Mexico has appealed to the International Court of Justice to expel Ecuador from the United Nations following a late-night police raid on the Ecuadorian embassy in Quito.
President Andres Manuel López Obrador said Mexico had filed a complaint with the court Thursday, saying Ecuador's actions violated international law.
“The court should approve deportations in accordance with the United Nations Charter and there should be no veto,” López Obrador told a news conference.
Mexico's Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena echoed the president's statement on social media, saying Ecuador should be held accountable for “grave violations of the inviolability of its embassy and attacks on its staff.”
“The spirit and spirit of international law guides our steps,” she wrote.
The Mexican case focuses on a controversial police raid that resulted in the arrest of former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Grasz, who had been hiding in the Mexican embassy in Quito to avoid arrest. Ta.
Embassies are considered protected spaces. Although they are not “foreign soil” (a common misconception), international law prohibits local police access.
As a result, embassy staff will be able to carry out their duties without fear of arrest or harassment from local authorities.
For example, the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states: [diplomatic] The mission must be inalienable. Representatives of the receiving State may not enter them without the consent of the head of the mission. ”
However, this “inviolability principle” has been used by political dissidents and others to avoid arrest by seeking refuge in foreign embassies.
Mr. Glass, for example, has been twice convicted of bribery and corruption. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 and again to eight years in 2020.
Mr. Glass has been in asylum at the Mexican embassy since December, and President López Obrador had offered him political asylum in Mexico shortly before his arrest on Friday.
But late Friday night, Ecuadorian police scaled the wall of the Mexican embassy, broke down the door and pointed a gun at one of the top diplomats.
A video released by the Mexican government on Wednesday shows diplomat Roberto Canseco being thrown to the ground as he tried to block a police car carrying Mr Glass from leaving the embassy.
Mexico has since called for Ecuador's suspension of UN membership. The report said the suspension should only be lifted if Ecuador issues a “public apology acknowledging the violation of fundamental principles and norms of international law.”
President López Obrador's administration also severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador following Gras' arrest.
Other countries and international organizations have similarly expressed concern and anger over the police raid, calling it a violation of international law.
On Tuesday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the government believes “these actions were wrong,” based on surveillance footage of the police raid.
The Organization of American States (OAS) also issued a statement saying “strict compliance” with international law governing diplomatic relations was “essential”.
Additionally, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro suggested that the situation with Glass should have been handled differently.
“Neither the use of force, illegal entry into diplomatic missions, nor the detention of defectors are peaceful ways to resolve this situation,” he said.
However, Ecuador defended its decision to attack the Mexican embassy. President Daniel Novoa's government has questioned whether Mr. Grass meets the requirements for political asylum and has reaffirmed his commitment to fighting corruption within its borders.
Ecuador's Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld also said that a public apology was “not under discussion at this time.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Glass is on hunger strike in a prison in Guayaquil. He was briefly hospitalized on Monday.
Rafael Correa, a former president under Grass, said the former vice president attempted suicide after his arrest.
Correa himself is in exile in Belgium and could face prison time on corruption-related charges in his home country of Ecuador as well.