Berlusconi has been a defendant in nearly 50 cases, including ongoing cases involving tax fraud and fraud and embezzlement [JURIST reports]. He also faces trial for allegedly abusing the power of his office and soliciting an underage prostitute [JURIST report]. Both parties deny having a sexual relationship, and Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing, calling the accusations groundless. In January, the Italian Constitutional Court [official website, in Italian] held hearings and subsequently struck down [JURIST reports] portions of a law [materials, in Italian] backed by Berlusconi that would have granted public officials temporary immunity from charges while in office.

The superseding indictment accuses these three men of summarily executing the hostages—without provocation—while the military was attempting to negotiate their release. With the additional charges, the defendants now potentially face a death sentence if convicted of these horrendous crimes, and the superseding indictment constitutes another important step in bringing to justice those accused of being directly responsible for the killing of innocent Americans. Today's charges underscore that we have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to attacks on our citizens.

Piracy remains an issue of international concern, as few countries have been willing to prosecute suspected pirates. In April, a Somali pirate was sentenced [JURIST report] by the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] to 25 years in prison for attacking a Danish ship off the coast of Somalia in 2008, for which he and other pirates received a $1.7 million ransom. The few countries that have attempted to prosecute them include Germany, Seychelles, the Netherlands, Mauritius, Yemen, Somalia and Spain [JURIST reports].

Today's execution will undermine the role of the International Court of Justice, and its ramifications are likely to spread far beyond Texas. It is also the responsibility of all federal countries ensure that all individual states respect the international obligations assumed by the country as a whole.

The execution has drawn criticism from several sources. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] criticized the US for the execution [press release] on Friday, saying that Leal Garcia did not receive a fair trial. A number of US officials have also criticized the execution, including diplomats and US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website], the author of the Consular Notification Compliance Act, who said, "Americans detained overseas rely on their access to US consulates every day. If we expect other countries to abide by the treaties they join, the United States must also honor its obligations." Mexico, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Switzerland, Uruguay and the EU had sent letters to the US requesting a stay of the execution. Former president George W. Bush denounced the sentence when he was in office, issuing an executive memoranda [text, PDF] that Texas had to comply with the ICJ's ruling in approximately 50 Mexican nationals' planned executions. Texas has already executed two Mexican nationals [JURIST report] who were denied consular access.