The International Court of Justice ruled in favor of Mexico and found that the United States vio­lat­ed the rights of almost all of the Mexican for­eign nation­als on death row in the U.S. The World Court, which is the high­est legal organ of the United Nations and is based in The Hague, has ordered that the Mexican cas­es be reviewed by U.S. courts. The defen­dants were not informed of their right to talk to con­sular offi­cials after being arrest­ed, as pro­vid­ed by the Vienna Convention on Consular Rights. ​“The rem­e­dy to make good these vio­la­tions should con­sist in an oblig­a­tion on the United States to per­mit review and recon­sid­er­a­tion of these nation­als’ cas­es by the United States courts,” the Court said in its rul­ing. Of the 51 for­eign nation­als named in Mexico’s case, three have exhaust­ed their ordi­nary appeals in the U.S. court sys­tem. The Court said that the United States should make an excep­tion and review their cas­es one more time. (Associated Press and Reuters, March 31, 2004). Read the World Court’s deci­sion. See Foreign Nationals. See International Death Penalty.

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