[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 29



INDONESIA:

After executions, Indonesia says it will review death penalty----The 
government's statement comes just hours after it executed 4 drug convicts 
including 3 foreigners


It looks as if international and local pressure on the Indonesian government to 
abolish the death penalty is making some progress.

On Friday, July 29, the same day Indonesia executed 4 drug convicts 45 minutes 
after midnight, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung said the government would 
rethink its stance.

"The government is taking everything into consideration, because this is not an 
enjoyable thing to do," he said, echoing the words of Deputy Attorney General 
Noor Rachmad, who during his 2am announcement that 4 had been executed, said 
the job was not enjoyable but something they must do.

Agung did defend the capital punishment however, saying "drugs can damage the 
nation's next generation."

"Executing drug convicts is for the protection of the Indonesian nation from 
the dangers of drugs," he said.

He also that those who have already been convicted and have exhausted legal 
means, and those that have not repented, will still be executed as the 
decisions are legally binding.

Despite this, he said the House would review the death penalty and which crimes 
are punishable under the law.

The government's statement comes after outcry both internationally and locally. 
The United Nations, The European Union, Amnesty International and various 
countries like Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have 
condemned the death penalty for drug-related offenses, as it is prohibited 
under international law.

Within Indonesia, aside from human rights groups, former president BJ Habibie 
also asked that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo review the case of Pakistani 
Zulfiqar Ali, who was allegedly tortured to confess to a crime he did not 
commit under police custody.

In a letter to Jokowi, Habibie also suggested that the government reconsider 
the death penalty, adding, more than 140 countries in the world have 
implemented a moratorium.

The government ended up executing 4 of the 14 scheduled to be executed at 
12:45am Friday, sparing 10.

Indonesia has some of the harshest drug laws in the world. The executions early 
this morning were the 3rd under Jokowi's presidency, after he killed 14 
individuals including foreigners in 2015, in two batches in January and April.

Rights groups hopeful

Meanwhile, human rights groups are hopeful this is the 1st step for the 
possible abolishment of the death penalty.

"We think that this is a moratorium of death penalty. We hope that the 
moratorium will lead or become the first step to abolish the death penalty," 
Arinta Dea Dini Singgi of the Legal Aid Institute told Rappler.

Singgi, who also serves as Merri Utami's lawyer, the Indonesian woman spared 
from execution, said the Attorney General's office had said they will review 
the 10 other cases.

Her client, Utami, had been moved to Cilacap prison at 10:30am from 
Nusakambangan execution island, while they await her fate.

"We won't stop campaigning about her case and ask Jokowi to forgive her. We 
want to make sure that Jokowi reads the clemency and reviews the case deeply."

Utami maintains her innocence and says she was duped into being a drug mule by 
a Canadian man who wooed her. She was caught with heroin in her bag gifted to 
her by the Canadian as she landed in the Jakarta airport.

Utami, who also says she was threatened rape under police custody, has been in 
prison for the past 15 years.

(source: rappler.com)

*******************

Execution not against international laws: Foreign ministry


Spokesman of the Indonesian foreign affairs ministry Arrmanatha Nasir has said 
that executions carried out by the Indonesian government of drug death row 
inmates is in accordance with, and not against, international laws.

"First, capital punishment is part of legal enforcement. Besides, I emphasize 
that that capital punishment is not against international laws," he said here 
on Thursday.

He made his statement in response to appeals by the UN and the EU to a 
implement moratorium on capital punishment.

Nasir added that Indonesia is forced to impose capital punishment on drug 
traffickers and manufacturers, because the country has become a target for drug 
trafficking.

Some 4.1 million Indonesians, particularly youths, are drug addicts, and some 
40 to 50 people die every day due to drug abuse.

Further, drug abuse has resulted in state losses of Rp63 trillion annually, he 
said.

The death penalty has been seen as a positive law in Indonesia, and is not 
against the principles set forth in the 1945 Constitution, he explained.

Further, capital punishment is the final resort used to stop extraordinary 
crimes, including drug offenses, he noted.

Drug criminals have gone through the legal process, while drug victims have 
gone into rehabilitation programs, he added.

The foreign ministry has informed concerned foreign embassies about foreign 
death row inmates who are to be executed in the near future.

The attorney general's office has announced that 14 death row inmates face 
executions, including foreigners from Nigeria, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, and India.

>From Indonesia, drug kingpin Freddy Budiman is also on the list of prisoners to 
be executed.

