March 20
INDONESIA:
Indonesian support for death penalty grows
A leading human rights advocate fears public support for the death penalty is
growing in Indonesia but says the importance of good diplomatic relations
between Jakarta and Canberra could help 2 Australians on death row.
Indonesia last week carried out its first execution since 2008, putting to
death a Nigerian drug smuggler.
Adami Wilson was shot by firing squad in the Thousand Islands, an archipelago
popular with tourists which is located off the coast of the capital Jakarta.
The development presents serious implications for two Australian drug
traffickers - the Bali Nine's Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan - who are
awaiting a decision from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on their
appeals for clemency.
But Haris Azhar, the coordinator of Indonesia's Commission for the Missing and
Victims of Violence (Kontras), said on Wednesday that unlike in Adami's case,
political factors and the relationship with Australia would have to be
considered when it comes to Sukumaran and Chan.
"There's no political links in the international relations (between Indonesia
and Nigeria)," he told the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.
"But imagine ... how difficult, tough if SBY, the regime, the government put
the death sentence to an Australian," he said.
"It will be hard for SBY."
He added, however, that there were worrying signs in terms of the response to
last week's execution, saying that there appeared to be a groundswell of public
opinion in favour of capital punishment.
There seemed to be "a big applause" when Adami was executed, he said.
"This is a signal that people support it."
Adami, 48, was caught in 2003 attempting to smuggle one kilogram of heroin into
Indonesia.
Sukumaran, 31, and Chan, 29, were arrested and jailed in 2005 for their roles
in an attempt to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia.
Indonesia has said another nine convicts would be executed this year.
However, Sukumaran and Chan are not on that list because their appeals for
clemency remain unresolved.
(source: The Australian)
******************
Hope for Australian man facing death penalty
The lawyer for an Australian man facing the death penalty for drug trafficking
in Malaysia is confident his client will be acquitted.
Perth man Dominic Bird is facing a mandatory death penalty if he is convicted.
The 33-year-old was arrested in an undercover police sting in Kuala Lumpur last
March.
He was allegedly carrying 167 grams of methamphetamine, which exceeds the
threshold for a charge of trafficking in Malaysia.
Lawyer Mohammed Shafee said yesterday that the credibility of the police
officer involved in the sting is in question because he has admitted taking
money from another drug dealer.
The court is expected to rule on whether the case should proceed to a full
trial next week.
(source: ABC News)
*******************
End the death penalty
For every parent who has lost a child to drugs, for anyone who has survived a
bombing attack or lost relatives, the death penalty is a fitting punishment,
though it will never bring back lost loved ones.
So when convicted drug trafficker Adam Wilson was executed last Thursday, there
was hardly a murmur of regret, safe from human rights activists. All visitors
and citizens are warned about bringing drugs into the country and the penalty
that awaits traffickers.
The Nigerian’s execution was the first since that of the Bali bombers in 2008,
with over 100 Indonesians and foreigners currently on death row.
Campaigning for the right to life of the likes of drug dealers, traffickers and
terrorists gains little traction here. The majority of Muslims believe the
death sentence is endorsed by Islam; also, its legal foundation in the Criminal
Code is replicated in several other laws such as the 2003 Terrorism Law and the
1951 Emergency Law.
Recent reports of murders and mutilation will provide additional boosts to
public support for the death penalty. Few sympathize with reports revealing the
long wait on death row, reaching 20 years in a number of cases, nor even the
instances of punishing people who are later proved to be innocent — these are
considered exceptions, however unfortunate.
Yet with the government’s efforts to protect Indonesians abroad from the same
fate, we take the view that such attempts will go nowhere as long as we uphold
the death penalty. Last October Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny
Indrayana said 198 Indonesians were awaiting execution in various countries.
Despite protests President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has granted 19 of 126 pleas
for clemency since he took office in 2004. While many of his reasons cited in
the cases were questioned — including the commuting of the death sentence to
life for a repeat narcotics offender — the government hopes to gain reciprocal
treatment for our nationals on death row overseas.
Our policy on criminals cannot be seen to be contradictory as we champion the
right to life of our citizens behind bars in foreign lands.
The effectiveness of the death penalty has long come under scrutiny,
particularly in countries where it is still upheld. Researchers on terrorism
and terrorists’ lawyers argue that the death penalty only encourages martyrdom
and “a new generation of terrorists” — the wide grins of the Bali bombers are
hard to forget.
More recent arrests have indicated that the terrorist network has increasingly
recruited younger people from various parts of the country.
The execution of drug traffickers and terrorist leaders raise questions as to
whether more valuable information could have been extracted from them regarding
their networks, given that the problems have not been eradicated.
Overall, Indonesians in general do not care for those on death row. But spare a
thought for our convicted citizens overseas, including domestic worker Satinah
in Saudi Arabia, who was sentenced to death for murdering her employer. We have
failed on a number of occasions to save our workers from death at the hands of
foreign governments.
This should not be surprising, as we also still champion our legal right to
take the lives of others.
(source: Editorial, The Jakarta Post)
CANADA:
Majority of Canadians support the death penalty: poll
Most Canadians want to bring back the death penalty for murderers. A new Angus
Reid poll released Wednesday, suggests that 63 % of Canadians are in favour of
reinstating the death penalty.
In particular, Canadians believe capital punishment would be a determent to
potential murders and that would save taxpayers the costs associated with
keeping our most notorious prisoners locked-up.
Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976; 33 U.S. states still practice it
and, according to Amnesty International, 57 countries around the world do.
Canadians do seem torn on the issue, however.
When the option of life imprisonment — without the possibility of parole — is
introduced to the mix we seem to change our tune. When the pollster asked
respondents if they support capital punishment or life in prison, the majority
of those surveyed chose the latter (45 % versus 39 %.
The bottom line, I guess, is that Canadians want tougher penalties for those
who commit murder.
Last year, on his website, Sun News columnist and attorney Warren Kinsella
admits that he too, at one time, was a proponent of the death penalty but three
years in law school changed his mind:
In my first year of law school in Calgary, in Criminal Law, our wonderful prof,
Chris Levy, asked us who favoured the death penalty. Most of the hands in the
classroom went up.
Here's what Prof. Levy said next: "I will ask you again in your final year."
And he did. In 1987, after three years of trying to learn the law ...Prof. Levy
asked again for a show of hands. "Who favours the death penalty, now?"
And not a single hand went up.
What you learn in law school, more than anything else, is how completely flawed
our system is. You learn that it is in need of continual improvement, and that
it fundamentally flawed, much like the human beings who created it.
The Angus Reid poll was conducted online between March 10th and 11th, 2013 with
1,514 randomly selected Canadian adults. The margin of error is +/- 2.5 %, 19
times out of 20.
(source: Andy Radia, Canadian Press)
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