[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 29



INDONESIA:

Jakarta ready to execute 5 more drug traffickers. Church calls for addiction 
treatment----The prosecutor general announces the imminent execution of more 
people sentenced to death for drug trafficking. Hardline of Justice chiefs 
supported by President Jokowi. Bishops, opposed to the death penalty, call for 
investment in adduction prevention and awareness campaign.



The Department of the Attorney General (DAG) in Indonesia has announced a 
second round of executions for prisoners held on death row on drug trafficking 
charges. Regardless of the protests of national and international activists and 
human rights groups the Justice system - with the support of the "reformist" 
president Joko Widodo Jokowi - is pressing ahead with its hard line against 
drug trafficking.

In recent weeks, Jakarta has already executed six people, including four 
foreigners, for crimes related to drugs; in the coming days, although no date 
has yet been set, death row 5 detainees will be executed. They come from 
France, Ghana, the Philippines, Australia and Indonesia.

Yesterday, the attorney general H.M. Prasetyo, at a Parliamentary hearing, 
confirmed the imminence of the executions; the department is finalizing the 
details, also in view of the difficulties caused by bad weather and rain. "We 
are still looking at the ideal place [for the execution]." The country, the 
official added, is keeping up its rigorous line against drugs and its 
commitment to punish the big traffickers who move the pawns of international 
trade with the maximum penalty.

Previously President Jokowi emphasized that convicted drug traffickers will not 
be pardoned; an iron fist, added the head of state, is the only way to fight 
the scourge of drugs in Indonesia, a nation that over time has become an 
"important crossroads" in the trade.

Recently, the National Agency for Drug Trafficking (BNN) published a report 
which shows that at least 5 million Indonesians are "addicted" - to various 
degrees - to drugs; a problem that worries even the Indonesian bishops, which 
opposes the hard-line desired by the president but, at the same time, calls for 
interventions in the prevention and combating of drugs.

Last year, the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) launched a pastoral plan for 
the rehabilitation of drug addicts, supported by the BNN. Speaking to AsiaNews 
on the occasion of the launch, the archbishop of Yogyakarta Msgr. Johannes 
Pujasumarta, Kwi secretary general, warned that "something must be done to 
solve the problem."

(source: Asia News)

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

Still time to save Bali 9 duo



Condemned Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have exhausted 
all legal avenues and could face the firing squad as early as next month.

Their best hope is that Indonesian president Joko Widodo changes his mind and 
grants the pair clemency.

Indonesia's hardline approach to drugs is well known and it is incumbent on 
Australians travelling to foreign lands to respect the local laws. We cannot 
impose our values on Indonesia but we can respectfully prosecute the case for 
these 2 men who appear to be genuinely reformed.

Drug traffickers trade in misery and death and their crimes are worthy of harsh 
sentences.

Chan and Sukumaran deserve to be punished for involving themselves in an evil 
business but surely life in prison is a suitably severe penalty.

Australia has long been a benevolent neighbour to Indonesia devoting 
significant funds and resources to boosting the country's prosperity, stability 
and security.

This financial year alone the Federal Government has earmarked more than $600 
million to be granted to Indonesia in foreign aid.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop must 
continue to do all they can to save the lives of these drug runners.

It may not be electorally popular but it is incumbent on the Australian 
government to exhaust every diplomatic avenue to prevent these 2 men being 
killed in a hail of bullets. We do not support the death penalty whether in 
Australia or on foreign shores.

The Herald Sun maintains these executions will serve no purpose and urges 
President Widodo to exercise a measure of compassion and spare the lives of 
Chan and Sukumaran.

(source: Editorial, Herald Sun)

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

Bali 9: I know Andrew and Myuran. I've fought for them. And they don't deserve 
death



If you are condemned to death in Indonesia, by law you are given "the freedom 
to choose" from 3 options: you can sit, lie or stand. Another cruel freedom 
will be made available to you: the choice of wearing a blindfold or keeping 
your eyes open. The apron, a cloth draped over the torso with a target on it, 
is mandatory.

20 soldiers who have undergone appropriate psychological counselling will fire 
the shots. This will most likely happen at night, on a deserted beach or 
plantation. If you are still alive at the end, the regulations allow for a shot 
to be fired at point blank range into your temple, at a point just above your 
ear.

The story of how I became involved in the Bali 9 case is not that complex.

I studied law and practised for a couple of years. Between that training and my 
liberal Catholic upbringing I formed a few unshakeable beliefs: reform and 
rehabilitation should be a primary aim of the penal system, people have the 
ability to change, the state should not kill. One night in April 2005, I saw 
some grainy footage air on Channel 10 news that chilled me. It was 9 young 
Australians arrested in Indonesia on suspicion of drug smuggling. Packets of 
heroin were taped to their bodies, under their garish Hawaiian shirts. It 
seemed certain, at some point, they would face the death penalty.

Melbourne, the most liberal city in Australia, has a strong and active 
community of death penalty activists. Barry Jones famously campaigned in 1967 
against the execution of Ronald Ryan; it's not uncommon for young law students 
to assist in death penalty cases in Texas and Louisiana during their university 
holidays.

Reprieve Australia was formed in Melbourne by a group of lawyers, including 
barrister Richard Bourke, who in 2001 returned from a stint in the deep south 
of the US working on capital cases. He was profoundly moved by the work he saw 
happening on death row there and wanted make provisions for Australians 
interested in death penalty work to intern on US cases. Bourke has since 
relocated full-time to Louisiana where he runs a capital assistance centre, and 
has worked on hundreds of cases involving the death penalty.

I joined Reprieve in 2009. Before meetings - usually held in the boardroom of 
some high-end law firm - 5 of us would meet at Benitos on Little Collins Street 
to talk about the Bali 9. By early 2011 the appeals of Myuran Sukumaran and 
Andrew Chan were exhausted - except for the final PK - a final appeal to the 
Supreme Court, known as a Peninjauan Kembali.

