Mexican foreign minister José Antonio Meade Kuribreña recently sent letters to Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles requesting that the execution of Edgar Arias Tamayo, a Mexican citizen, be postponed or commuted. Tamayo is currently on death row in Texas and is scheduled for execution for on January 22, 2014. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ordered the U.S. to review the convictions of Tamayo and 50 other Mexican citizens who had been sentenced to death without being notified of their rights under the Vienna Convention. No U.S. court has examined the consular issues in Tamayo’s case. Earlier this month, Secretary of State John Kerry wrote a letter to Texas officials urging to review Tamayo’s case, and warning that Tamayo’s execution could damage U.S.-Mexican relations and hinder the ability of U.S. officials to help American citizens detained abroad.
(“Edgar Tamayo Arias Update: Mexican Foreign Ministry Asks For No Death Penalty For Mexican In Texas,” Latin Times, December 23, 2013). See Foreign Nationals and New Voices. Read DPIC’s report, International Perspectives on the Death Penalty.
