A/HRC/21/29 of the death penalty in violations of international human rights standards in Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan and the United States of America.39 C. Access to consular services for foreign nationals 37. Access to consular services for foreign nationals is also an important aspect of the protection of those facing the death penalty. All States should take every possible action to ensure reciprocal compliance with this safeguard, in line with the relevant provision on the right to seek consular service under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. 38. In 2011, at least 79 people were reportedly executed in Saudi Arabia. Among them, many were migrant workers,40 deprived of protection under the Vienna Convention and sentenced to death without respect of fair trial standards. Several human rights and migrant organizations reported that the information of the beheading of an Indonesian migrants worker on 18 June 2011 had not been known by the Indonesian Consulate General and related institutions, and that she had been tried without a defence lawyer.41 In July 2011, the President of Indonesia formed a taskforce to defend Indonesian migrant workers that are facing the death penalty abroad. 39. Amnesty International reported that foreign nationals continued to be sentenced to death in China.42 A Pakistani man was executed by lethal injection on 21 September 2011 after the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing had approved his death sentence for drug trafficking. Reportedly, he had not received adequate consular assistance during his trial and detention. 40. In July 2012, Humberto García Leal, a Mexican citizen, was executed by the State of Texas in the United States, despite a ruling of the International Court of Justice in 2005 that the United States had violated article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in the case of 51 Mexican men, including Humberto García Leal, who had been sentenced to death in that country. The International Court of Justice ordered the United States to provide judicial “review and reconsideration” of the convictions and sentences to determine if these individuals had been put to trial and sentenced without being granted access to consular services.43 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also condemned the judicial execution by the United States of Humberto Leal García in defiance of precautionary measures granted in his favour and without having complied with the recommendations issued by the Commission in the Merits Report on the Humberto case.44 41. On 2 November 2011, a petition was submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, against the United States, on behalf of Ivan Teleguz, who was on death row in the State of Virginia. It was alleged that Mr. Teleguz did not receive an effective and adequate defence, that his due process rights were not respected and that he was arrested, tried and sentenced to death without having been informed of his right to contact Ukrainian consular officers, as provided for in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On 22 December 2011, the Inter-American Commission notified the United States that 39 40 41 42 43 44 Relevant statements available from www.icomdp.org/statements. OHCHR Press Briefing, October 2011 and January 2012. Joint written submission of KONTRAS and Migrant CARE, March 2012. Death Sentences and Executions, p. 20. Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 12. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, “IACHR Condemns Execution of Humberto Leal García in the United States”, 8 July 2011. Available from www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2011/67-11eng.htm. 11