Advocates needed to be ready. We contacted the legal team who had been working 
on the case for a number of years, who - along with the families of Andrew Chan 
and Myuran Sukumaran, gave us the go ahead to form a campaign group. We had no 
money but we found a volunteer graphic designer and a web developer, we came up 
with a name - the Mercy Campaign - and drafted a petition asking for clemency. 
Our design used the green - Kerobokan green, we came to call it - that covered 
the prison bars and walls.

The lawyers at the Melbourne bar have a traditional commitment to social 
justice, human rights and pro bono work. From time to time death penalty briefs 
involving Australians crossed the desks of Melbourne barristers, like Julian 
McMahon and Lex Lasry, who acted for 25-year-old Van Nguyen, the Australian 
hanged in Singapore in 2005.

By September 2006, Lex was a judge and Julian had assembled a team from the top 
echelons of Melbourne's legal world (initially Lex was among them, before his 
appointment), to work on the Bali 9 case pro bono. They came to the case after 
a number of verdicts that were disastrous for Myuran and Andrew: a February 
2006 district court trial where they were sentenced to death, and failed 
appeals in April and August 2006. At each step their death sentences were 
affirmed.

In our Mercy Campaign meetings the lawyers spoke of "the boys". There is no one 
more vulnerable than a prisoner, particularly a prisoner on death row, and 
their protectors were fierce. But the notoriety of the Bali 9, and the money 
that could be made from them - selling stories from the jail or writing books - 
brought out the crazies, exploiters and parasites nonetheless.

Then there was the pastoral care. Many of the legal team were visiting Andrew 
and Myuran in their spare time, or raising money amongst colleagues to buy 
computers or checking in with their families. Julian brought in books to the 
prison for Myuran to read - Dante and Milton included. At one of our meetings 
he urged me to read the work of Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, social activist 
and mystic.

While the media were labelling the two men as "enforcers" and drug lords who 
enjoyed lifting weights and practising jiu jitsu, Julian and the others saw 
submerged hinterlands; potential and depth that might be realised if they 
channelled time and energy into art, religion, study, or prisoner education, 
English lessons for other prisoners, cooking classes, computer skills.

Anything instead of the empty hours, the aimless drift through the units of 
time that make up a sentence. Myuran and Andrew's constructive pursuits led to 
a transformation. Last week, prime minister Tony Abbott described them as 
"reformed characters" who had helped to rehabilitate other prisoners.

In 2011 I travelled to Sydney with Matt Goldberg, a Mercy Campaign co-founder, 
to meet Myuran and Andrew's family members. Michael Chan, Andrew's brother, 
picked us up from the station in a work break (he was working 2 jobs to make 
extra money to travel to Bali) and we drove back to his childhood home. He was 
an easygoing guy with a broad Aussie accent, who seemed unfazed to have 2 
nervous strangers from Melbourne in his car.

We pulled into a neat suburban house filled with family photos and the smell of 
food cooking. The Chans for many years ran Chinese take-away shops around 
Sydney. They greeted us warmly and plied us with food, with conversation 
passing mostly through Michael due to their limited English. Sitting on their 
couch eating dimsum I was struck by a sense of horror: who are we to walk into 
these people's homes and say we can help their son. What if we can't?

The following day Sydney's streets were flushed with a summer storm. We met 
Myuran's mother Raji at a cafe near her work. My impression of her was a woman 
so full of sadness that it almost seemed to physically spill from her. My 
immediate impulse was to comfort her somehow. She was gracious, kind, eager to 
help us, forlorn, despairing, confused and immensely stressed. When the rain 
cleared we went to leave and she mentioned it was her birthday, but would not 
be a happy birthday until all her children were home together.

Mark Davis from SBS met Matt and I in Darlinghurst and said we could use 
whatever footage we wanted from his recent story filmed in Kerobokan. He liked 
the guys, could see the positive work they were doing in the prison and wanted 
to help. His Dateline story aired and we immediately got 10,000 signatures on 
the petition. One scene haunted me. It was filmed at night, Julian was in the 
back seat of the car, talking about the execution. His spoke slowly, his voice 
flat, the lights of Kerobokan falling behind him, the sky behind the palm trees 
darkening. He was talking about Myuran and Andrew being taken at night, 
transferred to another island, maybe off Java, where they will be blindfolded 
and tied to tree and shot in the chest.

Over the next 2 years we met people connected to the case who wanted to help in 
various ways. There are people associated with church groups who make regular 
trips to Bali. Mary, an activist from country Victoria, approached artist Ben 
Quilty requesting he visit Myuran. Academics with specialities in Indonesia 
contributed their expertise.

A group of actors from Bondi staged a play about drug smuggling called Bondi 
Dreaming. They had been over to Bali and met the guys in jail, forming 
friendships with Myuran and Andrew. They made a Mercy Campaign film that 
featured cast members from Home and Away and members of Andrew and Myuran's 
family. When half a dozen of us met in the lounge room of the producer's house 
in Bellevue Hill while they filmed Raji, it felt like no one was breathing. 
They were getting her to repeat the words "mother" then "mercy." The words came 
out soft and thick with sadness.

The years rolled on. We continued to meet with Julian semi-regularly in his 
chambers for updates, usually in the late afternoon, when court was over. He 
would tell us how the guys were doing and give us the details of any 
developments in Indonesia on broader issues of the death penalty. We traded 
articles from the Jakarta Post, or promising analysis on Indonesian human 
rights from the Lowy Institute.

We were all watching Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono closely. 
What was he saying on this or that? Which way was the wind blowing?

Apart from the Bali bombers in 2008 Indonesia had performed no executions. In 
2012 when Indonesian maids in Saudi Arabia were sentenced to death for murder, 
there was a national outcry in Indonesia. Ambassadors were recalled, and 
frantic attempts at clemency were made. It boded well for a change in 
Indonesia, that the death penalty would go the way of the Catherine Wheel - a 
relic from another time.

