April 29
AUSTRALIA:
Australian Condemnation After Indonesia Execution Reports
A top official from Australia's foreign ministry called the death penalty an
"abuse of state power" Wednesday after the reported execution of 2 Australian
drug convicts in Indonesia.
Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were the ringleaders of the "Bali 9" heroin
trafficking gang and were sentenced to death in 2006, with their executions
carried out on the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan after midnight
Tuesday (1700 GMT), local reports said.
Chan and Sukumaran were the 1st Australians to be executed since December 2005,
when 25-year-old Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged in Singapore for smuggling heroin.
Australia's parliamentary secretary to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Steven
Ciobo, said on Twitter that "there are few greater displays of abuse of State
power and regressive thinking than the death penalty. #RIP", apparently in
reference to the reported executions.
Meanwhile one of the Indonesian lawyers representing the two Australians
lamented his "failure" to hold back the firing squad.
Todung Mulya Lubis said he was "sorry" on the social media site. "I failed. I
lost," he added.
Opposition Labor Party leader Bill Shorten and shadow foreign minister Tanya
Plibersek called for a "strong response" from the Australian government in a
joint statement.
"As a close friend and neighbour of Indonesia, Australia is deeply hurt that
our pleas for mercy were ignored," the statement said.
"It was completely unacceptable for Indonesia to proceed as it did when
critical legal processes were yet to run their course, raising serious
questions about Indonesia's commitment to the rule of law."
Before the executions, Bishop told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
there would be "consequences" if the shootings were carried out, but did not
provide any further details.
Rights group Amnesty International described the reported killings as "cruel,
senseless and abhorrent".
"We stand in solidarity with the families of all those who were brutally
executed in this senseless, tragic and wasteful act of state-sanctioned
murder," Amnesty International's crisis campaigner Diana Sayed said in a
statement.
"Despite promising steps away from the death penalty prior to 2013 and 4 years
without any executions, Indonesia's resumption of this cruel and inhuman
punishment has put them well out of step with the rest of the world."
Amnesty called on the Australian government to continue speaking out against
the death penalty.
(source: ndtv.com)
*****************
Former Page MP urges Australians to join campaign against the death penalty
Former Page MP Janelle Saffin says the execution of 8 death-row prisoners in
Indonesia, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, was cruel
and inhumane.
Ms Saffin is a supporter of the Anti-Death Penalty Asian Network.
She said the executions were a waste of human life and should never have gone
ahead.
"It's been carried out under the direct authority of President Joko Widodo, and
there are serious allegations of corruption in their sentences," Ms Saffin
said.
"There's still an appeal to the Constitutional Court being heard on May the
12th.
"Those 2 things alone should have caused a stay.
"I just can't begin to even fathom the grief of their families.
"But we can't have their deaths (be) in vain, and I ask all people to join the
campaign.
"Campaign for the abolition of the death penalty in our region and elsewhere."
(source: ABC news)
******************
Indonesia's execution of Bali Nine pair demands strong reaction, Labor says
Politicians of all sides unite to condemn killing of Andrew Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran, as Australian government ponders diplomatic response
Australia must respond strongly to Indonesia's execution of 2 citizens, the
Labor opposition said, as MPs from all sides of politics expressed their anger
at the "cruel and devastating loss".
Australia's foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, was due to address the
media on Wednesday morning but said on the eve of the execution of Myuran
Sukumaran and Andrew Chan that "of course there will be have to be
consequences".
One option is for Australia to recall its ambassador to Indonesia. There is
also uncertainty over a long-planned trip to Indonesia by the agriculture
minister, Barnaby Joyce, which is likely to be delayed.
Steven Ciobo, the parliamentary secretary to Bishop, expressed his outrage
after confirmation that Indonesia had killed by firing squad eight people for
drug offences, including Chan and Sukumuran, who were the subject of a long
campaign for clemency.
"There are few greater displays of abuse of state power and regressive thinking
than the death penalty," Ciobo said after the Indonesian government carried out
the executions early on Wednesday.
The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, and the deputy leader, Tanya Plibersek,
condemned the executions "in the strongest possible terms".
"Our best hopes have been dashed and our worst fears realised," they said in a
joint statement. "Indonesia has not just robbed 2 young men of their lives but
robbed itself of two examples of the strengths of its justice system."
This was a reference to the widely accepted accounts of Chan and Sukumaran's
rehabilitation in prison after they were convicted over the 2005 Bali 9 heroin
smuggling plot.
"A decade ago, these 2 young men made a dreadful mistake," Shorten and
Plibersek said.
"By all accounts they spent every minute since seeking to mend their ways and
to steer others on the road to redemption - proof the justice system could
reform wrongdoers, not just punish wrongdoing. Yet today, they were made to pay
for one stupid decision of 10 years ago with their lives."
