Indonesia announces moratorium on death penalty amid the current economic slowdown

Jakarta Post
The nation priorities on fixing its weak economy
The government has suspended executions of convicts on death row amid the current economic slowdown, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Panjaitan said on Thursday.

Mourners at the funeral in May of Myuran Sukumaran, who was convicted
in Indonesia of drug trafficking and executed. Photo: James Brickwood

He said the government was focusing onimproving economic growth, which accelerated at a slow pace of 4.73 percent in the third quarter of this year.

“We are not thinking about carrying out death sentences as long as our economy is still like this,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

Luhut said the issue of the death penalty in Indonesia was raised when he met with Australian government representatives in Sydney earlier this week.

Australia had promised not to interfere in Indonesia’s stance on the death penalty, he added.

“I have told them that we [Indonesia] are concentrating on the economy. We will have further discussions if something comes up,” he said.

Foreign countries and human rights groups have slammed Indonesia for implementing the death sentence against convicts, as stipulated in the Criminal Code (KUHP).

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration executed two groups of death row convicts, totaling 14 people, in January and April.

Two of the convicts were Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were executed in April, causing tension between the two countries and leading to Australia recalling its ambassador from Indonesia.

Jakarta-based human rights group the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) said it appreciated the move and urged the government to grant clemency for people on death row so their fate would be clear.

“Clemency for convicts on death row would prevent them having the death row phenomenon that often happens during a postponement of [carrying out] death sentences, which is usually evident in a mentally disturbed state,” ICJR senior researcher Anggara said on Thursday.

He also said a moratorium on the death penalty must be followed by real action, such as the Attorney General’s Office refraining from demanding the death penalty for defendants. (rin)

Pakistan death penalty: appeal of the church for moratorium

MISNA               

[Di seguito traduzione in Italiano]

The Catholic Church called on the Pakistani government to reinstate its moratorium on the death penalty a day after eight more convicts were executed in Punjab province.

“The Catholic Church values human sanctity and believes nobody should have the right to take life (…) We strongly oppose capital punishment, especially so since the legal system in Pakistan is flawed", said Cecil Chaudhry, executive director of National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), the Pakistan Church’s human rights body, deploring the execution of Aftab Bahadur Masih, a Christian death row inmate who was hanged just before the start of Ramadan last month despite serious doubts about his age. Masih's family says he was just 15 when he was alleged to have committed murder.

The appeal of the Church to halt executions comes after a similar call made by the United Nations shortly before the eight convicts were put to death on July 29.

The UN also called for Pakistan to commute without delay the sentences of those awaiting execution. “The death penalty is an extreme form of punishment and, if used at all, should only be imposed for the most serious crimes, after a fair trial that respects the most stringent due process guarantees as stipulated in international human rights law”, said Christof Heyns, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

Heyns also drew attention to the case of Shafqat Hussain, whose trial fell short of international standards, according to the UN rapporteur. Convicted for a crime reportedly committed as a child, Hussain is scheduled to be executed on August 4.

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Pakistan - Pena di morte: Appello della Chiesa per la moratoria

La Chiesa cattolica ha chiesto al governo del Pakistan di ripristinare la moratoria sulla pena di morte dopo che ieri altri otto detenuti sono stati giustiziati nella provincia del Punjab.

“La Chiesa cattolica apprezza la santità dell'uomo e crede che nessuno dovrebbe avere il diritto di togliere la vita. (…) Ci opponiamo con forza alla pena capitale, specialmente perché, al momento, il sistema giuridico in Pakistan è imperfetto", ha detto Cecil Chaudhry, direttore esecutivo della Commissione nazionale di pace e giustizia (Ncjp) della Chiesa in Pakistan, deplorando l'esecuzione di Aftab Bahadur Masih, un cristiano condannato a morte che è stato impiccato il mese scorso poco prima dell'inizio del Ramadan nonostante seri dubbi sulla sua età. La famiglia del condannato, Masih, ha sempre sostenuto che aveva solo 15 anni quando fu accusato di aver commesso un omicidio.

