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TEXAS (USA): MEXICAN CITIZEN EXECUTED
July 7, 2011: The U.S. State of Texas executed a Mexican citizen convicted of rape and murder of an American girl, defying protests from his home country and the Obama administration that it violated international law.
Humberto Leal Garcia, 38, was put to death by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, a spokesman for the Criminal Justice Department of Texas said.
The execution was carried out an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a White House-backed appeal to stay it for six months. Texas Governor Rick Perry rejected requests to intervene to spare Garcia's life.
The Mexican government denounced the execution, saying that it was "in clear violation" of the Vienna Convention, which grants a right to each person "to be able to enjoy the support of their country of origin when they face criminal proceedings in a foreign country."
Garcia was denied access to legal assistance from the Mexican Embassy or Consulate during his trial in violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention, a treaty signed by both the United States and Mexico.
Garcia was sentenced to capital punishment for the rape and murder of 16-year-old Adria Sauceda hours after she left a party with him in San Antonio in 1994, a charge that he admitted. (Sources: RTTNews, 07/07/2011)
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