Indonesia resumes executions

Fourteen people from eight countries to be put to death for drug-related crimes

Last update on July 28, at 6 pm

At forty-five minutes past midnight (Jacarta time) on Friday, July 29, the Indonesian government began the third round of executions in the last 18 months. The government had announced that 14 drug convicts would be put to death, but decided to postpone the execution of 10 of them indefinitely – the reason for this decision is still unknown. Three Nigerians and one Indonesian were killed by firing squad.

Last year, another 14 people were executed, including the two Brazilians Rodrigo Goularte and Marco Archer. This time, the offenders are from Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan and Sierra Leone, as well as Indonesian citizens.

According to a report by Amnesty International, Indonesia ranks ninth on the list of countries that most applied the death penalty in 2015, with the aggravating factor that it includes drug offenses as crimes punishable by execution – in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the country, which restricts the application of the death penalty to “the most serious crimes” that involve the deliberate intention to kill.

Organizations from around the world condemned the announcement. In a letter addressed to President Joko Widodo, Conectas (Brazil), Comisión Mexicana de Defensa e Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (Mexico), Partnership for Justice (Nigeria), Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria (South Africa), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (India) and Forum Asia (Thailand) urged the government to halt all pending executions and to establish a general moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolishing the practice in the country.

The organizations also denounced the lack of transparency in the cases (in violation of domestic legislation on access to public information), the lack of access to justice, the violation of the right to a fair trial and to clemency, and the execution in the previous rounds of underage children and people with mental illness.

“Studies from across the world have shown that capital punishment is counter-productive, as it does not curb crime rates, is completely disproportionate to drug-related offenses, and does not have a place in the modern world or in vibrant democracies, such as Indonesia asserts itself to be,” they said. “As we have witnessed in our own countries, repressive responses to drug-related issues have failed, only fueling a cycle of violence, suffering and injustice.”

Click here to read the letter in full.

The organizations also exposed the double standards of the Indonesian government, which has been actively fighting for the clemency of its citizens facing death row in other countries.

Joko Widodo is the first president since the end of Indonesia’s dictatorship (1967-1998) with no ties to the old regime – and, precisely because of this, there was a great deal of anticipation that his election would consolidate democracy in the country after 17 years of transition. His government, however, has faced growing criticism for its tough anti-drug policy, one of his main pledges during the election campaign.

Conectas reinforces its condemnation of the death penalty and calls on the Indonesian government to grant clemency to the convicts who are still waiting on death row.