Anggi M. Lubis and Agus Maryono, Jakarta/Cilacap – Pressure is mounting ahead of the executions of at least 14 drug convicts to be carried out later this week, as international organizations and foreign countries call on Indonesia to put off using the death penalty, which they say has tainted Indonesia's reputation as an emerging democracy.
Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo confirmed on Wednesday that 14 people – including convicts from Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Zimbabwe – had been put in isolation on the Nusakambangan prison island off Cilacap, Central Java, and would be executed this week.
The executions will be the third round under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, after the country put 14 drug convicts, mostly foreigners, to death in two groups in 2015, to much international outrage.
The upcoming executions are no different, with a number of foreign missions in Indonesia and international rights organizations having conveyed their concerns about how the planned killings might lead to Indonesia committing miscarriages of justice.
EU Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Guerend said that if the executions were indeed confirmed, the EU would come out with a statement as it does worldwide, including about countries with which it has friendly relations.
The EU, he said, was against the death penalty as a matter of principle and was in favor of a worldwide abolition of the death penalty and the EU is calling on all states and all members of the international community to abolish the death penalty or to implement a moratorium on the death penalty.
"Indonesia is a strong democracy and Indonesia is, in many respects, a model in this part of the world. We believe that Indonesia should strongly consider joining the vast majority of countries, 140 out of 190, that have abolished the death penalty," he said.
Among the convicts to be executed is Pakistani Zulfiqar Ali, whom an investigative team from the Law and Human Rights Ministry had concluded might be innocent.
For Pakistan, which still applies the death penalty, the concern is different, said Pakistani Ambassador to Indonesia Aqil Naseem.
Pakistan restored the death penalty last year after a terrorist attack in a public school that claimed the lives of 150 children. Only terrorists will be hanged in Pakistan now and while Naseem respects Indonesia's legal system, his main concern is the unfair trial of Ali.
Amnesty International believes that Jokowi would put his government on the wrong side of history if he proceeded with a fresh round of executions, said the group's Southeast Asia head Josef Benedict.
British Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik said in a recent interview that he did not think the death penalty had helped Indonesia's standing in the world.
"Does Indonesia want to be seen alongside China and Iran, or does it want to be seen alongside 130 countries, developed and developing and emerging economies, giving up on the death penalty?" he asked.
"We have miscarriages of justice in the UK, in the US, all over the world. If there's some risks that innocent lives may be taken, I don't think that is acceptable."
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed alarm at the planned executions.
"The increasing use of the death penalty in Indonesia is terribly worrying and I urge the government to immediately end this practice, which is unjust and incompatible with human rights," he said in a statement.
As the executions are imminent, information has spread that the State Palace has sent letters to the Attorney General's Office to cancel the executions of Ali and Indonesian Merri Utami. Calls to presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki to confirm the information were not answered.
Meanwhile, preparations at the Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap, Central Java, for the executions of 14 convicts have been completed. All equipment and property needed for the executions were sent there on Wednesday.
"All has been prepared, including security personnel. About 1,500 people have been deployed to secure the execution area so the process can run smoothly," Cilacap Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Bintoro said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/07/28/ri-pressed-abolish-death-penalty.html