I began reading the Indonesian English-language press regularly and in 2014 
Matt and I started taking Indonesian language lessons. Reprieve Australia got 
serious about Asia and began sending volunteers to work on capital cases there 
in conjunction with local lawyers, assisting anyone of any nationality facing 
the death penalty. Work was still going on in the US, but we were now looking 
towards Asia.

One day, Michael Chan came to get me for lunch. I was in Ubud and Michael was 
staying near the prison with some of Andrew's supporters from church. There is 
no food in the prison, so Michael spent most of his morning shopping, then 
cooking and bringing food in to Andrew, mostly of the western comfort variety - 
meat, potatoes, roasts. He was not visiting that afternoon, so we drove up the 
steep hills outside Ubud, where the air was thin and the traffic crawled with 
tourist buses.

We parked at the edge of a volcano and got a buffet lunch, which Michael 
insisted on paying for. We sat outside and he told me about the early days 
after the arrest when everything was confusing and horrible. Michael relocated 
to Bali for 11 months of that 1st year, running around, trying to organise 
food, looking after his brother's welfare, fending off the media. The weight 
dropped off him because he walked everywhere in the wet heat, having no idea 
otherwise how to get around, not realising that most westerners in Bali get a 
driver.

I wonder what it must be like to be Michael Chan, the stoic older brother. 
You're going along with your life, then all of a sudden, everything changes and 
you are plunged into a strange world, moving back and forth to Bali. An inverse 
sort of tourism; instead of arriving in paradise, you are doomed, over and 
over, to re-enter your brother's particular version of hell. Maybe you get used 
to it.

Now Chan has a regular driver, and had been up this particular volcano many 
times. I have a regular driver too, a young Balinese guy called Mus. He drove 
me to the prison the next day, One Direction and Katy Perry blaring.

Mus seemed both nervous and exhilarated by this assignment. He had heard about 
this place - wasn't Schapelle in there? - but had never had cause to visit. The 
prison, sitting on a main road, was a squat, ugly building with barbed wire 
looping the perimeter. Families sat in the waiting area, sweltering outside 
until their numbers were called. It's there I met Chin, Myuran's younger 
brother, an intelligent, lovely guy who had the sad, dark eyes of a Goya 
painting. We got takeaway coffees for ourselves and Myuran, then surrendered 
our passports and bags and entered Kerobokan.

Myuran was on the other side of the gate, dressed in a button-down long sleeved 
shirt and shorts. I handed him his latte and stepped into the prison. He showed 
me the art room that he helped set up with the permission of the governor. Some 
prisoners, a couple of women and a man sat on the floor by easels working 
quietly at their paintings.

Myuran's art was on the walls. You could chart the progress of his painting 
with your eye: from the almost naive art of a frangipani flower, to more 
complex portraits, using thick paint. Ben Quilty's influence is everywhere, but 
not exclusively. Myuran had painted the prison governor, the Indonesian 
president, and Australian politicians - including Julie Bishop. It was as if 
the act of painting powerful people conveyed some of his hope and desperation - 
like he was painting his way to mercy.

But the atmosphere in the art room was otherwise surprisingly light. We talked 
about what was going on in Australia: Manus Island, the upcoming election, 
Australia's relationship with Indonesia. It was the sort of conversation you 
have with a fellow Radio National listener.

Andrew loped in, wearing singlet and shorts. He was friendly, quick to laugh 
and was grateful for the rugby league magazines I had brought over from Sydney. 
He rolled them up and put them in the back of his shorts. They fell about 
laughing when I told them a ridiculous story about the sex healer I had 
interviewed in Bali, and they had a few funny stories of their own about the 
characters that had passed through the jail. The place was rough, prone to 
flooding and cramped, but it was their home and there was a community of people 
there, who in their own way supported each other.

Myuran looked stricken when I brought up any possibility that they might be 
moved to another jail or that the art room was temporary. He had fortified it 
against flooding. It was his thing - it gave his life and others purpose. 
Andrew was more focussed on the church and the kitchen. Both were busy, they 
had a schedule.

It helps, said Myuran, as it's not good to spend too much time idle, thinking. 
Later Chin and I went to Burger King for lunch and he told me about the moment 
when the family found out that Myuran was sentenced to death. It hadn't even 
been really raised as a possibility before. The shock of it was absolute and 
still ongoing.

All of them - all the family members - had the look of deeply bewildered 
people. Their facial expressions had now set: how did we get here? I went back 
to the prison a couple of days later with books and food, but the guards said 
no more visitors. A dozen of us, mostly Indonesians, were turned away.

I left the gifts with the guards but feel unexpectedly fretful. I lingered at 
the gates, in case the guards changed their mind. I wanted to go back in and 
see them again.

In July 2014 Joko Jokowi Widodo, the heavy metal loving Jakarta governor, was 
elected on a wave of popular support. Indonesian watchers, eagerly hoping for 
progress on human rights, were to be disappointed. During a public lecture in 
Yogyakarta on 10 December Jokowi emphasised that the government would not be 
merciful in dealing with narcotics-related crime.

He advised he would reject requests for clemency for 64 drug traffickers 
currently on death row. Then, on Thursday 8 January, Myuran's appeal for 
clemency was rejected. The legal team found out after reading about it in the 
Herald Sun.

10 days later, on 18 January, Indonesia killed 6 prisoners in the 1st round of 
executions. International pressure from the Brazilian and Dutch governments - 
whose citizens were condemned - did not sway Jokowi. There was no last minute 
reprieve.

Meanwhile the president indicated that Myuran and Andrew would be killed 
together. Andrew has not had his clemency rejected. We held out hope that the 
announcement would never happen, that there would be an indefinite delay. After 
all, Tony Abbott, Julie Bishop and leaders of the Labor party have come out 
strongly against capital punishment in the week of the executions. Abbott says 
"mercy should be the cornerstone of every justice system".

On 22 January Andrew's clemency application was rejected.

Things in life move fast and slow. And so it was with this. The campaign and 
efforts to save the men became infused with a furious energy. Matt and I called 
in more volunteers and on the Australia Day long weekend set up a sort of 
moving war room, in legal offices and barristers chambers around the Melbourne 
CBD.

