Amnesty International: Executions will put Jokowi on the wrong side of history

Although we’ve known for quite some time that more executions were coming after the Idul Fitri holiday, the government still attempted to keep protests and last-minute appeals for mercy (“soap opera” drama as Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan referred to it) at a minimum by keeping the date of the next round of executions a secret until they were legally required to reveal them yesterday.

Now that we know that 14 people will be facing the Indonesian Government’s firing squad this Friday, activists are doing everything they can to persuade President Joko Widodo to show mercy and grant clemency to those he has the power to save – exposing the serious flaws in the legal handling of their cases and highlighting the disadvantaged backgrounds of some, such as Indonesian Merri Utami, who activists argue was targeted and exploited by a powerful drug syndicate in the same way many poor women are.

International human rights defenders Amnesty International was among the many activist organizations that has denounced this latest round of executions, framing their appeal to the president in terms of his legacy.

“President Widodo’s era was supposed to represent a new start for human rights in Indonesia. Sadly, he could preside over the highest number of executions in the country’s democratic era at a time when most of the world has turned its back on this cruel practice,” said Josef Benedict, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for South East Asia and the Pacific, in a statement on the organization’s website.

“There is no evidence to support President Widodo’s position. The death penalty does not deter crime. Carrying out executions will not rid Indonesia of drugs. It is never the solution, and it will damage Indonesia’s standing in the world,” Benedict continued.

Amnesty also highlighted the case of death row inmate Zulfiqar Ali, a Pakistani national and textile worker, who claims he he was tortured into confessing and had his basic legal rights denied on several occasions.

“As the case of Zulfiqar Ali shows, international law has been repeatedly violated in death penalty cases, from the time of arrest, throughout the trial, and at appeal stage. Regardless of what we think of the death penalty, no one must have their life decided on the basis of such flawed proceedings,” Benedict said.

“The international community should be alarmed by the revival of executions, and other countries should speak up for those facing the death penalty in Indonesia.”



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