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.