The letter below will be sent to Congressmen calling on them to support H.R. 6481 or the "Avena Case Implementation Act of 2008".
This Act is in response to the International Court of Justice's Avena decision, which determined whether the Vienna Convention rights of 51 Mexican nationals had been violated when they were detained in the United States. According to the Vienna Convention, local authorities are required to notify consular officers without delay of the detainment of one of their foreign nationals. The ICJ determined that American officials had not done so, violating the foreign nationals' Vienna Convention rights. The US was ordered to provide judicial reviews to determine if those violations affected their convictions or sentences. H.R. 6481 would provide these Avena-mandated judicial reviews. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, US Attorney General Michael Mukassey, and all nine Supreme Court Justices agree that the US has an international obligation to obey the Avena decision.
The impact of the "Avena Case Implementation Act of 2008" will extend to all Americans detained abroad. As the Dallas Morning News' editorial on July 29th noted:
The State Department calculated that 4,456 Americans were arrested abroad in 2006, up from 3,614 in 2005. The bulk of those arrests occurred in Mexico. For an American sitting in a filthy, dark jail cell in a foreign land, it's easy to be overwhelmed by hopelessness. One thing makes the nightmare bearable: the guaranteed visit from an American consular official.
But this guaranteed visit by an American consular officer is contingent on the weight foreign authorities give to the Vienna Convention right to have consular authorities notified without delay. What goes around comes around with international law, and H.R. 6481 would be noticed by foreign governments, bettering the chances that Americans are ensured their rights when traveling abroad.
One problem is that there is not enough time to pass H.R. 6481 before one Avena defendant, Jose Ernesto Medellin is scheduled for execution on August 5th in Texas. In order to give adequate time for H.R. 6481 to be passed and a judicial review applied to Medellin's case, the letter calls on Congressmen to support a temporary reprieve from execution. For without it, a dangerous precedent would be set that would jeopardize all Americans abroad.
Nevertheless, H.R. 6481 is a necessary piece of legislation that will help bring the US back into compliance with international law, thus ensuring those same rights are granted to Americans abroad when they are most vulnerable. Sign below to show your support!
*Update August 5th-Jose Ernesto Medellin was executed by lethal injection just before 10 pm. A quick search of Google News found reports of Medellin's execution and its severe consequences for Americans abroad on four different continents, and undoubtedly word will spread much wider. In light of Medellin's execution and the failure of the US to abide by its international commitments, it is more important than ever that Congress immediately pass H.R. 6481. This petition is staying up to make clear to Congress that the issue of Protecting Americans Abroad remains pressing. Please ask all of your friends to give a minute of their time to make the "Avena Case Implementation Act of 2008" a reality!
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