Mexico had previously appealed to the UN court against Ecuador over the storming of its embassy in Quito.
Ecuador has tried to sue Mexico as the diplomatic row over Ecuador’s former vice president Jorge Glas continues.
At the heart of the conflict is Mexico’s decision in early April to grant asylum to Glas, who had already been convicted of corruption twice by Ecuadorian courts. In December 2017, Glas was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of accepting bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for government contracts.
Glas had been staying at Mexico’s diplomatic compound in Quito since December. Then Ecuadorian authorities stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito, arrested him and imprisoned him in Guayaquil.
In a filing with the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Ecuador said Mexico’s move had “obstructed the proper administration of justice in Ecuador.” [and] represented, among other things, a blatant misuse of the premises of a diplomatic mission.”
Ecuador also accused Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of making “false and hurtful statements that question the legitimacy of Ecuador’s elections.”
It said these statements “violate the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.”
The complaint did not elaborate on the statements in question, although Ecuador had previously condemned López Obrador for suggesting that media speculation about the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio had influenced the election results.
In response, Ecuador had explained Mexico’s ambassador “persona non grata”.
PRESS RELEASE: #Ecuador initiates the procedure #Mexico Before the #ICJ in connection with the alleged violation by Mexico of a number of obligations owed to Ecuador under international law, arising from Mexico’s conduct towards Mr. Jorge David Glas Espinel https://t.co/E3ksTKxlZ6 pic.twitter.com/UOYPsKSpj4
– CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) April 29, 2024
Shortly after Mexico announced it would grant Glas asylum, Ecuadorian authorities surrounded the Mexican embassy in Quito and arrested the former vice president, who has since been held in a maximum-security prison in the city of Guayaquil.
Surveillance camera video released by the Mexican government shows Ecuadorian police scaling the embassy walls and breaking into the building. They said Roberto Canseco, Mexico’s head of consular affairs in Ecuador, was restrained and pushed to the ground by police during the incident.
The raid sparked outrage among leaders across the region for violating longstanding international agreements. Embassies are considered protected places and are generally not accessible to local authorities without an invitation.
The so-called “rule of inviolability” is used worldwide by both political dissidents and others to avoid arrest in their home countries.
After the raid, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
Mexico City also appealed to the International Court of Justice to expel Ecuador from the UN pending a formal apology. Hearings in the case are scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
For their part, the Ecuadorian authorities remained defiant.
In the complaint filed Monday, President Daniel Noboa’s government said Mexico’s actions constituted a violation of the 1933 Convention on Political Asylum, the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum, the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Inter-American Convention against Corruption of 1996 and the United Nations Convention against Corruption of 2003.
It also said the move violated the principles of the founding charter of the United Nations and the Charter of the Organization of American States.
The regional organization had previously commented on the back-and-forth, with Secretary-General Luis Almagro saying that “neither the use of force, illegal intrusion into a diplomatic mission nor the detention of an asylum seeker is the peaceful way to resolve this situation.” “.
Mexico did not immediately respond to the filing.