Our servers were crashing from the traffic of those wanting to sign our 
petition. Volunteers worked late into the night fortifying our systems and 
back-ups were created. In around a week almost 100,000 extra people signed our 
petition. Jokowi's favourite grindcore band, Napalm Death, came out in support, 
urging their fans to sign the petition.

In the meantime Ben Quilty had returned from Kerobokan where he had visited and 
painted with Myuran. He returned charged with purpose. Gathering a cohort of 
high profile Australians - a diverse bunch, from Asher Keddie to Alan Jones - 
he created the I Stand for Mercy video. In under a week he organised for a 
candlelight vigil to be held in Martin Place, with high profile acts supporting 
the plea for mercy.

The legal team were also in a race against darker forces. The best and only 
hope ??? the lodgement of the PK, a final appeal to the Supreme Court, was 
frustrated by the requirement that Myuran and Andrew be present when the 
document was filed. Even then, they were concerned that the PK's reliance on 
extensive evidence that Myuran and Andrew had been rehabilitated would not be 
accepted.

On Wednesday night rumours were circulating. The attorney general said they 
were both on a "list", that they would be next. At one level, we are all 
condemned. None of us live forever but the grace of our situation is that we 
never know really, precisely, when that time will come. We can live suspended 
in an unending moment of present time.

There are many circles of hell in Andrew and Myuran???s situation, but to me, 
this is one of the worst: the fixing of the time and place of your death, the 
72 hours notice period, the families' final separation from their healthy sons, 
the knock on the cell in the night, the transport to the place, the blindfold 
and apron, the final decision to sit, lie or stand.

(source: Brigid Delaney, The Guardian)

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

Death penalty hard, but warnings were abundantly clear



I don't support having the death penalty in Australia, but I do believe in 
respecting the laws of foreign countries that I visit as a tourist ("Jakarta 
lists Bali pair for execution", 29/1). I particularly believe in reading the 
huge signs in foreign airports warning of the penalties for drug-trafficking, 
and in reading the information about foreign laws published on the government's 
Smartraveller website.

I don't walk down the street in Kuala Lumpur holding my same-sex partner's 
hand. I doubt I'd wear my Jewish skull cap in Iran. And I certainly wouldn't 
attempt to smuggle drugs in a country where the penalty is death.

David Bates, Pyrmont, NSW

--

Responding to a question about the death penalty for drug smugglers , 
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo told CNN: "Imagine every day we have 50 
people die because of narcotics, because of drugs. In one year, it's 18,000 
people who die because of narcotics. And we are not going to compromise for 
drug dealers. No compromise. decision of death penalty is on the court."

Obviously the death penalty is working a treat as a deterrent.

Andrew L. Urban, Seaforth, NSW

(source: Letters to the Editor, The Australian)

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

Bali 9 case: AFP retains ability to give information abroad that risks death 
penalty for Australians



Australian Federal Police retain the authority to provide information to 
foreign police agencies in cases carrying the death penalty, despite an outcry 
over the imminent executions of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan in 
Indonesia.

The AFP can also provide information prior to a person being arrested, charged 
or convicted of an offence where the death penalty applies without seeking 
approval of Australia's Attorney-General or another relevant minister.

"The exchange of law enforcement information is a regular and routine part of 
mutual co-operation," an AFP spokesperson said.

"The AFP cannot limit its co-operation to countries that have similar legal 
systems as Australia."

The AFP has been strongly criticised for telling Indonesian police precise 
details about the Bali 9 in April 2005 that led to their arrests on the resort 
island, including that they were intending to smuggle heroin strapped to their 
bodies to Australia.

The AFP ignored a specific request from Lee Rush, the father of Bali 9 drug 
mule Scott Rush, through his lawyer, to stop his son travelling to Bali because 
he suspected he was going to be involved in drugs there.

Indonesia's president Joko Widodo has rejected pleas of clemency to save the 
lives of Sukumaran and Chan, who were organisers of the drug mules, and the 
pair could be executed by firing squad as early as next month.

The police reviewed their guidelines on international-police-to-police 
assistance after Mr Rush brought a case against the AFP in the Federal Court 
where Mr Justice Paul Finn ruled the AFP had acted lawfully in the Bali 9 case 
but recommended the agency review its death penalty guidelines.

The subsequent confidential guidelines, made available under Freedom of 
Information, reveals that AFP management must consider prescribed factors 
before providing information in matters with possible death penalty 
implications, including the seriousness of the suspected criminal activity, the 
nationality, age and personal circumstances of the person involved and the 
potential risks to the person, and other persons, in providing or not providing 
the information.

The AFP must also consider Australia's interest in promoting and securing 
cooperation from overseas agencies in combating crime and the degree of risk to 
the person in providing the information, including the likelihood the death 
penalty would be imposed.

However the AFP must obtain ministerial approval in any case in which a person 
has been arrested or detained for, charged with, or convicted of an offence 
that carries the death penalty.

Ministerial approval is also required in circumstances where there has been a 
formal request from overseas for legal assistance with a criminal investigation 
or prosecution that involves the possible death penalty.

Ronli Sifris, a lecturer in law at Monash University and an associate at the 
Castan Centre for Human Rights, wrote this week while the Australian government 
has been trumpeting its efforts to save Sukumaran and Chan "this is far too 
little, far too late".

"The AFP provided the information that led to the arrest, prosecution, guilty 
verdicts and death sentences of two Australian citizens," Dr Sifris wrote.

"If these men are executed, the AFP will have blood on its hands."

(source: Sydney Morning Herald)

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

The brutal truth: the death penalty ---- Alice Boyd asks who benefits from such 
devastation



An Indonesian firing squad executed 6 convicted drug traffickers last Sunday, 
following a vow by new President Joko Widodo that 20 executions will be carried 
out this year. 5 of the 6 executed prisoners were foreigners, and President 
Widodo has promised the imminent execution of many more. The otherwise 
progressive Widodo has said that drug traffickers on death row who have 
exhausted all legal avenues should be put to death. There will be no 
presidential clemency for the 64 convicted drug traffickers currently awaiting 
their fate.

