This Tuesday, the Government of Mexico requested precautionary measures against Ecuador before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), based in The Netherlands, after the assault on the Mexican embassy in Quito on April 5, Telesur reports.
The judges of the ICJ held the first public hearing at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, to hear Mexico’s arguments on the violations of international law committed by Ecuador, specifically the principle of inviolability of diplomatic headquarters established in the Convention of Vienna on Diplomatic Relations.
Mexico broke diplomatic relations with Ecuador on April 5 and brought the ICJ to Ecuador for the violent invasion of the Mexican diplomatic legation in Quito, where police from that South American country kidnapped former vice president Jorge Glas, who had received political asylum from the Government of the President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
When presenting the case, the Mexican representative in the Court based in The Hague, Alejandro Celorio, stated: «There are lines in international law that should not be crossed. Unfortunately, the Republic of Ecuador has crossed them.
“Ecuador’s actions not only violate the established limits of international law, they also create a disconcerting precedent that reverberates throughout the international community,” said the Mexican diplomat.
The Mexican representative in the Court based in The Hague, Alejandro Celorio, presented the case this Tuesday. Photo: EFE
Celorio highlighted that Mexico requests precautionary measures against Ecuador, pending the start of the trial and the final ruling of the procedure.
The process begins a day after this Monday, by surprise, Ecuador also presented a counterclaim against Mexico before the ICJ, considering that the Mexican government could not grant asylum to Glas because he was firmly condemned by the Ecuadorian justice system, reports La Vanguardia.
In addition, last week the Ecuadorian authorities filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office of Ecuador against the head of the Mexican embassy in Quito, Roberto Canseco, for obstruction of justice. During the assault, Canseco confronted the Ecuadorian police, who violently subdued him to prevent Glas’s arrest.
“The allegations were foreseeable and will be responded to at the appropriate procedural time,” the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement this Monday regarding the Ecuadorian counterclaim before the ICJ.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, it will be Ecuador’s turn, which must respond to the arguments presented today by Mexico.