Shorten and Plibersek said the executions significantly weakened Indonesia's
ability to plead mercy for its own citizens facing execution around the world.
They said Australia was "deeply hurt" its pleas for mercy were ignored and
described it as "completely unacceptable for Indonesia to proceed as it did
when critical legal processes were yet to run their course, raising serious
questions about Indonesia's commitment to the rule of law".
"Indonesia's actions demand a strong response from the Australian government,"
Shorten and Plibersek said. Milne said Chan and Sukumaran would be remembered
"for overcoming their past to live meaningful lives, even from prison, not just
for the way they died".
"Their actions over the past 10 years were testament to their remorse, and have
given many of their fellow prisoners an opportunity to live better lives. It is
a tragedy Andrew and Myuran were denied their own second chance," she said.
"Capital punishment must be abolished wherever in the world it is still carried
out. We in Australia must continue to advocate for an end to capital punishment
and promote human rights around the world, especially in our region."
Many Australian politicians took to Twitter to voice their outrage and sadness.
The New South Wales premier, Mike Baird, said it was a "cruel and devastating
loss".
Western Sydney-based Liberal MP Fiona Scott described the executions as murder.
"The death penalty is barbaric and inhumane torture. Murder is murder," she
said.
Labor MP Andrew Giles said the "unbearably sad" news should serve as further
motivation to end the death penalty.
The Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said it was "a tragic loss of life on a
very sad day", while his colleague, Tony Burke, said: "Lives lost. Nothing
gained."
Labor MP Melissa Parke voiced "terrible sadness for these 2 brave dignified
young men, their families, friends and lawyers who fought so hard".
(source: The Guardian)
*******************
Bali 9: Australia's clemency pleas weakened by fickleness on death penalty ----
Lawyer for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran says Australia applauded the death
penalty for Bali bombers so credibility 'a little tarnished'
Australia's credibility in arguing for clemency for Andrew Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran was tarnished by the federal government's inconsistency about the
death penalty, says a lawyer for the 2 men.
Peter Morrissey SC, who worked pro bono on Chan and Sukumaran's case for
several years, told ABC radio on Wednesday that Australia took the "very moral
high ground", but our foreign policy on capital punishment was resented in
Indonesia.
"Our credibility was a little tarnished there ... We were rather applauding the
death penalty when it came to the Bali bombers," he said.
"That fact caused a lot of resentment. We need to be very consistent about it
[and] that may have affected our credibility within Indonesia on this
occasion."
When 2 of the Bali bombers were condemned to death in 2003, both the government
and the opposition supported it or did not speak out strongly against it.
"Some people say that I should be thumping the table and saying, 'Don't
execute,'" John Howard, the then prime minister, said at the time. "I'm not
going to do that because I do respect the judicial processes of Indonesia."
Chan and Sukumaran were executed along with 6 other men - including 4
Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian - on Tuesday night. Mary Jane Veloso,
a Filipina, was given a last-minute stay of execution shortly before the men
were shot.
Gillian Triggs, president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, said she
executions were "tragic" and that she hoped they could be used to press the
case for an abolition of the death penalty across Asia.
"Our concerns as a human rights commission is that the executions breach
international law," Triggs told Guardian Australia.
"I feel the prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, and all government
officials, really pulled out the stops to prevent it, they did all they could
do in the circumstances, and I was pleased it was a bipartisan effort with
Tanya Plibersek [Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman] given the difficult
political environment of the last few months.
"My personal view is that anger is never very helpful, revenge isn't helpful.
We should take this opportunity in a positive way to reach consensus among
Asian nations that we should never do this again. We will certainly be working
with groups in Indonesia and Malaysia so that we can come together for a
unified view on capital punishment." ---- John Howard
The then prime minister John Howard gives his opinion on the verdict handed
down to Bali bombing suspect Amrozi bin Nurhasyam who was sentenced to death.
He accepted the Indonesian court's decision.
In a joint statement, the Chan and Sukumaran families said the duo "asked for
mercy, but there was none. They were immensely grateful for all the support
they received. We too, will be forever grateful."
Dharminie Mani, Sukumaran's cousin, posted on Facebook that he told her during
the final family visit that he was going to miss seeing the new Avengers film
as well as the boxing fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
"My mum and aunt had silent tears streaming down their faces as Myu smiled and
joked trying to cheer them up. But that's who Myu is. He is that friend that
places himself last in order to support those around him.
"I saw smiles so wide and humbling on the faces of other prisoners when Myu
tasked me with the job of handing out his chocolates and nut bars that he "no
longer needed". Myu spent both today and yesterday trying to take care of other
people. Trying to organise everything so that others would be taken care of.