2 of those prisoners are Australian men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, 
imprisoned on the island of Bali for their role in a high profile drug 
trafficking case back in 2005. They are the last of the "Bali 9" still 
sentenced for death after being caught attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of 
heroin out of Indonesia. Having spent the last decade in prison, both Chan and 
Sukumaran have been rehabilitated, with authorities describing them as reformed 
model prisoners. Chan and Sukumaran contribute to prison life by running art 
classes, computer classes and a drug rehabilitation programme. Sukumaran's 
artistic talent has been noticed beyond the prison walls, with Australian 
painter Ben Quilty counting himself as a mentor and friend. What purpose can 
their brutal death by firing squad now serve?

Both the United Nations and the Open Society Foundations have argued that the 
use of the death penalty will not alleviate Indonesia's drug problems. Capital 
punishment for drug crimes was introduced in Indonesia in 1997 and President 
Widodo argues that his hard line on drug crime is representative of his 
government's commitment to the fight against drugs. However, drug crime in 
Indonesia has been rising since 1997, not falling.

Research by international organisations such as the United Nations and Amnesty 
International has consistently failed to find scientific proof that the death 
penalty has a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment. Statistical 
studies comparing the murder rates of jurisdictions with and without the death 
penalty have found that there is no correlation between the death penalty and 
reduced murder rates.

Despite the evidence to suggest that the death penalty is ineffective as a 
deterrent, support for the death penalty in response to drug crimes in 
Indonesia sits at about 75%. Endless media stories about drug crime and death 
has fuelled widespread concern that families may lose children to drugs, while 
President Widodo sees drug crime as a scourge that will ruin the nation. 
Political advisors have argued that the President's hard line on drug crime can 
be explained by politically motivated populism, as the increasingly unpopular 
president attempts to regain popularity by turning to nationalist issues. In a 
recent article The Open Society Foundations called this "a stunning display of 
opportunism, as people are literally sacrificed in the name of political 
manoeuvring."

Not only is the death penalty ineffective and wasteful, it also brutalises the 
society that exacts it. The death penalty diminishes the value of human life 
and legitimises the right of the state to exact irreversible harm upon its 
citizens. Amnesty International has called the death penalty the ultimate 
denial of human rights, and opposes it in all circumstances. The notion that 
the death penalty can be a form of justice is deeply flawed, not only for those 
facing the death penalty but also for the society at large, which is diminished 
by the premeditated murder of individuals by the state.

Chan and Sukumaran's appeals for presidential clemency have been rejected, and 
death by firing squad looks increasingly likely. An attempt to secure a 2nd 
judicial review of their case has been lodged but their prospects are grim. 
Their deaths would not alleviate Indonesia's drug problems, but they would 
certainly undermine our humanity.

(source: Varsity)

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

Reflections on capital punishment



The impending execution of 2 young Australian men in Indonesia has again given 
great pause for reflection on the issue of capital punishment.It was 48 years 
ago next month that the last execution was carried out in Australia - the 
hanging of Ronald Ryan at Pentridge Gaol in Melbourne. I was a witness to that 
execution.

It was the most violent and futile act I have ever witnessed. The memory haunts 
me to this day - that I saw a man deliberately killed in the name of the law. 
It achieved nothing then and nothing since. To see a man helplessly bound, led 
to the gallows and deliberately put to death is something that no society 
should countenance. I walked into Pentridge that day as a working journalist 
with no clear views on capital punishment. The execution was the biggest story 
of the year and I had a job to do in reporting it. I walked out of Pentridge 
resolved to work in whatever way I could to try to have capital punishment 
abolished, and that work continues today. Over the past 48 years I have watched 
how the issue of capital punishment has been handled in countries around the 
world - studies I have done not as a journalist or anyone with a vested 
interest, but simply as an interested member of the public.I reflect with 
sadness on having seen a deliberate death and realizing how useless an act it 
was. I have watched the debate on capital punishment and nothing changes - the 
same old argument is run time and time again that capital punishment is a 
deterrent, yet absolutely nothing is ever achieved by executions.

It is of great importance to note that more and more countries are abolishing 
the death penalty, realizing it is useless and has no place in their society. 
In the past, capital punishment was used in almost every part of the world, but 
in the last few decades many countries have done away with it. There is no 
question that committing serious crime deserves serious punishment. However, 
many societies today say capital punishment is not part of that equation. They 
say the death penalty is wrong. And it is wrong. The alternative punishment 
must be strong. The alternative to the death penalty for serious crimes should 
be long imprisonment. For murder and other major crimes it should be life 
imprisonment. No parole. No dispensations.

In the case of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia, surely the most 
appropriate sentence could be long imprisonment, as it was for the other 
members of the "Bali 9". Their rehabilitation and everything they've done to 
make amends for their actions has to count for something. For almost 10 years, 
the Indonesian system has kept them alive, allowing them to demonstrate their 
remorse and contrition, through actions as well as words. To execute them now 
would be an absolute tragedy and a waste of 2 young lives that have been 
completely turned around.

Australia in 1973 abolished the death penalty for federal offences. It was 
removed as a punishment for murder in all States by 1984 and then in 2010 
Federal Parliament passed laws that prevent the death penalty from being 
reintroduced by any state or territory in Australia.

I would hope that Australia could take this strong stance into a commitment to 
argue against the death penalty in every country of the world. We put a very 
strong case to the international community on fighting terrorism and are 
prepared to lead discussion and action on that front. We are remarkably 
reticent on the world stage when it comes to capital punishment. It is time to 
end that. (source: Opinion; Brian Morley--The writer was a journalist and 
editor of the Radio Station 3AWin Melbourne covering the above execution---- 
The Jakarta Post)

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

Reflections on capital punishment



The impending execution of 2 young Australian men in Indonesia has again given 
great pause for reflection on the issue of capital punishment.It was 48 years 
ago next month that the last execution was carried out in Australia - the 
hanging of Ronald Ryan at Pentridge Gaol in Melbourne. I was a witness to that 
execution.