(source: ANTARA news)

**********************

Death-row inmates in Indonesia allegedly tortured to confess


Indonesia's latest round of executions have sparked outrage amid allegations 
that confessions were obtained through torture of the inmates on death row

Allegations that a number of the prisoners due to face the firing squad as soon 
as tomorrow were tortured to confess have sparked a round of fresh 
condemnations of their imminent executions in Indonesia.

The international outrage comes in the wake of the Indonesian government's 
last-minute confirmation this week that 14 alleged drug traffickers, 12 of whom 
are believed to be foreign nationals, would be executed within 72 hours.

Local media reported that the sentence is likely to be carried out tomorrow.

An Amnesty International report released last year detailed allegations that 
one of the men on death row, 51-year-old Pakistani national Zulfiqar Ali, was 
kept in a house for 3 days after his arrest in 2004 and beaten until he 
confessed to possession of 300kg of heroin.

Ali reportedly spent the following 17 days in a police hospital, requiring 
surgery on his stomach and kidneys due to the extent of his injuries.

Amnesty also alleged in an earlier report that another man sentenced to die 
tomorrow, Nigerian-born Humphrey Jefferson Ejike Eleweke, was detained for 5 
months without legal representation and repeatedly beaten and threatened at 
gunpoint into confessing to a slew of drug-related crimes.

"Somehow President Jokowi just doesn't seem to understand that his so-called 
'war on drugs' that results in people being executed is immoral and unjust," he 
said, using a popular nickname for the Indonesian leader.

Robertson accused the Indonesian government of using the executions as a 
publicity stunt to make the regime appear tougher on crime.

"They are now [blaming] drug smugglers and other [street-level crime] for the 
larger failures of the justice system within Indonesia, and it's costing people 
their lives," he said. "It's frankly outrageous, it's unconscionable, and it 
needs to stop."

The international fury echoes last year's campaign against another spate of 
executions, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the 
ringleaders of the so-called 'Bali 9' drug-smuggling ring, whose led Australia 
to temporarily recall its ambassador to Indonesia.

Brazilian national Rodrigo Gularte, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic caught 
smuggling cocaine into the archipelago in 2004, was also among the 14 men 
executed last year.

In a statement released on Wednesday, United Nations high commissioner for 
human rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein condemned the mounting death toll of 
Indonesia's brutal war on drugs, calling the 19 deaths since 2003 "deeply 
disturbing".

While Zeid expressed sympathy over Indonesia's ongoing struggle with 
drug-related crime, he maintained that capital punishment did little to solve 
the problem.

"The death penalty is not an effective deterrent relative to other forms of 
punishment nor does it protect people from drug abuse," he said. "The focus of 
drug-related crime prevention should involve strengthening the justice system 
and making it more effective."

(source: Southeast Asia Globe)

*********************

Zulfiqar Shah's execution delayed in Indonesia


Pakistan's ambassador in Indonesia Aqil Nadeem has confirmed that Zulfiqar Shah 
s execution has been delayed for now, reported Dunya News.

Lahore s native, Zulfiqar was given death penalty in drugs smuggling case and 
was to be executed on Thursday night. His plea was rejected by Indonesian 
authorities but they decided to reconsider the decision after Pakistani media 
highlighted the case.

Zulfiqar s family was delighted to know the news as they were protesting 
against the decision of execution since evening. Indonesian authorities will 
tell about the details later.

(source: Dunya News)

***********

4 killed by firing squad, 10 spared as Indonesia carries out latest round of 
executions


4 prisoners have been executed at Nusa Kambangan prison in Indonesia, while 10 
have been spared the firing squad, in the 1st round of executions since 2 
Australians were put to death last year.

The confirmation came just after midnight (local time) and took place despite 
heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Deputy Attorney-General for General Crimes Noor Rachmad said 1 local and 3 
Nigerian drug convicts were executed by firing squad.

"The executions were for now conducted on four convicts on death row," he said.

"This is not a fun job. For us, this is really a sad job because it involves 
people's lives.

"This was done not in order to take lives but to stop evil intentions, and the 
evil act of drug trafficking."

He did not say why 10 other drug convicts, who had been expected to face the 
firing squad, were not executed, although the island where the convicts were 
being put to death was hit by a major storm as the executions took place.

There were 14 people on the original list for the executions, including 1 
woman, although some were seeking last-minute clemency.

The 14 included Nigerian, Pakistani and Indian nationals, as well as a prisoner 
from Senegal.

There were claims a number of prisoners had received unfair trials and some had 
allegedly been tortured to confess.

