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole, which had to review Leal’s reprieve request, refused a stay of execution of 180 days, voting 4-1 to deny the request. In a unanimous vote, the same panel rejected commuting his death sentence to life in prison.

The Republican governor, Rick Perry, could have granted Leal a reprieve of 30 days. But he is rarely so lenient to those on death row. Will Perry, who has expressed his interest in running for the 2012 presidential elections, keep his stance on the death penalty?

If we look at the latest statements from his spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger, as quoted by the Houston Chronicle, this is unlikely. For her, “the president does not have authority to order review of cases of foreign nationals on death row in the U.S.” Someone who commits “the most heinous of crimes … can expect to face the ultimate penalty under our laws,” Cesinger told the Daily Caller.

Beyond Leal’s Case

In June, many former diplomats wrote to the governor and to the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole to convince them that a review of the Garcia case would be a wise decision, wrote the New York Times.

A reprieve would possibly allow the Consular Notification Compliance Act, a bill created by Sen. Patrick Leahy, to be adopted. This bill would finally enact the 2004 ICJ ruling as well as the 2008 decision of the Supreme Court. It would open the doors to reviews of other cases of foreigners who had been denied any consulate aid. This would benefit hundreds of people in the country.

On the contrary, if it was absolutely necessary that the execution of Garcia take place this Thursday, his case could create a breach, his lawyer wrote on a blog dedicated to the fight against the death penalty. And the Obama administration will now have to worry about serious repercussions in terms of foreign policy.

Solicitor Gen. Donald Verrilli, the highest representative of the American government after the Supreme Court, wrote to the highest court in the United States. According to him, the execution “could have serious repercussions for the United States foreign relations, law enforcement and other co-operation with Mexico and the ability of American citizens traveling abroad to have the benefits of consular assistance in the event of detention.”

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Humberto Leal Garcia Is Executed

The condemned was executed at 23:21 GMT (18:21 local) at Huntsville Prison in Texas. Less than an hour before his execution, the American Supreme Court refused to grant him a reprieve. The governor of Texas also rejected commuting his death sentence to life in prison or a stay of execution. The U.N. reacted immediately. The execution “puts the United States in breach of international law,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also disappointed. “If we don’t protect the rights of non-Americans in the United States, we seriously risk reciprocal lack of access to our citizens overseas,” adds Victoria Neuland, U.S. State Department spokeswoman, after speaking with Clinton.

A Previous Case

Texas did not stray from its ruling in the case of José Ernesto Medillin. A Mexican national in the same situation as Humberto Leal Garcia, Ernesto was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two adolescent girls. He, as well as Leal, was part of the group of 51 Mexicans brought to the attention of the ICJ in 2004. He was executed in 2008, without an extension to review his case. Medillin did not benefit from the aid of the Mexican Consulate, whose help could have been been detrimental to the defense’s arguments.

*Editor’s Note: These quotations, accurately translated, could not be verified.