To the Editor:
Re “The Treaty and the Law” (editorial, June 18):
You are right to urge Congress to pass legislation to require federal courts to review the convictions of certain foreign nationals, including 40 Mexicans, on death row in Texas and other states who were not notified by state officials of their right to speak to a consular officer of their governments, in violation of United States treaty obligations. But you did not mention that review of the convictions of the Mexicans was mandated by a 2004 decision of the International Court of Justice.
In 2005, President George W. Bush ordered Texas and other states to review the Mexican convictions, but the Supreme Court, while acknowledging that the United States is bound under the United Nations Charter to comply with the World Court ruling, held that the president could not order the states to comply without federal legislation.
Some members of Congress may now be reluctant to take action to comply with a World Court decision, but they should recognize, as the Bush administration did, that the United States cannot expect other countries to comply with their treaty obligations to us unless we comply with our treaty obligations to them.
JOHN B. BELLINGER III
Washington, June 19, 2011
The writer served as the legal adviser for the State Department in the second term of the George W. Bush administration.