The Pakistani Government had pleaded for presidential clemency for Zulfiqar 
Ali, who was sentenced to death in 2005 for supplying 300 grams of heroin.

There were also question marks over the guilt of 1 of the Nigerian men and 
clemency had been sought for the only woman on the list, Indonesian Merri 
Utami.

On Wednesday, the mother of Bali 9 ringleader Myuran Sukumaran, who was 
executed last year, sent a letter to Indonesian President Joko Widodo pleading 
with him to show mercy.

Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were executed by firing squad in April 2015, after 
being convicted of drug trafficking.

(source: abc.net.au)

*********************

Archbishop of Jakarta: We are opposed to the death penalty, we pray for the 
condemned----The government is preparing the execution of 14 prisoners of 
different nationalities within three days. They are all accused of drug dealing 
or drug possession. Msgr. Suharyo asks the faithful for special prayers "so 
that capital punishment is removed from our legal system."


"I encourage all Catholics in the diocese to recite a special prayer, with the 
hope that one day a moratorium on the death penalty is approved and it is 
abolished from our legal system", is the call to all the faithful by Msgr. 
Ignatius Suharyo, archbishop of Jakarta, after the news that by the end of the 
week 14 death row inmates will be executed in Indonesia.

In a message posted on social media, the Archbishop, "personally concerned by 
this issue," asked all the priests of his archdiocese to "spread the Catholic 
Church teaching on this subject, and at the same time pray for those who are 
close to death. "

Those condemned to death were locked in solitary confinement for 2 days in the 
prison of Nusakambangan, Cilacap (Central Java) and by 31 July will be executed 
by firing squads. Attorney General M. Prasetyo confirmed that the executions 
will be carried out. The prisoners, all accused of drug dealing or drug 
possession, come from Indonesia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India, and China. 
Today the authorities have handed over 14 coffins to the prison staff.

Msgr. Suharyo criticized the great media exposure to the executions. The 
Archbishop then quoted the encyclical Evangelium Vitae of St. John Paul II 
(1995): "Based on Catholic teachings, we consider legitimate the death penalty 
when the criminal works are extremely serious, but the judges should be advised 
to prefer other options if possible, to protect the dignity of the human 
person".

For some time the Church in Indonesia, together with the Commission of Justice 
and Peace, have been strongly opposed to executions planned by the Jakarta 
government. The Commission has created a team of 11 lawyers who work pro bono 
for the innocent people who are mistaken for drug traffickers. In recent days 
the inclusion of Merri Utami on the list of 14 convicted has made headlines. 
The Indonesian migrant worker, was punished with the death penalty in 2003 for 
possession of a kilo of heroin. Yesterday a group of peopledemonstrated in 
front of the government building demanding her release: in fact, the woman is 
the victim of a scam devised by the traffickers, who planted the drugs on her 
without her knowledge. The case is very similar to that of Mary Jane Veloso, a 
Filipino woman also on death row (but not included in this round of 
executions).

Jakarta has been criticized by the international community over its use of the 
death penalty. The European Union has asked the government to suspend the 
killings. Today, the Indian Foreign Minister addressed a final appeal to the 
Indonesian government to save the life of a 48 year old accused of drug 
dealing. Even Pakistan has stepped up diplomatic efforts to obtain the 
suspension of the sentence for its own citizens.

Indonesia has one of the strictest anti-drug laws in the world, to fight what 
President Joko Widodo has called "a national emergency." From 1979 to 2015,66 
executions have been carried out.

(source: heraldmalaysia.com)

*********

Death Penalty Not the Solution for Drug Crimes, Rights Group Warns


Despite international condemnation, the Indonesian government pressed ahead 
with the 3rd round of executions, citing what it has declared a state of 
emergency over drug abuses in the country.

The number of drug users Indonesia in 2015 was recorded at more than 5 million, 
an increase of around 2 million from 2008, according to data from the National 
Narcotics Agency (BNN). This is despite the Indonesian government having put to 
death 21 drug convicts from 2004 until 2015.

"Capital punishment has been proven to be ineffective in reducing rates of 
drug-related or other crimes," Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation director Alghifarri 
Aqsa said on Friday. "It instead violates the right to life that should never 
be diminished in any way."

3 Nigerians and an Indonesian faced the firing squad in the early hours of 
Friday on the prison island of Nusakambangan off Cilacap, Central Java. It is 
not clear when the 10 other death row inmates on the island, most of whom are 
foreign nationals, will get their turn.

