The highest court of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, he refused on Thursday to immediately order Ecuador to protect diplomatic properties Mexicans after the assault on the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest a former vice president.
The president of the International Court of Justice, Nawaf Salam said that promises made by Ecuador in a letter to the Court and in public hearings last month “encompass the concerns expressed by Mexico” in its request for provisional measures.
He stressed that given Ecuador’s promises, “the Court considers that at the moment there is no urgency” to require preliminary orders.
The April 5 assault, which occurred hours after Mexico granted asylum to former vice president Jorge Glasprovoked widespread condemnation in Latin America and aggravated the already growing tensions between both countries since Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitivetook shelter in the Mexican embassy in December.
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The Mexican president exhibited images in which the police can be seen violently entering the diplomatic headquarters and attacking the former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas.
At a hearing late last month Alejandro Celorio Alcántara, legal adviser to Mexico’s Foreign Ministry, told the International Court of Justice that Ecuador’s actions had crossed “lines in international law that should not be crossed.”
What Mexico asks of the Court
Thursday’s hearing was still part of a preliminary phase of the case presented by Mexico, which accuses Ecuador of violating international law and asks the Court to suspend Ecuador’s membership in the United Nations until the country issue “a public apology” recognizing the violation of the fundamental principles of international law” and accepts reparation.
It is likely that The case takes years to resolve. Meanwhile, Mexico asked the Court to order Ecuador to take “appropriate and immediate measures to provide full protection and security to the diplomatic premises” and prevent future intrusions. In addition, he wants Ecuador to allow Mexico to vacate its diplomatic facilities and the homes of diplomats in the country.
Ecuador welcomed the decision and assured that it “confirms the unnecessary nature of the request” made by Mexico.
In a statement published in Quito, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry indicated that the request had been made without taking into account the repeated assurances given by Ecuador “that it would provide full protection and security to the premises, assets and archives of the Mexican embassy.” He also assured that he would allow all his properties to be removed from the premises and private residences of the diplomats.
For his part, when asked about the Court’s decision, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that the case “will take time” and reiterated that Mexico seeks with the lawsuit to create a precedent so that events of this type are never repeated.
López Obrador said he hopes that The Ecuadorian people help take care of the diplomatic properties because “we do not have confidence in the government” of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, whom he called “authoritarian.”
During his morning conference, the president accused the Noboa government of being “ignorant of international law, disrespectful, and violating our sovereignty,” and ruled out the possibility of reestablishing relations with the Andean country until he offers a public apology.
“We are not seeking dialogue with those who did not respect the sovereignty of our country,” he added.
In public hearings at the Court based in The Hague, the head of Ecuador’s legal team, Andrés Terán Parral, defended the raid on the Mexican embassy and told the judges that his country had acted to stop Glaswhich he described as a “common criminal”.
He also stated that there was no need for the International Court of Justice to intervene because Quito had already taken the measures requested by Mexico.