Mexico asks World Court to halt U.S. executions

By Emma Thomasson

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Mexico asked the World Court on Thursday to take urgent steps to stop imminent U.S. executions of five Mexicans on death row who were denied their rights to consular assistance.

One of the five, Jose Medellin, is due to die on August 5 in Texas, which is poised to set execution dates for the others.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled in 2004 that the United States had violated international law by failing to inform 51 Mexicans now on death row of their right to consular assistance and said the cases should be reviewed.

Mexican representative Juan Manuel Gomez-Robledo said the United States was in breach of its international obligations, and asked the U.N.'s highest court to seek stays of the five imminent executions.

"Five Mexican nationals ... could be executed without their convictions and sentences being given the review and reconsideration that is their right," he said.

The issue has soured relations between the United States and its southern neighbor Mexico, which opposes the U.S. death penalty. The United States will put its case later on Thursday.

"The situation is indisputably urgent," said Donald Donovan, a lawyer for Mexico. "It is impossible to identify an act more irreparable than the execution of a human being."

In 2005, President George W. Bush, a staunch defender of the death penalty, directed state courts to review the 51 cases following the World Court's ruling, saying the United States must adhere to its international treaty obligations.