INDONESIA INSISTS EXECUTIONS INTENDED TO END DRUG CRIMES by Fardah

  Jakarta, Feb 17, 2015 (Antara) - As Indonesian authorities prepare to carry out the second phase of executions of drug offenders, a number of countries and the UN have urged the country to stop further executions.

         Indonesia plans to execute 11 convicts on death row, including nine drug convicts, two of whom are Australian nationals, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

         The two Australians are part of Bali Nine, a group of drug traffickers who were nabbed on April 17, 2005, in Bali while they were trying to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin to Australia.

         According to a Reuters report, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to Indonesia not to execute any drug convict on death row, including the citizens of Australia, Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

       UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ban spoke with Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Feb. 13, 2015, "to express his concern over the recent execution of capital punishment in Indonesia."
    "The United Nations opposes the death penalty under all circumstances," Dujarric noted in a statement on Feb. 14.

         A UN human rights official has also urged Indonesia not to follow through with the next executions.

         "I urge the Government of Indonesia to establish a moratorium on execution with a view to completely abolish it and comply with the international move towards the abolition of the death penalty," UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Christof Heyns was quoted as saying by UN News Center on Feb. 14.

         He urged a halt to any further execution of prisoners convicted of drug offences. Indonesia executed six prisoners in January.

         "Under international law, the death penalty is regarded as an extreme form of punishment which, if used at all, should only be imposed for the most serious crimes, that is, those involving intentional killing, and only after a fair trial, among other safeguards," Heyns stressed.

         He remarked the International Covenant provided that anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.

         "I regret that the authorities continue to execute people in violation of international human rights standards," Heyns added.

         Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on situations in a country or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

         Australia, whose two citizens are facing execution, has also appealed Indonesia to show mercy or face serious repercussions.

         Reuters reported that Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned Indonesia of possible diplomatic fallout if Jakarta goes ahead with the executions.

         "We will find ways to make our displeasure felt," Abbott told Australia's Channel Ten on Feb. 15.

         Earlier, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julia Bishop told parliament that Indonesia should grant Chan and Sukumaran the same treatment it seeks for its own nationals facing the death penalty abroad.

         "We urge the Indonesian government to show the same mercy...that it seeks for its citizens in similar situations abroad," she stated.

         Australians may reconsider their travel plans to Indonesia if the two Australian drug couriers currently on death row are executed by a firing squad, Bishop warned.

         A boycott campaign has been building on social media, where Australians have been using the Twitter hashtag #BoycottBali to announce the cancellation of their holiday plans.

         Earlier this month, Indonesian Attorney General HM Prasetyo said that Chan and Sukumaran would be included in the next group of prisoners to be put to death.

         In January, Indonesia executed convicts from Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil, the Netherlands, and one of its own citizens. The executions prompted Brazil and the Netherlands to recall their ambassadors in protest.

         Australian authorities have threatened to do the same if Chan and Sukumaran are put to death.

         In response to the foreign leaders' appeals, Minister Retno Marsudi said Indonesia will remain consistent in its fight against drug crimes.

         She told the media that the execution policy is not against any country or nationals of a certain country but against an extraordinary crime.

         "I believe that the Indonesian policy is not against any country but against drug crimes," Retno Marsudi emphasized recently.

         Drug crimes in Indonesia have been increasing at an alarming rate and the country no longer remains just a transit country, but has become a drug trafficking destination, she remarked.

         Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs AM Fachir observed that he believed Australians will show maturity while reacting to the death penalty of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

         "I believe the Australian people are grown-up to react responsibly. Moreover, I saw a survey result that showed how mature they are," he stated.

         Fachir referred to a polling that was organized by Roy Morgan earlier in January. According to it, 52 percent Australians agreed that drug traffickers convicted in another country and sentenced to death should be executed.

         Commenting on possible tourists' boycotts, Fachir described it as overreacting.

         "I think it is rather too much. Those who want to travel to Indonesia are (Australian) tourists not the government," he noted.

         Fachri also emphasized that the death penalty must be seen from a legal perspective and it was part of Indonesia's positive laws.

         "There is no international law that bans us from following that," he added.

         On Feb. 11, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) appealed to Indonesian Muslims to support the fight against drugs-related crimes in the country, including the imposition of the death penalty on major drug offenders.

         "We have declared a war against illicit drugs. We hope all Muslims will support this effort," President Jokowi stated during the closing of the Sixth Congress of Indonesian Muslims.

         Narcotic drugs kill thousands of young people annually and it has to be stopped, he added.

         "Some 40-50 people die in vain every day, or 18 thousand people annually," he stated.

         "At least 4.5 million drug addicts need to be rehabilitated, and 1.2 million others can no longer be rehabilitated. Should we let this happen?" he stressed.

         Reacting to the international pressure, an international law professor from state Indonesia University, Hikmahanto Juwana, pointed out in a written statement on Feb. 15, "Ban Ki-moon's demand is regrettable because it shows that he is inclined to intervene and defend advanced countries in the UN."
    Hikmahanto questioned Ban Ki-moon's stance and asked if he was in favor of advanced countries. Where was Ban Ki-moon when Indonesian citizen Ruwiyati was executed in Saudi Arabia, he asked.

         "Was it because Ruwiyati was an Indonesian citizen and Indonesia was not an advanced country that Ban Ki-moon remained silent then," he added.

         Hikmahanto also asked whether Ban Ki-moon knew that a lot of people had died in Indonesia due to drug addiction. He accused Ban Ki-moon of showing empathy to perpetrators instead of the victims of drug addiction.

         The professor said it was worth questioning if Ban Ki-moon's statement was not tendentious and degrading the dignity and sovereignty of Indonesia or whether he spoke under pressure from the Australian government.

         "Isn't Ban Ki-moon aware that his statements are being used by a country to pressurize another country," he remarked.

         An NGO based in Indonesia, the National Movement of Anti-Narcotics (Ganas Annar), considers UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as biased against Indonesia's plan to execute drug offenders.

         "We deeply regret Ban Ki-moon's statement urging the Indonesian government to cancel the execution of the two Australians who were involved in drug trafficking," Chairman of the Ganas Annar Central Committee stated on Feb. 16.

         He claimed that the UN Secretary-General has not been neutral since he maintained silence when Indonesians citizens were executed overseas. On the contrary, when Indonesia planned to execute drug offenders, he called for cancellations, he pointed out.

         The UN top man should know that thousands of young men have died of drug addiction, he emphasized.

         "Therefore, we urge President Joko Widodo not to back down. We must not allow foreigners to dictate us," he affirmed.

         Drug offenders deserve the death penalty as they have indirectly killed other people, he noted. ***2***
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