AI Press Release – Indonesia: Stop imminent execution of six people by firing squad
"These
executions must be stopped immediately. The death penalty is a human
rights violation, and it is shocking that the Indonesian authorities are
looking to put to death six people this Sunday," said Rupert Abbott,
Amnesty International's Research Director for Southeast Asia and the
Pacific.
"Indonesia's
new government took office on the back of promises to improve respect
for human rights, but carrying out these executions would be a
regressive move. Rather than putting to death more people, the
government should immediately impose a moratorium on the use of the
death penalty with a view to its eventual abolition."
All
six of those to be executed on Sunday were convicted and sentenced to
death for drug-related offences. They include one Indonesian, Rani
Andriani alias Melisa Aprilia; and five foreign nationals: Daniel Enemuo
(Nigerian), Ang Kim Soei (Dutch), Tran Thi Bich Hanh (Vietnamese),
Namaona Denis (Nigerian) and Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira (Brazilian).
Five
of them are reportedly going to be executed on Nusakambangan Island,
Central Java province, while Tran Thi Bich Hanh is to be executed in
Boloyali district, also in Central Java.
While no executions were carried out in Indonesia in 2014, the government has announced that 20 are scheduled for this year.
In
December 2014, it was also reported that President Joko Widodo would
not grant clemency to at least 64 individuals who have been sentenced to
death for drug-related crimes and that there were plans to execute
them.
Drug-related
offences do not meet the threshold of the "most serious crimes" for
which the death penalty can be imposed under international law.
"It
would be a huge set back if the government goes ahead with its plans to
execute as many as 20 people during the year. Tackling rising crime
rates is a legitimate goal of President Widodo's administration, but the
death penalty is not the answer and does not work as a deterrent to
crime," said Rupert Abbott.
"The
plans for a new spate of executions come at a time when the government
is actively seeking to protect Indonesian nationals who face the death
penalty overseas. If the death penalty is wrong elsewhere, it is surely
wrong in Indonesia too."
Amnesty
International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any
circumstances, regardless of the nature of the crime, the
characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to
carry out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life as
recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is the
ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The protection for the
right to life is also recognized in Indonesia's Constitution. So far
140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
Public document
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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on press
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