World Court: U.S. Violated International Law

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http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010627/wl/world_court_us_execution.html

Wednesday June 27 12:16 PM ET

World Court: U.S. Violated Int. Law

By ANTHONY DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The World Court ruled Wednesday that the United States violated international law when it failed to grant consular rights to two German brothers who were executed in Arizona in 1999.

In a landmark ruling in favor of Germany, the court also pronounced that its provisional orders to national courts were legally binding and criticized the state of Arizona for ignoring the World Court's order to delay the execution of one of the brothers.

Brothers Karl and Walter LaGrand were executed in Florence, Ariz., for the 1982 murder of a 63-year-old bank manager during a botched robbery in Tucson.

Germany took the United States to court, claiming the brothers had been denied representation by the German consulate that might have saved their lives. In doing so, Germany argued, the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The World Court was established by the United Nations (news - web sites) in 1946 and serves as an arbitration panel for legal disputes between nations. Its verdicts are binding and not subject to appeal. However, the court has no independent means to enforce compliance.

If one side feels the other has failed to live up to a court ruling, it can ask the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions.

The court ruled in a 14-1 decision that the United States breached its obligations to Germany and to the rights of the two brothers, and it must ``allow the review of the conviction and sentencing'' when a German national's rights to consular notification has been violated.

The ruling imposes no concrete measures on the United States besides a commitment to not repeat the legals flaws.

Court President Gilbert Guillaume told reporters it was irrelevant whether the brothers would have used consular facilities or whether that might have changed the outcome of their trial. The relevant fact was the U.S. failure to notify German diplomats of their arrest, he said. Germany became aware of the case only in 1992.

In arguments before the court last November, the United States said it had conceded the failure over the consular notification and apologized to Germany. But it said the LaGrand brothers had received a fair trial, including 15 years of appeals in various courts.

On Wednesday, State Department legal adviser James Thessin said Washington considers consular notification to be an important right ``for foreign nationals in the United States and a right that is important for Americans overseas.''

Germany welcomed the decision. In Berlin, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Michaelis said the ruling signaled ``a strengthening of the rights of Germans - and others - when arrested abroad.''

``This is an important ruling and an interesting one because it is between two allies,'' said international law professor Menno Kamminga of Maastricht University. ``Usually they work these types of disputes out behind closed doors.''

The ruling doesn't address the moral debate of the death penalty.

While the court has been asked to apply international law without moral judgment, the issue of the death penalty is an emotional one between the United States and Europe, where the death penalty has been abolished by all members of the European Union (news - web sites). The execution of Timothy McVeigh (news - web sites) this month unleashed furious responses and public protest in Europe.

-- (in@the.news), June 27, 2001

Answers

"The ruling imposes no concrete measures on the United States besides a commitment to not repeat the legals flaws. "

...Well, duh, of course they won't repeat the legal flaws -- the guys are dead.

"The relevant fact was the U.S. failure to notify German diplomats of their arrest, he said. Germany became aware of the case only in 1992.

In arguments before the court last November, the United States said it had conceded the failure over the consular notification and apologized to Germany. But it said the LaGrand brothers had received a fair trial, including 15 years of appeals in various courts."

...In fifteen years no one in their families back in Germany called the consulate? These guys never wrote home and told their mommas where they were?

-- helen (this_a_real_one@yahoo.com), June 27, 2001.


Some CLERK fucked-up, lets make an international incident out of it.

Story is 110% pure spin-o-matic. They do not even NAME the poor victum. Course the "victums" here are the two MURDERERS, what was I thinking(smacks head).

Besides "it was an accident"! They didn't go to that bank to waste the MGR, they just wanted some US greenbacks to buy more Meth and get more bigbreated American hookers. Mister No-Name just had the nerve to stand in their way is all and got whacked by accident.

Real injustice was the fact some paperpusher in bumfuck Arizona neglected to alert the German Government pronto. If they had, the Germans would have had a few more years to add to their SEVEN they did have, in aiding these two fine Bros. out of this little "misunderstanding".

-- (bush@twofaced.scum), June 27, 2001.


make that "bigbreasted" American hookers.

BTW, what do you call a small-breasted hooker?

Dave

-- (bush@twofaced.scum), June 27, 2001.


OH! Ok. I get it. YOU are not Dave. Next time put the punchline in quotation marks, please. It would help if you could highlight it in yellow too, if you don't mind.

-- helen types slowly too (this_a_real_address@yahoo.com), June 27, 2001.

Helen don't you have pies to bake or melons to pick? lol luv ya babe!

-- (bush@twofaced.scum), June 27, 2001.


oh lord I forgot the squash! Thanks twoface!

-- helen (this_a_real_address@yahoo.com), June 27, 2001.

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