L’appello della Chiesa per fermare le esecuzioni ha fatto eco a un simile appello rivolto dalle Nazioni Unite poco prima che gli otto detenuti fossero messi a morte. Allo stesso tempo, l'Onu ha chiesto al governo pachistano di commutare senza indugio le sentenze di quelli in attesa di esecuzione. "La pena di morte è una forma estrema di punizione e, se utilizzata, dovrebbe essere solo per i crimini più gravi, dopo un giusto processo che rispetti le severe garanzie richieste dal diritto internazionale dei diritti umani" ha dichiarato Christof Heyns, relatore speciale delle Nazioni Unite sulle esecuzioni extragiudiziali, sommarie o arbitrarie.

Heyns ha anche richiamato l'attenzione sul caso di Shafqat Hussain, il cui processo, dice, non ha rispettato le norme internazionali. Shafqat è condannato per un crimine commesso quando era minorenne e dovrebbe essere giustiziato il 4 agosto.

USA - Pennsylvania Newly elected governor Tom Wolf imposes moratorium on death penalty

Associated Press
Harrisburg, Pa. - Newly elected Gov. Tom Wolf imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in the state on Friday, calling the current system of capital punishment ``error prone, expensive and anything but infallible.''

Gov. Tom Wolf

The Democrat said the moratorium will remain in effect at least until he receives a report from a legislative commission that has been studying the topic for about four years.

Wolf announced the policy less than a month after taking office, fulfilling a campaign promise.

``I want to give this joint bipartisan commission on the death penalty the ability to come up with their report,'' Wolf told reporters at a public appearance in Harrisburgon Friday evening. ``Is it cost effective? Are we doing the right thing? Is it fair? Is it effective as a deterrent?''

Pennsylvania has executed only three people since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976. All three had voluntarily given up their appeals.

Law enforcement groups and Republican lawmakers responded quickly and forcefully with criticism of the move.

The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association said Wolf had no authority to impose the moratorium and called it a misuse of the concept of a reprieve.

``He has rejected the decisions of juries that wrestled with the facts and the law before unanimously imposing the death penalty, disregarded a long line of decisions made by Pennsylvania and federal judges, ignored the will of the Legislature, and ultimately turned his back on the silenced victims of cold-blooded killers,'' the association said.

A legal challenge in response was likely, an association spokeswoman said.

The president of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association called the decision a sad day and said the governor's actions prevent the state from securing the death penalty for Eric Frein if Frein is convicted in last year's ambush killing of state police Cpl. Bryon Dickson and wounding of another trooper.

But Pike County District Attorney Raymond Tonkin said Wolf's moratorium isn't ``any legal impediment'' to the state's plans to pursue a conviction and death sentence for Frein in Dickson's death. Tonkin said in a statement that Wolf doesn't have the legal authority to unilaterally impose a moratorium. The governor ``usurped the authority of the legislature and courts in setting the lawful punishment for convicted killers,'' Tonkin said.

``This action will not deter my efforts, nor the efforts of prosecutors across this State, to bring accused killers to justice,'' Tonkin said.

A spokesman for Wolf responded that the governor has sympathy for Dickson's family and keeps in his thoughts the other trooper, Alex Douglass, who was badly wounded that day. Asked about the troopers' criticism, Wolf said what Frein is accused of ``is heinous. ... He deserves the worst possible punishment.''

Frein has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.

In a memorandum announcing the policy, Wolf said data suggests that defendants might be more likely to be charged with capital murder and sentenced to death if they are poor or a racial minority and the victim is white.

``If the commonwealth of Pennsylvania is going to take the irrevocable step of executing a human being, its capital sentencing system must be infallible,'' Wolf wrote. ``Pennsylvania's system is riddled with flaws, making it error prone, expensive and anything but infallible.''

Wolf said he is granting a temporary reprieve to Terrence Williams, scheduled for execution March 4 for killing two men. Williams admitted killing them while in his teens but now says both men had been sexually abusing him.

Pennsylvania's death row, which has been shrinking, houses 183 men and three women. The most recent execution was Gary Heidnik in 1999, convicted of killing two women he had imprisoned in his Philadelphia home.

The reasons for the state's lack of executions have long been debated inPennsylvania legal circles. Some have attributed it to death penalty opposition among judges on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or to aggressive tactics by lawyers who defend people facing execution.