It was the most violent and futile act I have ever witnessed. The memory haunts 
me to this day - that I saw a man deliberately killed in the name of the law. 
It achieved nothing then and nothing since. To see a man helplessly bound, led 
to the gallows and deliberately put to death is something that no society 
should countenance. I walked into Pentridge that day as a working journalist 
with no clear views on capital punishment. The execution was the biggest story 
of the year and I had a job to do in reporting it. I walked out of Pentridge 
resolved to work in whatever way I could to try to have capital punishment 
abolished, and that work continues today. Over the past 48 years I have watched 
how the issue of capital punishment has been handled in countries around the 
world - studies I have done not as a journalist or anyone with a vested 
interest, but simply as an interested member of the public.I reflect with 
sadness on having seen a deliberate death and realizing how useless an act it 
was. I have watched the debate on capital punishment and nothing changes - the 
same old argument is run time and time again that capital punishment is a 
deterrent, yet absolutely nothing is ever achieved by executions.

It is of great importance to note that more and more countries are abolishing 
the death penalty, realizing it is useless and has no place in their society. 
In the past, capital punishment was used in almost every part of the world, but 
in the last few decades many countries have done away with it. There is no 
question that committing serious crime deserves serious punishment. However, 
many societies today say capital punishment is not part of that equation. They 
say the death penalty is wrong. And it is wrong. The alternative punishment 
must be strong. The alternative to the death penalty for serious crimes should 
be long imprisonment. For murder and other major crimes it should be life 
imprisonment. No parole. No dispensations.

In the case of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia, surely the most 
appropriate sentence could be long imprisonment, as it was for the other 
members of the "Bali 9". Their rehabilitation and everything they've done to 
make amends for their actions has to count for something. For almost 10 years, 
the Indonesian system has kept them alive, allowing them to demonstrate their 
remorse and contrition, through actions as well as words. To execute them now 
would be an absolute tragedy and a waste of 2 young lives that have been 
completely turned around.

Australia in 1973 abolished the death penalty for federal offences. It was 
removed as a punishment for murder in all States by 1984 and then in 2010 
Federal Parliament passed laws that prevent the death penalty from being 
reintroduced by any state or territory in Australia.

I would hope that Australia could take this strong stance into a commitment to 
argue against the death penalty in every country of the world. We put a very 
strong case to the international community on fighting terrorism and are 
prepared to lead discussion and action on that front. We are remarkably 
reticent on the world stage when it comes to capital punishment. It is time to 
end that.

(source: Opinion; Brian Morley--The writer was a journalist and editor of the 
Radio Station 3AWin Melbourne covering the above execution---- The Jakarta 
Post)

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

Another Nigerian to be executed in Indonesia for drugs



Indonesia is ready to execute a Nigerian and 6 other foreign drug convicts on 
death row after their appeals for presidential clemency were rejected, an 
official said, in a move certain to set Jakarta on a collision course with 
international allies.

They include 2 Australian leaders of the "Bali 9" drug-smuggling gang, Myuran 
Sukumaran and Andrew Chan who have been on death row for almost a decade. The 
pair lost their appeals in December and earlier this month.

A spokesman for the attorney-general's office revealed late Wednesday that a 
further 4 foreigners, from countries including France, Brazil, and Ghana, have 
also lost their appeals. The Attorney general did not reveal the names of the 
other foreigners scheduled to face the firing squad.

4 Indonesians - only 1 of them convicted of drugs offences - had also lost 
their bid for clemency.

"The attorney general's office now has 11 convicts on death row ready to be 
executed," spokesman Tony Spontana said late Wednesday.

Indonesia earlier this month executed 9 drug offenders, including 5 foreigners, 
prompting a furious Brazil and the Netherlands - whose citizens were among 
those put to death - to recall their ambassadors.

Drug offenders from Vietnam, Malawi and Nigeria were also among those killed by 
firing squad.

Despite his image as a reformist, Indonesia's new president has been a vocal 
supporter of capital punishment for drug offenders, disappointing rights 
activists who had hoped that he would take a softer line on the death penalty.

He has repeatedly vowed to show no clemency to drug traffickers. In a CNN 
interview broadcast earlier this week, Widodo vowed: "We are not going to 
compromise for drug dealers. No compromise. No compromise."

"Imagine, every day, we have 50 people die because of narcotics, because of 
drugs," he said.

"Indonesia is in the position of a drug emergency. We need to have something 
that's firm and a positive law in Indonesia still allows the death penalty."

Spontana said a decision had not yet been made on when or where the convicts 
would be executed, only that more than one would face the firing squad in the 
next round.

The Frenchman is Serge Atlaoui, who has been on death row since 2007, Spontana 
confirmed.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said she was "distressed and outraged" after 
Indonesia defied her last-ditch pleas to halt the last round of executions.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders described all 6 of those deaths as 
"terribly sad", adding: "My heart goes out to their families, for whom this is 
marks a dramatic end to years of uncertainty."

The Australians set to be executed, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were 
arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle eight kilograms (18 pounds) of 
heroin out of Indonesia.

Sukumaran's appeal for clemency was rejected in December, and Chan's was 
rejected earlier this month.

That removed the final hurdle to put the pair to death, as Indonesian 
authorities said they must be executed together as they had committed their 
crime together.

Lawyers for the pair are planning a last-ditch appeal to their convictions but 
the attorney-general's office has said that further legal challenges are not 
possible once a clemency bid has been rejected.

The Frenchman Atlaoui was arrested in 2005 in a secret laboratory producing 
ecstasy close to Jakarta.

(source: The NEWS)

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

Dispatch from death row



Indonesia, a country of 250 million, is notorious for its severe drug policy. 
Most often drug traffickers are executed or imprisoned for life.

On January 18, Indonesia executed 5 people convicted on drug trafficking 
charges; 4 of them were foreign nationals from Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria, and the 
Netherlands.