The government has called on the international community to respect Indonesia's 
right to exercise its justice system. 14 convicted drug offenders were executed 
in Indonesia in 2015.

(source: Jakarta Globe)






AUSTRALIA:

As Indonesia conducts more executions, Australia's anti-death-penalty advocacy 
is still lacking


Indonesia has carried out a 3rd round of executions under President Joko 
Widodo. Attorney-General H. Muhammad Prasetyo had announced that 14 people 
would face the firing squad, but only 4 were killed on Thursday night - 3 
Nigerians and an Indonesian national.

All those executed under Widodo have been convicted of drug offences. Deputy 
Attorney-General Noor Rachmad said the most recent executions were: ... done 
not in order to take lives but to stop evil intentions, and the evil act of 
drug trafficking.

The remaining 10 executions were delayed. The attorney-general's office has not 
justified this delay. The 10 remaining prisoners include Indonesians and 
Nigerian, Indian, South African and Zimbabwean nationals. Those prisoners face 
another agonising and indefinite wait for their execution.

Indonesia faces renewed international criticism

Human rights organisations have renewed criticism of Indonesia's practice of 
capital punishment for drug offences.

Amnesty International has highlighted problems in the judicial process for many 
of those involved in the current round of executions. Several were denied 
proper access to legal counsel. Some have claimed they were subject to torture 
and ill-treatment to induce confessions.

Reprieve International condemned Indonesia for its failure to name those due to 
face imminent execution:

Many prisoners on death row simply do not know who will be plucked out and 
shot.

Such critiques highlight the many means by which capital punishment threatens 
human rights standards and undermines the value of human life. The practice is 
not only barbaric but also futile. Capital punishment has never been 
established as a more effective deterrent to crime than imprisonment.

Australia's response to this round of executions has been muted in comparison 
to the previous round, which resulted in the executions of Australians Andrew 
Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, and 6 others.

This partiality was a key issue raised before the recent federal parliamentary 
inquiry into Australia's advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty.

What did the parliamentary inquiry recommend?

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop initiated the parliamentary inquiry following her 
strong but unsuccessful advocacy for clemency on behalf of Sukumaran and Chan. 
Its terms of reference sought to improve Australia's capacity to advocate 
effectively for death penalty abolition.

The inquiry committee received 62 written submissions and held nine public 
hearings. The committee was persuaded Australia could do much more to ensure 
its laws and actions were consistent with its abolitionist policy stance. Its 
report made 13 detailed recommendations.

The key recommendations included:

--a review of extradition law to ensure compliance with Australia's 
abolitionist stance;

--the amendment of Australian Federal Police (AFP) guidelines "to include a 
stronger focus on preventing exposure of all persons to the risk of the death 
penalty";

--AFP refusal to contribute to international policing operations on drug crime 
unless partner countries guarantee they will not seek capital punishment;

--the grounding of Australia's advocacy against the death penalty in human 
rights principles;

--the development, by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, of a 
strategy for the abolition of the death penalty. This would mirror the 
whole-of-government abolitionist stance taken by the UK and Norway; and

--government intervention in death penalty cases involving foreign nationals, 
particularly in cases of severe human rights threat.

Amnesty International Australia welcomed the recommendations. It said, if 
implemented, these could drive progress towards global abolition. But so far 
the federal government has not publicly responded to the report.

Will Australia show leadership?

Australian law and policy incorporate international obligations regarding death 
penalty abolition. Yet Australia's practice has been to advocate in respect of 
its nationals facing execution overseas.

As in the case of Chan and Sukumaran, this weakens the principled basis of 
Australia's efforts towards abolition. Advocacy efforts are easier to dismiss 
when they are seen to reflect vested interests more than principled 
foundations.

Australia's abolitionist advocacy must be less partial and more principled if 
it is to be persuasive. The parliamentary committee acknowledged this by 
encouraging Australia to emphasise the human rights principles that ground 
opposition to the death penalty. It also encouraged Australia to leverage the 
influence it has on key partners - the US and Asia-Pacific countries.

As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull seeks to strengthen ties with Indonesia, 
advocacy against capital punishment may seem politically unpalatable. Countries 
often appear allergic to outside "interference" in their domestic affairs.

Recent Australian governments have certainly fallen into this camp. They have 
adopted human rights standards as desired and rejected international criticism 
when Australia fails to meet its obligations.

However, advocacy for death penalty abolition presents an opportunity for 
Australia to improve its increasingly dire international reputation. Here is a 
central human rights problem where Australia has a well-established domestic 
legal position. No Australian parliament has shown any interest in returning to 
the practice of capital punishment.

