MEXICO:JOSÉ ERNESTO Medellin, a Mexican native convicted of the rape and murder of two Texas girls in 1993, was executed on Tuesday night in Texas after the US Supreme Court refused to grant a reprieve.
"I'm sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbour hate," Medellin (33) told those gathered to watch him die.
In recent days, demonstrations were held in Mexico in anticipation of the execution, reflecting the disparity in how capital punishment is viewed by Mexico and its northern neighbour.
The controversy surrounding his execution, as well as concern here over the fate of some 50 other Mexican nationals on US death rows, appears likely to continue.
"It is striking the difference of perspective between the US and many other countries," said David Fathi, US programme director for the group Human Rights Watch, which had opposed the execution. "I think that (this) illustrates the widening gap."
Medellin was 18 when he and five fellow gang members raped Elizabeth Pena (16), and Jennifer Ertman (14), then beat and strangled them.
Medellin later boasted to friends about the deed.
The buildup to the execution drew worldwide attention and involved a host of players and institutions beyond the US and Mexico.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague sided in 2004 with the Mexican government's argument that the US had violated the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by failing to inform the arrested Mexican nationals of their right to seek help from the Mexican consulate.
Mexico has asked that all 51 convictions be reviewed, creating the possibility for new trials or outright dismissals. The Hague court had ordered the US not to execute any of the five men on death row in Texas while the court reviewed their cases.
But the court, a branch of the United Nations, has no power to enforce its rulings. A spokesman for Texas Governor Rick Perry has said that "the world court has no standing in Texas."
The Bush administration had intervened in support of the Mexican government, urging Texas prosecutors to reopen the death row cases.
But in March, the US Supreme Court rejected the administration's arguments, ruling 6-3 that under the Constitution, the president did not have the "unilateral authority" to compel state officials to comply with an international treaty.
The death penalty was abolished in Mexico during the Vicente Fox presidency in 2005. - ( LA Times Washington Post service)