A Mexican citizen is due to be executed in the US state of Texas on Wednesday in spite of an international and domestic outcry that he was not given proper access to diplomatic services.
Edgar Arias Tamayo was convicted of killing a police officer in his police car after being arrested for a robbery at a Texas bar in 1994.
Tamayo was never told of his legal right to contact the Mexican consulate after his arrest, prompting calls for a re-examination of the case from Mexican authorities, the US State Department and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The Secretary of State, John Kerry, and other US officials have urged Texas Governor, Rick Perry, to reconsider the execution, which they warn could set a dangerous diplomatic precedent.
“We have obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to allow consular access to foreign nationals,’’ State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf, said on Tuesday.
“If we ourselves don’t uphold those obligations, it will make it much harder for us to ask other countries to do so. We take the security and safety of our citizens overseas very seriously.”
Kerry does not doubt the facts of Tamayo’s case, but would like an execution to be delayed to allow for a review and reconsideration of the case, Harf said.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole recommended Perry deny a request for clemency.
A US federal court in Texas on Tuesday also rejected a request that would have delayed the execution and Tamayo’s lawyers have vowed to continue to appeal.
The execution is set for after 6pm on Wednesday.
dpa/NAN.
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