In the wake of the federal election, the committee's report stands as a 
challenge to the newly formed government. Will Australia choose death penalty 
abolition as a movement through which to rebuild its commitment to human 
rights? It would be a great shame if the recommendations before the government 
were left to gather dust.

(source: theconversation.com)






GLOBAL:

Indonesia's firing squad executions: Which parts of the world still follow 
capital punishment----According to Amnesty International, as of July 2015, the 
capital punishment still continues to be legal in 58 countries.


Indonesia's decision to bring back the death penalty has met backlash from 
several international organisations including European Union (EU) and United 
Nations (UN). The United Nations described the rising number of executions in 
Indonesia as "alarming" and asked the country to stop executions of 14 
convicts, who are set to face the death penalty by this weekend, as per 
Attorney General HM Prasetyo.

Indonesia is not the only country though where the death penalty is still 
legal. According to Amnesty International, as of July 2015, the capital 
punishment still continues to be legal in 58 countries. A total of 101 
countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes in law while 140 
countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

There are several countries, apart from Indonesia, where the method of 
execution by gun firing/firing squad is still legal.

United States

In the United States, the method of execution is still followed in two states, 
Oklahoma and Utah. The state of Utah, in 2015, reinstated the death penalty by 
firing, when lethal injections were not available. The state, in 2004, had 
abolished the practice.

The last time an execution by firing squad was practiced in Utah, was back in 
the year 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner, a convicted murder, was given the death 
sentence. Even though the state abolished the practice in 2004, Gardner was 
given the sentence before 2004, and had the option to choose the method of 
execution.

Asia

In India, hanging is the method of execution in the civilian court system, 
according to the Indian Criminal Procedure Code. Under the 1950 Army Act, 
hanging as well as shooting are both listed as official methods of execution in 
the military court-martial system. The number of people executed in India since 
independence in 1947 is a matter of dispute since there are no official 
figures. The last execution took place in 2015 when Yakub Memon, responsible 
for the 1993 Mumbai blasts, was hanged to death.

China traditionally used firing squads. But in recent years China has begun 
using lethal injections and that is now believed to be the main technique. The 
exact number of executions in China is a state secret, but it is thought to be 
the most in the world.

Videos smuggled out of North Korea reportedly show public executions by firing 
squad.

Taiwan's death row total stands at more than 100. The number of executions, 
carried out by handgun shooting either to the heart or to the brain, declined 
after 2000 due to public opposition, with none between 2006 and 2009. They 
resumed in 2010 following a change in president and renewed sentiment in favor 
of the policy.

Vietnam, with nearly 700 people on death row, switched from firing squads to 
lethal injection on humanitarian grounds in 2011. Since then, it has only 
executed a handful of people because of the difficulty in acquiring the 
required drugs.

Thailand executed prisoners by a machine gun or automatic rifle fired by an 
executioner until 2002, when the method was changed to lethal injection. There 
have been no executions since 2009.

Middle-east

In Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, 3 countries that have some of the highest 
execution rates in the world, firing squads are rarely used. In Saudi Arabia, 
the usual method of execution is beheading by a swordsman. In 2013, a firing 
squad was used in the execution of 7 men convicted of looting and armed 
robbery.

The United Arab Emirates uses firing squads for all executions, but death 
penalty sentences are rarely carried out. The most recently reported execution 
was in January 2014.

Europe

Capital punishment has been completely abolished across Europe with the former 
Soviet nation of Belarus being the sole exception. The exact number of people 
executed in Belarus is believed to be t3 in 2014, according to human rights' 
groups, but there is some uncertainty about that figure because of the general 
lack of transparency there. It is believed to have been below 10 executions in 
the past decade. Execution is done by shooting in the back of the head, but the 
death penalty's use is shrouded in secrecy.

Africa

In 2013, Somalia executed 34 people while Sudan put 21 to death, according to 
Amnesty International. Somalia generally uses firing squads to carry out its 
death sentences; 2 soldiers were executed by shooting on Tuesday, according to 
the country's military court. In recent years, the only other country in the 
region to use firing squads was Equatorial Guinea, which shot 4 people last 
year but then issued a moratorium on future executions, Amnesty said.

Latin America

In general, the death penalty has been abolished across the region, if not by 
law in each country, then on a de facto basis, according to the World Coalition 
Against the Death Penalty. The last known execution in the region was in Cuba 
in 2003 by firing squad.

(source: Indian Express)