That's Myu through and through."
The Mercy Campaign, which has called for Chan and Sukumaran to be spared after
they were among 9 Australians arrested in Bali in 2005 for smuggling drugs,
also expressed its "devastation" at the execution of the men. The campaign
gathered more than 250,000 signatures urging clemency.
"We are still trying to process it," said Brigid Delaney, co-founder of the
Mercy Campaign and features editor at Guardian Australia. "We are devastated we
lost, but we are thankful that it may make it easier for the next lot because
there was such a fight from so many people. Maybe it will make it harder to
execute the next batch of people.
"The Mercy Campaign is essentially 2 people but we felt that we were an army of
many hundreds of thousands. We've been overwhelmed by the support of people
we'll never meet but have been very present in the campaign."
Anger at the executions has surfaced outside Australia, with Amnesty
International condemning what it called a "wasteful act of state-sanctioned
murder".
The British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson said he was "shattered and
disappointed" by the deaths of the 8 men.
"It's a devastating blow to all of us who hoped that mercy and common sense
would prevail," the Virgin boss said. "Instead, tonight's killings will have a
significant negative impact on Indonesia's standing in the world.
"To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: 'The only difference between saints and sinners is
that every saint has a past while every sinner (should have) a future.'
Everyone deserves a 2nd chance. Let's do away with the death penalty once and
for all."
The Brazilian government condemned the execution of Rodrigo Gularte, who has
twice been diagnosed with schizophrenia and died alongside Chan and Sukumaran.
In a letter sent on Monday to the government in Jakarta, the Brazilian foreign
ministry declared the death sentence "unacceptable" and "contrary to the common
sense and basic standards of human rights protection".
But there was joy in the Philippines at Veloso's reprieve, which may be
temporary. Her mother, Celia, told local radio station DZMM: "We are so happy,
I can't believe it. I can't believe my child will live."
Australia has recalled its ambassador from Jakarta in protest against the
executions. Professor Damien Kingsbury, of Deakin University, predicted the
removal of the ambassador may last for "a month or 2".
"But really Australia can't afford in the longer term to break off relations or
to have a blockage in relations with Indonesia," he told the ABC.
"Indonesia is a big, important country. It is there, it's not going away, and
we are going to have to make some compromises on how we deal with it."
(source: The Guardian)
NEW ZEALAND:
NZ condemns use of the death penalty
Foreign Minister Murray McCully says New Zealand is dismayed by Indonesia's
decision to carry out the execution of members of the 'Bali 9' and other
prisoners.
"New Zealand is strongly opposed to the death penalty in all cases, and under
all circumstances," Mr McCully says.
"We have expressed our opposition to the death penalty to Indonesia and I made
this clear when I met with the Indonesian Foreign Minister recently.
"While we respect Indonesia's right to set and apply its own laws, and
understand the immense harm the country suffers from drug trafficking, we are
dismayed that these executions have proceeded in the face of continued appeals
from some of Indonesia's closest friends.
"In recent years Indonesia has won considerable respect for consolidating
democratic institutions and improving human rights. The executions are a
serious setback to that progress," Mr McCully says.
(source: scoop.co.nz)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA:
Papua New Guinea's Catholic archbishop reiterates opposition to death
What impact will the Indonesia's execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran
have on its neighbour, Papua New Guinea, and its plans to reinstate carrying
out the death penalty? Capital punishment has not been carried out in PNG for
more than 50 years, but was re-enacted 2 years ago when the law was amended to
include more offences.
Since then, 13 people have been waiting on death row, but lack of
infrastructure has meant there has been no method to enact the capital
punishment.
The Catholic archbishop of Port Moresby, John Ribat, says this week's
executions in Indonesia underline why Papua New Guinea should not go ahead with
reactivating the death penalty.
Archbishop Ribat says the church has a very clear position opposing the death
penalty.
(source: Radio Australia)
BANGLADESH:
Mojaheed verdict: SC starts hearing on appeal
The Supreme Court today started hearing the appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami
leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed challenging his death sentence for his
crimes against humanity committed during the country's Liberation War in 1971.
A 4-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra
Kumar Sinha began hearing around 9:45am.
SM Shahjahan, a counsel for the convicted Jamaat leader, was reading out the
paperbook of the appeal before the apex court around 10:25am when the report
was filed.
Jamaat secretary general Mojaheed Mojaheed filed his appeal with the SC on
August 11, 2013 against the death penalty awarded to him for wartime offences.
However, the state counsels did not appeal over the Mojaheed's verdict in the
war crimes case.
On July 17 in 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 found the 65-year-old
Jamaat leader guilty of 5 out of 7 charges brought against him.
