The execution of Medillin, 33, in the state of Texas, occurred after a widespread international plea for leniency. At the root of this controversy lies the fact that Medillin was not informed of his right to a consular before and during the trial. The state of Texas earlier stated that while it was true that Medillin was not informed of his right to an attorney, as he did not raise a complaint during the trail, he may not do so after a verdict has been reached. The US Supreme Court also rejected an appeal from Medillin's lawyers, stating that "...(the) petitioner was not prejudiced by his lack of consular access."
The International Court of Justice, on the other hand, has long been against the execution in Medillin:
The ICJ told US authorities in 2004 that Medellin's case and that of other Mexicans facing execution violated the Vienna Convention because authorities failed to inform the foreigners of their right to consular access and assistance during trial.
While the US did not abide by the ICJ's strong suggestions, it openly supports the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudan President Bashir. It does not officially recognize the ICC.
This insistence on the prosecution of President Bashir comes in the face of many African leader's insistence that a suspension of Bashir's indictment is essential in order to stop further bloodshed in the region. The Sudanese government has threatened to expel peacekeepers if Bashir's indictment continues. In response, US envoy Alejandro Wolff stated:
There is no compromise on the issue of justice...The crime of impunity has gone on too long and the United States felt that it was time to stand up on this point of moral clarity and make clear that this permanent member of the Security Council will not compromise on the issue of justice.
This irony has not been lost on many critics of the current system of international justice. In his recent opinion piece, Osama al Sharif, a journalist based in Jordan, lamented the political nature of international justice. Warranted or not, Bashir stated that many powerful nations, their allies, and their leaders are able to perpetrate human rights abuses with impunity. For him, this is the biggest problem with the current system of "international justice":
Legal experts will waste much ink explaining the differences and underlining the reasons why the ICC is focusing on Sudan now and not on Israel. But the fact of the matter is that we do not live in a perfect world and while the survivors of the horrors of Srebrenica will see justice served in the arrest and trial of Karadzic, the reality is many notorious war criminals are walking free in other areas of conflict because the big powers chose to let them off the hook.
While al Sharif's indictment of the international community may be controversial, there is no doubt that there is a considerable and unfortunate divide between what is politically acceptable, and what is judicially acceptable in current international justice proceedings.
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