More than 138 people await execution on death row, 1/3 of them foreigners, 
reports the Guardian newspaper.

Among them is a Nepali man, Indra Bahadur Tamang, arrested in 2001 with 900 
grams of heroin. Nearly 14 years later, it is still uncertain when Indra 
Bahadur will face execution.

Nepal's protracted transition has no doubt taken a toll on all facets of 
governance. And this cost has been especially telling in Nepal???s diplomacy.

So it comes as no surprise that the government remains unaware of Indra 
Bahadur's fate in Indonesia or of Nepalis jailed in other countries.

It is estimated that more than a dozen Nepalis await execution in the Middle 
East and Malaysia. Last August, in one telling incident, Shova Pariyar, a 
single mother from Tanahun, was beheaded by Saudi Arabia on murder charges.

The Nepal government did not make any attempts to appeal for clemency.

Despite the contributions that remittances from migrant workers make to the 
Nepali economy, there is little effort from the government to safeguard their 
rights.

Most migrants leave with little to no knowledge of the language and culture of 
their countries of destination and hence, become easy prey for unscrupulous 
employers.

Most countries in the Middle East and East Asia, the primary destinations for 
Nepali migrants, have opaque legal proceedings and stringent punishments when 
found guilty.

Many international rights organisations, including Amnesty International and 
Human Rights Watch, have raised legitimate concerns over such legal processes 
and capital punishment provisions.

Nepal, to its credit, has refused to enshrine capital punishment for any crime. 
On this moral ground alone, it is the responsibility of the Nepal government to 
press for the repatriation of its citizens on death row or at least appeal for 
clemency.

Indonesia itself made a strong appeal against the execution of 1 of its 
citizens in Saudi Arabia. Brazil and the Netherlands made similar overtures to 
Indonesia on behalf of their citizens.

The Nepal government's efforts in this regard have been sorely lacking. Lacking 
government initiatives, civil society and Non-Resident Nepali organizations 
have stepped in to raise 'blood money', a debt that can be paid to aggrieved 
parties in the Middle East to appeal for amnesty.

But unless high-level initiatives are forthcoming, Nepalis will continue to 
meet their doom. The government, therefore, must immediately initiate efforts 
to appeal to the governments of host countries to repatriate its citizens on 
death row.

Failing this, it can still appeal for a reduction in sentencing to life 
imprisonment. As international human rights law restricts the use of the death 
penalty to "the most serious crimes," there is a strong moral case to be made 
in favour of such Nepalis.

(Editorial: The Kathmandu Post)

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

Philippine woman faces death in Indonesia for drugs



The Philippines is trying to prevent the execution of a female citizen, who 
faces death by firing squad in Indonesia for drug smuggling, the foreign 
ministry said Thursday.

Manila's revelation that a Filipina is on death row, comes after 
recently-elected Indonesian leader Joko Widodo's government executed 6 
convicted drug smugglers and prepares to execute 11 more.

"The Philippine government is making all the appropriate representations with 
the Indonesian government at all levels on our ... request for judicial 
review," foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose said.

He said an application to review the woman's death sentence was filed at a 
district court near Yogyakarta last week.

Foreign ministry officials said the woman -- whose name was not disclosed -- 
was arrested at Yogyakarta airport in April 2010 carrying 2.6 kilograms of 
heroin on a flight from Malaysia.

After putting 5 foreigners and an Indonesian to death by firing squad earlier 
this month, Indonesia announced Thursday it was ready to execute 11 more 
people.

Among them are 2 Australian leaders of the "Bali 9" drug-smuggling gang, who 
have been on death row for almost a decade.

Despite his image as a reformist, Indonesia's new president has been a vocal 
supporter of capital punishment for drug offenders, disappointing rights 
activists who had hoped that he would take a softer line on the death penalty.

(source: Agence France-Presse)

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

AFP will have blood on its hands if Bali pair Chan and Sukumaran are 
executed----The police provided information which it knew could, and which in 
fact did, lead to Australian citizens facing the death penalty.



In recent weeks there has been a renewal of public interest in the Bali Nine, 
largely stemming from the rejection by Indonesian President Joko Widodo of 
pleas for clemency to save the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

It is well known that Chan and Sukumaran have been on death row for close to a 
decade for their role in the plan to transport more than eight kilograms of 
heroin from Indonesia into Australia. What is less known is the role played by 
the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in putting them there.

The government has been trumpeting its efforts to save the pair, claiming it is 
making diplomatic 'representations at the highest levels'. But this is far too 
little, far too late.

On April 8, 2005, Paul Hunniford, the AFP senior liaison officer in Bali, sent 
a letter to the Indonesian National Police (INP) in Denpasar. The letter stated 
"[the] AFP in Australia have received information that a group of persons are 
allegedly importing a narcotic substance (believed to be heroin) from Bali to 
Australia using 8 individual people carrying body packs strapped to their legs 
and back."

The letter specified the names of the suspects and the dates on which the AFP 
believed they would be entering and leaving Indonesia.

The AFP requested the INP's assistance in conducting the investigation and 
specifically stated that "should they suspect that Chan and/or the couriers are 
in possession of drug[s] at the time of their departure [and] that they take 
what action they deem appropriate".

On April 12, 2005, Hunniford sent a 2nd letter to the INP containing the names 
of the heroin couriers and details of the operation. Pursuant to the 
information provided to them by the AFP, on April 17 the INP arrested 9 
Australians who became known as "the Bali 9". Ultimately, 7 of the Bali 9 
received jail terms. Chan and Sukumaran (described as the "godfather" and 
"enforcer" respectively) were sentenced to death.

AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty cited international co-operation in the war on 
drugs as a justification for the provision of information by the AFP to the INP 
which led to the arrests of these Australian citizens.

He stated: "When we are dealing with the commission of crimes across 
international borders, where we have no operations jurisdiction, we have no 
choice but to work co-operatively with overseas police in an effort to 
corroborate information, collect evidence and therefore have the biggest 
possible impact in disrupting the activity of international drug syndicates."