The tribunal sentenced him to death in connection with 3 charges, jailed him
for life in 1 and sentenced him to 5 years in prison in another charge.
According to the verdict, Mojaheed had led a "death squad" named Al-Badr that
worked as an auxiliary force for the Pakistani army.
He had held superior responsibility in abetting, planning and facilitating the
mass killings of the "best sons and daughters of the soil".
In 1971, Mojaheed was a top leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student
wing of Jamaat. Chhatra Sangha turned into Al-Badr, an armed outfit.
Mojaheed was made a technocrat minister during the BNP-Jamaat-led 4-party
alliance rule in 2001-2006.
(source: The Daily Star)
ASIA:
Decision to execute foreigners sets Indonesia apart
While there are foreigners languishing on death row across Asia, where several
countries impose the death penalty for drugs offences, it is rare for
authorities to execute them.
Indonesia's decision to put 8 foreigners to death for drugs offences, all of
whom are expected to face the firing squad imminently, has sparked
international outrage.
Jakarta has sharply increased executions in the past 2 years, with President
Joko Widodo a vocal supporter of executing drug traffickers, and Amnesty
International (AI) says it is bucking a global trend of fewer death sentences
being carried out.
According to international human rights law, the death penalty should only be
applied for the most serious crimes, such as murder, but that is far from the
case in Asia.
Here are several countries and territories in the region that impose the death
penalty for drugs offences:
Afghanistan
The world's top producer of opiate drugs, Afghanistan rarely carries out
executions for drug-related offenses. Law enforcement remains weak in the
war-torn country, despite a multi-billion-dollar US-led campaign to crack down
on booming opium production.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh does not release figures for the number of people sentenced to death
or the number of executions carried out but hundreds are believed to be on
death row, including at least half a dozen opposition figures for committing
atrocities during the country???s 1971 war of independence.
Brunei
Brunei mandates death for drug trafficking but is not known to have carried out
executions for any type of crime over the past decade, according to AI, and
effectively has an unofficial moratorium in place.
China
China has the highest number of executions in the world, according to AI,
although the number is kept a secret. It imposes the death penalty for drug
traffickers and executes people by firing squad or lethal injection.
India
Some 278 people were on death row at the end of 2014, according to India???s
Death Penalty Research Project. India carried out 2 hangings in 2012 and 2013,
breaking an 8-year unofficial moratorium. Indian courts hand down death
sentences in "rarest of rare" cases. A landmark judgement by India's top court
in 2014 commuted the death sentences of 15 convicts to life imprisonment,
noting the inordinate delay in deciding their mercy pleas.
Indonesia
Around 140 convicts are on death row in Indonesia, including about 60 for drugs
crimes. Around 30 death row drug convicts are foreigners. The group facing
imminent execution is made up of 8 foreigners and 1 Indonesian, as Jakarta
seeks to demonstrate it is serious about tackling drug offences.
Widodo, who took office in October and has taken a tough line against drug
traffickers, has rejected all clemency appeals for those sentenced to death on
drugs charges.
Indonesia imposed a moratorium on executions between 2009 and 2012, but then
resumed them in 2013. No one was executed in 2014.
However Widodo seems determined to dramatically increase the pace of
executions. Jakarta has already conducted one batch this year, putting 6 drug
convicts, including 5 foreigners, to death in January.
Malaysia
More than 900 convicts are on death row in Malaysia, according to the
government, which does not publicly give out information about executions,
although they are believed to be rare. Drug offences are believed to account
for more than 70% of death-penalty convictions in the country, according to AI.
Pakistan
Pakistan ended a 6-year moratorium on the death penalty in December 2014 as
part of a crackdown on militants following a Taliban massacre at a school that
left more than 150 people dead, most of them children. Since then nearly 100
convicts have gone to the gallows. Initially only those convicted of
terror-related offences were hanged, but this was then widened to include all
capital crimes. During the moratorium, courts continued to give out death
sentences, and according to AI there are around 8,000 prisoners on death row in
Pakistan. Capital crimes include murder, terrorism, drug trafficking, treason
and certain types of blasphemy.
Singapore
After a moratorium on the death penalty in 2012 and 2013, 2 drug convicts were
executed in 2014, according to the latest available official data. 23 people
are currently on death row in the city-state, according to the government.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's courts routinely hand down death sentence to those convicted of
crimes such as murder, rape and drug smuggling but the country has not carried
out an execution since 1976, with an unofficial moratorium effectively in
place. There are some 300 condemned prisoners who have exhausted all appeals
and are on death row. Sri Lankan authorities have from time to time threatened
to restore executions, previously carried out by hanging.
(source: Sri Lanka Sunday Times)
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