March 1
INDONESIA:
Hundreds of Indonesians Face Death Row, Serious Sentences Abroad
More than 200 Indonesian citizens are currently facing the death penalty or
other heavy sentences overseas, government officials said on Thursday.
They are sitting in jails across Asia, from Malaysia to Iran. According to a
count by the government-sanctioned task force on migrant worker protection,
better known as Satgas TKI, 149 Indonesian citizens are facing serious
sentences in Malaysia, while 37 migrants face similar threats in Saudi Arabia.
14 others are sitting on death row in China, and one each in Brunei, Singapore
and Iran.
The most serious cases lie in Saudi Arabia, where 3 migrant workers — Tuti
Tursilawati, Siti Zaenab and Satina — are each facing "a critical situation,"
task force spokesman Humphrey Djemat said in the statement.
One of those workers, a woman named Tuti from the West Java town of Majalengka,
was sentenced to death after killing her employer during a struggle where he
was allegedly trying to rape her, Humphrey said.
The task force, with the help of former Indonesian president BJ Habibie, have
made appeals for clemency. Tuti's case is currently under review.
"The review is expected to last three months," Humphrey said. "In the meantime,
Satgas TKI and the Embassy of Indonesia in Riyadh are trying to make a peaceful
settlement with the victim's family."
Under Saudi law, a convict can be released from death row if they are pardoned
by the victim's family.
Satgas TKI claims to have helped 49 Indonesians escape death row in the 6
months since the task force was formed. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has
extended the task force's term for another 6 months.
(source: Jakarta Globe)
*********************
Firing squad fear for Australian drug accused
A VICTORIAN man could face the death penalty after allegedly being caught
carrying dozens of drug-filled capsules in his stomach in Bali.
Authorities expect that Ballarat-born Edward Norman Myatt, 54, will be hit with
serious charges after allegedly being caught with the capsules at Denpasar's
Ngurah Rai Airport.
Mr Myatt last night was in custody in the Indonesian city, where a succession
of Australians have ignored warnings about drug smuggling and found themselves
in dire trouble.
Serious drug offenders can face the death penalty by firing squad.
Authorities said Mr Myatt was arrested after landing in Bali on a flight from
the Thai capital of Bangkok.
He was ushered from Tuesday's flight into a secure area for a preliminary
examination before being taken to hospital. A grim-faced Mr Myatt was later led
by investigators to a police station.
Indonesian police sources said he was allegedly carrying a large quantity of
drugs on his body, concealed inside tiny capsules. Mr Myatt is alleged to have
swallowed some of the capsules.
Police were yesterday still waiting for Mr Myatt to pass remaining capsules.
The contents of the capsules are expected to be analysed in coming days. It is
not clear why he had come under the scrutiny that led to police checks.
Mr Myatt had not been charged late last night.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said consular officials
were seeking approval to offer assistance to Mr Myatt.
"Indonesian authorities detained a 54-year-old Victorian man at Denpasar
Airport on 28 February and expect to charge him with drug offences," the
spokeswoman said.
"Consular officials in Bali are seeking access in order to offer consular
assistance to the man."
Mr Myatt is the latest in a long list of Australians picked up on drug
smuggling allegations at Ngurah Rai Airport in recent years.
Among those arrested since 2005 have been the Bali 9, cannabis mule Schapelle
Corby and a NSW teenager charged last year and since released.
Melbourne lawyer Julian McMahon, who represents Andrew Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran, of the Bali 9, said the early stages after being arrested were
important in Bali.
"He'll need legal representation and he'll need to be very sensible in how he
conducts himself. They (local police) regard the way you conduct yourself as
important," he said.
If charged, it is unclear whether Mr Myatt would be taken to the notorious
Kerobokan jail because of recent rioting by inmates. (source: News.com.au)
*************************************
Opposition to Indonesian executions must be colourblind David McRae
The execution of the three Bali bombers in 2008 was a low point in Australia's
opposition to the death penalty. Both the Howard and Rudd governments expressed
their support for the executions, undermining Australia's commitment to
abolition.
As another member of the Bali bombing plot, Umar Patek, stands trial in
Jakarta, it is essential that the government not repeat this mistake. To do so
would further compromise Australia's ability to raise the issue of the death
penalty with Indonesia, just as our key regional neighbour is at a crossroads
regarding capital punishment.
Why should Australians be concerned with the death penalty in Indonesia? For
one thing, it is the only country in the world where Australians are on death
row. Only a plea for presidential clemency now stands between Bali 9 members
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran and their execution. Abolition in Indonesia
would save Chan and Sukumaran, and the other 112 Indonesians and foreigners on
death row.
Indonesia is also important because it could be a domino for abolition of the
death penalty across south-east Asia. As the region's largest nation and the
world's most populous Muslim country, an abolitionist Indonesia would be better
placed to influence other countries than the region's three existing
abolitionist states, the Philippines, Cambodia and East Timor.