Others say the number of stayed or overturned death sentences demonstrates there are flaws in how those cases are handled, particularly when it comes to providing adequate representation at trial.

The Department of Corrections, as in other states, has had difficulty obtaining the three-drug cocktail it would use for any execution.

By Mark Scolforo

Pakistan restore death penalty moratorium - Planned Execution a Cruel Step Backward

Human Rights Watch
New York – The Pakistani government should immediately halt a planned execution and officially reinstate its moratorium on the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said today. The execution of Shoaib Sarwar, scheduled for September 18, 2014, will end Pakistan’s unofficial six-year death penalty moratorium by civilian courts and return Pakistan to the dwindling ranks of countries imposing capital punishment.

The Jail Department scheduled Sarwar’s execution following President Mamnoon Hussain’s rejection of Sarwar’s clemency plea. The execution would be the first of a civilian in Pakistan since 2008. Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, one of the world’s largest populations of prisoners facing execution.

“Pakistan is about to revert to the odious practice of sending people to the gallows after a six-year unofficial moratorium,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The government should declare an official moratorium, commute all existing death sentences, and then join the international trend by abolishing the death penalty once and for all.”

The Rawalpindi District and Sessions Court sentenced Sarwar to death on July 2, 1998 for murder. The Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench rejected Sarwar’s appeal on July 2, 2003. On April 3, 2006, the Pakistani Supreme Court confirmed the sentence.

The Pakistani government’s move toward resuming the death penalty began on July 4, 2013, when the government of the newly elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, refused to renew a 2008 Presidential Order imposing a moratorium on executions. Pakistani law mandates capital punishment for 28 offenses, including murder, rape, treason, and blasphemy.

In June 2008, Human Rights Watch had written to then-Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, and met with him the following month urging action to abolish the death penalty and impose a moratorium pending abolition. Soon after the military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was ousted from the presidency in August 2008, the government imposed a de facto moratorium on judicial executions. The only exception was executions carried out by a military court.

During military rule, Pakistan each year executed among the highest number of people of any country. In 2005, for example, according to Amnesty International, Pakistan sentenced more than 241 people to death and executed at least 31, the fifth-highest total in the world.

Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. A majority of countries have abolished the practice. On December 18, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution by a wide margin calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.

The government’s decision to end its unofficial moratorium on the use of the death penalty occurs in the wake of the government’s approval on July 8, 2014, of an overly broad and draconian counterterrorism law, the Protection of Pakistan Bill.

“Shoaib Sarwar’s execution would undo one of the Pakistani government’s most tangible human rights successes,” Adams said. “With such vague and overly broad criminal laws on the books, it could open the door to irreversible miscarriages of justice.”

UN chief reaffirms call for moratorium on death penalty

UN News Centre

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated his call for a global moratorium on applying the death penalty, stressing the United Nations’ long history of opposing the practice and the growing momentum among the international community to permanently end it.

“A global moratorium is a crucial stepping stone towards full worldwide abolition,” Mr. Ban said in a message delivered by the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang.

“Capital punishment is inconsistent with the mission of the United Nations to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person,” Ms. Kang read, during an event at the Human Rights Council in Geneva organized by the International Commission against the Death Penalty, an independent body opposed to capital punishment.

The UN General Assembly first voted on a moratorium in 2007, and again in December 2012 with the support of 111 countries, 41 against and 34 abstentions. The resolution called for a progressive restriction on the use of capital punishment and eliminating it entirely for felons below the age of 18 and pregnant women.

Although not legally binding, the UN moratorium on executions carries moral and political weight.

“The United Nations system has long advocated the abolition of the death penalty. International and hybrid tribunals supported by the UN do not provide for capital punishment, nor does the International Criminal Court,” Mr. Ban’s message noted.

Approximately150 countries have either abolished the death penalty or do not practice it, but Mr. Ban noted that some recently reinstated the practice.

Thousands of people are executed each year, “often in violation of international standards, such as the right to fair trial and due process,” Mr. Ban said.

He added that the death penalty is still used for a wide range of crimes that do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” and based on information that is not transparent.

In addition, sometimes “wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice” can occur in well-functioning legal systems that sentence and execute persons who have been ultimately proven innocent, Mr. Ban said.