Ecuador Countersues Mexico in International Court of Justice

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By KELIN DILLON

On Monday, April 29, the Ecuadorian government launched a countersuit against Mexico in the United Nations (UN) International Court of Justice (ICJ) surrounding the Mexican government’s grant of political asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas.

Mexico previously filed a suit against Ecuador in front of the ICJ following Ecuador’s raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito on April 5, during which the Ecuadorian police detained Glas on charges of embezzlement.

Ecuador’s suit alleges that Mexico failed to comply with international diplomatic rules by harboring Glas inside its consulate, violating anti-corruption conventions and interfering in Ecuador’s internal state affairs.

According to the suit, Mexico “has failed to comply with its obligations to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state, not to interfere in the internal affairs of the receiving state and not to use embassy premises in a manner incompatible with the functions of the diplomatic mission, in accordance with article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.”

Likewise, Ecuador’s suit says that Mexico “has also failed to comply, among others, with its obligations not to grant asylum to people who are being prosecuted or on trial for common crimes or who have been convicted by competent ordinary courts, and to hand them over to the competent local authorities.”

Mexico’s suit is scheduled to be heard in front of the ICJ on Tuesday, April 30, while the Mexican Attorney General’s Office (FGR) launches its own suit against  Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa for his role in the April 5 raid.

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