Abolition in south-east Asia would conform to Australia's stated support for a
universal end to the death penalty. It is also of pragmatic interest, given the
last 4 Australians executed were each hanged in either Malaysia or Singapore.
Why is Indonesia at a crossroads, and what are the prospects for abolition? On
the one hand, the death penalty is written into a range of legislation and has
strong supporters pushing for its retention or even for its intensified use.
The courts have passed up two recent opportunities to repeal death penalty
statutes and capital punishment appears to have majority public support. Nor
has there been an overall reduction in its use under democratic rule.
On the other hand, there are enough forces pushing for abolition or moderation
to suggest a reconsideration of the death penalty is possible. Indonesia
executes few people compared to countries such as China, Iran and the United
States. It has not carried out any executions at all since 2008, although the
courts continue to hand down death sentences.
The inclusion of the death penalty in new laws is strongly debated, with some
legislation such as the human trafficking law omitting the punishment. There is
also a new opportunity coming for the courts to reconsider capital punishment,
as 2 death row inmates have filed a challenge to the constitutionality of the
death penalty for aggravated robbery occasioning death.
The most important factor, however, is concern for Indonesian citizens facing
the death penalty abroad. As of December, 217 Indonesians faced possible
execution overseas, mostly in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and China. The Indonesian
government has come under intense pressure to advocate for these citizens since
the execution of an Indonesian domestic worker in Saudi Arabia last year.
Many Indonesians say as long as Indonesia retains the death penalty
domestically, the government lacks a moral basis to advocate for citizens
abroad.
What could the Australian government do to encourage abolition in Indonesia?
Scholars have proposed Australia engage other Asian abolitionist states to
encourage Indonesia to take steps towards abolition. This approach is worth
focusing on, although in reality Indonesia is more likely the domino that could
influence other south-east Asian nations to do away with it, rather than vice
versa.
Australia could also explore bilateral options such as encouraging abolition
through law enforcement co-operation. The government should signal its
opposition to any and all executions in Indonesia, even when it is politically
costly within Australia. This must include the Patek case if he receives a
death sentence. No advocacy will work if Australia is not itself a consistent
and principled opponent of the death penalty.
The government must signal its genuine intent to encourage abolition, while
acknowledging that Australia is not in a position to dictate terms. Though it
will be Indonesia that determines whether or when it will abolish the death
penalty, Australia can and should do more to encourage it.
(source: Opinion; Dave McRae is a research fellow in the East Asia program at
the Lowy Institute for International Policy. His report A Key Domino?
Indonesia's Death Penalty Politics was published yesterday----Sydney Morning
Herald)
TANZANIA:
Anti-death penalty petition for hearing on April 17
The High Court has set April 17, this year, as the a date judges will decide
the fate of the anti-death penalty case filed by civil societies in 2008.
The petition was filed by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), in
collaboration with the SAHRINGON Tanzania Chapter and the Tanganyika Law
Society (TLS). It calls on the government to strike off capital punishment from
its statute books due to its denying the victim the right to life.
Speaking to the Guardian immediately after coming from the court, a legal
officer from LHRC, who has been pursuing the matter Fulgence Massawe, said the
matter had taken quite long, adding that the court had failed to hear the
petition owing to the current renovations of the High Court building, leading
to the failure to form a 3-judge panel as the law requires on human rights
issues.
“The High Court building is undergoing major renovations and the assigned
judges are now in separate offices, making it even harder to decide the matter.
However, Judge Rugazia has set April 17 as the date for us to appear in court,”
said Massawe.
The petition was lodged on October 10, 2008 b the Legal and Human Rights Centre
(LHRC) in collaboration with the SAHRINGON Tanzania Chapter and the Tanganyika
Law Society.
They urge the government to subsitute it with life imprisonment for persons
convicted of murder. The activists call upon the need to abolish the death
penalty on account that no justice system is safe from judicial error, hence
innocent people are likely to be sentenced to death.
In Tanzania there have been several historical decisions that were made to
depict the evil deed of the death penalty. The late Justice James Mwalusanya,
in the famous Republic v Mbushuu alias Dominic Mnyaroje case of 1994 boldly
challenged the constitutionality of the death penalty.
”I hold that the two petitioners have managed to prove, on the balance of
probabilities, that the death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment and or treatment, and also that it offends the right to the dignity
of man in the process of execution of the sentence.
"At the same time the Republic has failed to prove, on a balance of
probabilities, that the impugned law is in the public interest and that it is a
lawful law under article 30(2) of the cConstitution. It is therefore my finding
that the death penalty is unconstitutional and so void as per article 64(5) of
the constitution.”
Amnesty International maintains that more often prisoners with influential
families or other connections are more likely to escape execution, unlike those
who are poor and come from marginalized communities.
“In short, the death penalty is not only applied unfairly and in a secretive
manner, but rather it is also discriminatory and is used against those who are
least able to access their rights. It is little more than a macabre lottery
whose consequences, for many, are lethal,” it says.
(source: The Guardian)
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