He further stated that "it is widely recognised that collaborative law 
enforcement efforts to stop drugs like heroin reaching Australian shores has 
led to considerable benefits".

Essentially, the AFP provided the INP with information that it knew could, and 
which in fact did, lead to Australian citizens facing the death penalty. It did 
this despite the fact it could have simply arrested the traffickers on arrival 
in Australia, thereby ensuring a trial conducted in Australian courts in 
accordance with Australian law (which does not provide for the death penalty). 
Further, if the AFP viewed co-operation with the INP as being particularly 
important in the larger context of the "war on drugs" (or the "war on terror"), 
it could have required an assurance that the death penalty was off the table in 
exchange for information that it provided, as often occurs in extradition 
cases.

The Australian government has been trumpeting its efforts to save the pair, 
claiming that it is making diplomatic "representations at the highest levels". 
But this is far too little, far too late. The AFP provided the information that 
led to the arrest, prosecution, guilty verdicts and death sentences of 2 
Australian citizens. If these men are executed, the AFP will have their blood 
on its hands.

(source: Commentary; Dr Ronli Sifris is a lecturer in law at Monash University 
and an associate of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law)

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

Indonesia's war on drugs lays ground for injustices----For the most part we are 
repulsed by punishment for revenge, or if it cuts off a criminal's chance of 
reform or rehabilitation.



Imagine your eldest child has been caught selling cigarettes to other children. 
You decide that justice requires the child's hand to be cut off. The child has 
broken the law and harmed another child. It is only right that the child suffer 
some of the hurt that he has perpetrated. Further, it will deter his younger 
siblings from such anti-social behaviour.

This so-called "justice" is repulsive to us. It is repulsive because it 
irrevocably disables a person for one wrongful act. The punishment can never be 
taken back - it is punishment for life, not rehabilitation for transformation. 
It denies the essential freedom that human beings possess to change, so that 
the loss of freedom experienced by the victim is avenged. It's not about 
providing space for transformation - which is what prison is fundamentally 
about - but about violence for violence.

The death penalty admits society's defeat in the face of evil.

It is also repulsive because it imposes violence on one person to scare other 
people from committing immoral acts. The reform of the criminal-child's 
character is irrelevant. It only matters that the parent uses any means to stop 
immoral acts, even if it means sacrificing the body of their child, a 
potentially reformed person. What this neglect of the child-criminal means is 
that he has no humanity: his life and dignity do not matter in comparison to 
the rules.

In a similar way, the death penalty is being used as a heavy-handed, blunt 
weapon to fight a "war on drugs" in Indonesia. Wars involve violent victories, 
usually at the expense of individuals (local or foreign). They involve masses 
of people uniting against "deviant" others.

Yet, this "war" mentality leads societies astray. In relation to the drug 
trade, it leads to ineffective practices and compounds injustices. For example, 
Tim Lindsey argues the use of the death penalty in Indonesia is a lottery, 
subject to larger factors beyond the individual cases of the Australians on 
death row in Indonesia, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. Moreover, the current 
president's policy to execute drug traffickers seems to ignore Indonesia's own 
Constitutional Court to take into account the reform of character shown by 
those on death row after 10 years.

Laws, of course, matter, particularly ones that protect societies from 
destructive substances. However, once laws are broken, we have two choices: to 
punish destructively or with a view to reform. The choice is difficult when 
confronting major crimes.

The 1st choice does not reflect justice but a state-sanctioned version of 
payback. Payback may seem justifiable in the righteous anger that arises 
because of major crime. However, it means we are dragged down to the level of 
the perpetrator as we ignore his dignity and reciprocate his violence.

The 2nd treats the criminal as a human being. In this view, the criminal has 
undertaken an evil act but is also capable of change and making a contribution 
to the common good. The payback mentality ignores the same human nature that it 
pretends to understand. Rehabilitation is a possibility because criminal acts 
do not necessarily give a full measure of the perpetrator's underlying 
character. Sukumaran and Chan have demonstrated this possibility.

Before committing to the death penalty, we should ask ourselves: if we weren't 
allowed to learn from our mistakes - not just from the little white lies but 
from the times when all of us have seriously hurt others - what kind of world 
would we live in?

After picking up a sick, elderly woman who had been dumped in a garbage bin by 
her son, Mother Teresa advised: "You must forgive your son. In a moment of 
madness, when he was not himself, he did a thing he regrets." In a moment of 
madness, the Bali 9 did something they regret. Should they be forever condemned 
for it? Could they not be more effective public witnesses against the drug 
trade by showing how life is better without drugs, rather than dead because of 
them?

Clemency and mercy require greatness of spirit. Both Christianity and Islam put 
great emphasis on the mercy of God. Yet, mercy is not a special act only done 
by super-human saints. Mercy is a simple human act that allows others to be 
human - to recover their humanity out of evil.

But it might be said that this kind of clemency doesn't help in fighting evil 
in the "real world". This view ignores how movements and people, such as Nelson 
Mandela, have fought evil with goodness. In a way, the death penalty admits 
society's defeat in the face of evil. Further, the death penalty itself has 
been shown to be ineffective in deterring crime.

Mercy, nevertheless, does not abrogate justice. Justice must be done - but not 
in blood. It must be paid in repentance and making up for what one has done.

In the end, the choice in regards to the death penalty for any electorate is 
what kind of society it wants to be and how the people in that society want to 
be treated: as humans or less than human.

How would any of us want to be treated, just on the off chance that you - or 
your child or someone close to you - somehow got mixed up with the wrong crowd 
and did something horrible?

The Golden Rule - present in the religious traditions of Indonesia and 
Australia - suggests that we treat others as we would want to be treated: with 
humanity and mercy.

For the sake of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, and for the sake of 
Indonesian society, please President Joko Widodo, be merciful.

(source: Commentary, Dr Joel Hodge is a a lecturer in theology at Australian 
Catholic University----Sydney Morning Herald)