Mexico City, Mexico — The Government of Mexico, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), announced a formal complaint filed Thursday before the International Court of Justice.
The complaint was filed against the State of Ecuador for the assault on the Mexican embassy and the grievance to diplomatic staff last Friday, April 5.
On Thursday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE), Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, stated that the violent aggression represents irreparable damage and specified Mexico’s bases and claims in the lawsuit:
- Judge and declare that Ecuador is responsible for the damage that the violations of its international obligations have caused and continue to cause to Mexico.
- The suspension of Ecuador as a member of the United Nations (UN) until a public apology is issued, recognizing the violations of the fundamental principles and norms of international law in order to guarantee reparation for moral damage, inflicted on the Mexican State and its nationals.
- Judge and declare that, in the event of a violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations similar to that committed by Ecuador, the International Court of Justice is the appropriate judicial body to determine the responsibility of a State, in order to initiate the expulsion process under article 6 of said letter.
- Establish the precedent that any State or nation that acts as Ecuador did will be definitively expelled from the United Nations Organization based on the evaluation provided for in Article 6 of the United Nations Charter.
- It is so important to avoid the repetition of these cases that the International Court of Justice will be able to present the expulsion of the State that violates international law quickly and expeditiously before the UN Security Council, avoiding the veto of its members.
The lawsuit before the main judicial body of the United Nations (UN) highlights the various violations of the Vienna Convention.
In this regard, the legal consultant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alejandro Celorio Alcántara, explained that Ecuador violated the invulnerability of the Mexican embassy by breaking into the premises without authorization, intervening in communications, frustrating diplomatic work and attacking life and dignity of the diplomatic staff, especially the head of the Foreign Ministry and political affairs, Roberto Canseco and the administrative head, Eva Martha Balbuena.
President López Obrador maintained that the complaint seeks the non-repetition of a despicable event like the one that Mexico and, especially its diplomatic representation suffered, that it is not repeated in any country in the world, that international law is guaranteed, that the premises, the embassies of countries in any nation are not violated and that the States where the embassies are located have the commitment to protect the independence and guarantee the sovereignty of those spaces that is what is sought.
The Secretary recalled that Mexico is recognized worldwide for the peaceful resolution of disputes. The claims, she said, seek to strengthen the legal framework and asserted that the lawsuit will test the international justice system at a time of “extreme weakness in the multilateral world.”
President López Obrador assured that other countries in the international community can intervene and support Mexico’s approaches, since it concerns all peoples in the peaceful resolution of disputes .
Secretary Bárcena Ibarra mentioned that so far there has not been a single country against the arguments that Mexico accuses of violating the diplomatic immunity of its embassy in Ecuador.
The president called to guarantee prompt and expeditious justice because “no one, no power, no country, can be allowed to act in that way. ”
After the incident, Mexico suspended trade relations with Ecuador, which were in negotiation towards a free trade agreement, clarified the head of the SRE.
Lopez Obrador also said Thursday that the person alleged responsible for the embassy attack, an Ecuadorian with Mexican nationality, will not be tried for treason.
The Minister of Government of Ecuador, Mónica Palencia, with Mexican nationality, will not be tried in the country for treason after the assault on the Mexican embassy carried out by Ecuadorian police on April 5, he said.
“Yes, they are asking for her to be judged. My opinion is that no, that we do not act like that. (…) They ask us to consider her a traitor to the country. No, no, we cannot act in the same way,” he said.
The President presented a video of Minister Palencia in which she claims not to have been part of the decision, execution or other act after the illegal invasion of the Mexican embassy, arguing that this would mean “a conflict of interest” for having both nationalities.
“The chancellor of Ecuador has already declared that the order was given by the president (Daniel Noboa),” López Obrador pointed out.
Before media representatives, he reiterated that the Government of Mexico never had the intention of facilitating the escape of the former vice president of Ecuador, Jorge David Glas Espinel, a guest staying at the Mexican embassy.
In this regard, Bárcena Ibarra, explained that last December, Glas formally requested political asylum, so the Government of Mexico was in the process of analyzing his legal situation in Ecuador when security forces illegally detained the former vice president from inside the Mexican embassy.
