Mexico sued Ecuador at the International Court of Justice to protest the country’s police raid on the Mexico City embassy in Quito.
“We have filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Ecuador clearly violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations by violating the embassy’s immunity,” Alejandro Celorio, legal advisor Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said today.
The ICJ, the supreme judicial body of the United Nations, is the world’s leading court that resolves legal complaints between countries over alleged violations of international law. The ICJ’s ruling is binding, but the agency has no means of ensuring its enforcement.
Meanwhile, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said the country is calling for Ecuador to be suspended from the United Nations until Quito apologizes for the raid. Mexico hopes to test the international justice system so that similar events do not happen.
Ecuadorian police on April 5 raided the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former vice president Jorge Glas. Mr. Glas was once sentenced to prison by Ecuador for corruption related to the Brazilian construction group Odebrecht.
After being released from prison in November 2022, the former vice president of Ecuador continued to be issued an arrest warrant on charges of embezzling earthquake recovery funds. He avoided it by going to the Mexican embassy to apply for asylum last December.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador condemned the actions of Ecuadorian officials as “dictatorial” and cut bilateral diplomatic relations. A series of countries in the Americas, Europe and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also criticized Ecuador.
The Vienna Convention stipulates that the premises of diplomatic agencies are inviolable areas, emphasizing that host country forces are not allowed to enter without consent from the head of the diplomatic mission.