URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE-------------INDIA
5 August 2004
Further Information on UA 206/04 issued 22 June 2004
and follow-up issued 9 July 2004
Death Penalty/Imminent Execution
INDIA : Dhananjoy Chatterjee (m)
The President of India has rejected the mercy petition
which Dhananjoy Chatterjee's family submitted on 24 June.
The state authorities are preparing for his execution, which
will not take place before 26 August. Some Indian human
rights groups are campaigning against the execution but
there has been widespread popular support for the death
penalty in this case.
Chatterjee's execution was scheduled for 25 June, but was
stayed the day before so that the President could consider
the mercy petition. This was the second mercy petition
presented to him in this case; he had rejected an earlier one
in June 1994.
In 1989 an Indian court commuted the death sentence
imposed on one Gyasi Ram to life imprisonment, on the
grounds that he ''had suffered the mental agony of living
under the shadow of death for far too long.'' Gyasi had been
awaiting a decision on a mercy petition for eight years.
According to Indian press reports, in view of the
''inordinate delay'' in the case (Chatterjee has been on death
row for 13 years), his lawyer plans to move a petition in the
Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution, under
which it is possible to petition the Supreme Court for the
enforcement of fundamental rights, such as the right to life.
It is very unusual for such petitions to succeed.
Dhananjoy, a private security guard, was sentenced to death
in August 1991 for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old
schoolgirl in her apartment in Calcutta on 5 March 1990.
The evidence against him was reported to be purely
circumstantial, but the Supreme Court ruled that his guilt
was ''amply evident'', and imposed the death penalty. He
had been due to hang in February 1994, but the execution
was postponed twice, and then simply did not take place,
apparently because of a bureaucratic oversight.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all
cases as a violation of the right to life and the right not to
be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as
proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
and is concerned that prolonged detention of people under
sentence of death may amount to cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment or punishment. A number of
judgements in India and other countries have ruled that
long waiting periods for prisoners facing execution amount
to inhuman or degrading punishment, or are brutalizing to
the human spirit.
The death penalty is an inherently unjust and arbitrary
punishment, however heinous the crime for which it is
inflicted. Studies globally have shown that it is more likely
to be imposed on those who are poorer, less educated and
from marginalized segments of society. The death penalty
is irrevocable, yet the risk of error in its application is
inescapable. Amnesty International recognizes the need to
combat violent crime, but there is no convincing evidence
that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than
other punishments.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to
arrive as quickly as possible:
- expressing regret that the President has rejected the mercy
petition filed on behalf of Dhananjoy Chatterjee;
- expressing unconditional opposition to the death penalty
as a violation of the right to life and the right not to be
subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment, and emphasizing that the death penalty has
never been shown to be a more effective deterrent than
other punishments;
- expressing concern that keeping Chatterjee on death row
for 13 years may amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment, and pointing out that at least one other prisoner
in this position has had his death sentence commuted.
APPEALS TO:
President:
His Excellency A P J Abdul Kalam
Office of the President
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi 110 004
India
Fax: 011 91 11 2301 7290
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 483 3972
Email: [email protected]
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the
Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm,
Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after
September 15, 2004.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: [email protected]
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
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URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE-----INDONESIA
5 August 2004
Further Information on UA 209/04 issued 24 June 2004
and re-issued 12 July 2004
Death penalty/Fear of imminent execution
INDONESIA
Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey (m), aged 65, Indian national
Meirika Franola alias Ola (f), aged 34, Indonesian national
Rani Maharani (f), aged 29, Indonesian national
Dany Maharwan (m), aged 32, Indonesian national
Saelow Prasert (m), aged 62, Thai national
Namsong Sirilak (f), aged 32, Thai national
Samuel Iwuchekwu Okoye (m), aged 34, Nigerian national
Hansen Anthony Nwaolisa (m), aged 37, Nigerian national
Indra Bahadur Tamang (gender unknown), aged 24, Nepali national
Muhammad Abdul Hafez (m), aged 36, Pakistani national
Namaona Denis (gender unknown), aged 39, Malawian national
Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey was executed by firing squad on
5 August at 2.30am, in Medan town, North Sumatra
Province. He had been convicted of drug-trafficking in
1994. His execution was the first to be carried out in
Indonesia since 2001.
The 10 other people named above had their appeals for
presidential clemency rejected in June and July. The
execution of Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey puts them at still
greater risk of imminent execution.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty
unconditionally, regardless of the crime for which it is
imposed, as a violation of the right to life and the right not
to be subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. By resuming executions, Indonesia has moved
against the global trend towards abolishing the death
penalty.
On average, for the past decade three countries have
abolished the death penalty every year, and over 35 have
done so since 1990. They include countries in Africa
(examples include Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritius,
Mozambique, South Africa), the Americas (Canada,
Paraguay), Asia and the Pacific (Bhutan, Hong Kong,
Nepal, Samoa, Turkmenistan) and Europe and the South
Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Poland, Serbia and
Montenegro, Ukraine).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to
arrive as quickly as possible:
- expressing regret at the execution of Ayodhya Prasad
Chaubey, and pointing out that this is a step backwards for
Indonesia, which had not executed anyone since 2001;
- urging President Megawati Sukarnoputri to commute the
death sentences of the 10 others named above;
- expressing your unconditional opposition to the death
penalty as a violation of one of the most fundamental
human rights - the right to life;
- recognizing the Indonesian government's need to address
the trade in and use of illicit drugs, but emphasizing that
there is no convincing evidence to show that the death
penalty deters would-be traffickers more effectively than
other punishments, and appealing to the authorities to find a
more humane solution to this problem.
APPEALS TO:
President:
President Megawati Sukarnoputri
President RI
Istana Merdeka
Jakarta 10110, Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 21 345 2685/ 526 8726 /345 7782
Salutation: Dear President Megawati Sukarnoputri
Attorney General:
Muhammad Abdul Rachman
Jaksa Agung
Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin No.1
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selantan 12130, Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 21 725 0213
Salutation: Dear Attorney General
COPIES TO:
Chairman, National Commission on Human Rights:
Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara
Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia
Jl Latuharhary No. 4B
Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310, Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 21 392 5227
Salutation: Dear Chairman
Ambassador Soemadi Djoko M. Brotodiningrat
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
2020 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20036
Fax: 1 202 775 5365
Email: [email protected]
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the
Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm,
Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after
September 15, 2004.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots
movement that promotes and defends human
rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept
intact, including contact information and stop
action date (if applicable). Thank you for your
help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: [email protected]
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
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