[Deathpenalty] Second update to UA 286/05 on imminent execution of three men in Indonesia (PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY)

[Rick Halperin]

URGENT ACTION APPEAL

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Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though
you may not have
received the original UA when issued on November 15, 2005 &
February 3, 2006. Thanks!

18 August 2006

Further Information on UA 286/05 (15 November 2005) and
follow-up (3 February 2006) -  Imminent Execution

INDONESIA

Fabianus Tibo (m) aged 61
Dominggus da Silva (m), also known as Domi, aged 43
Marinus Riwu (m), aged 49

Amnesty International fears that Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da
Silva and Marinus Riwu are at risk of imminent execution at
any time from 20 August 2006 onwards. They had been
scheduled to be executed on 12 August, but received a last-
minute stay of execution. The exact date of the rescheduled
executions is currently unknown. If the three men are
executed, they will mark the first executions by Indonesia
in 2006.

The three men were sentenced to death in April 2001 for
premeditated murder and inciting riots, in connection with
ethnic and religious violence between Christians and Muslims
in the district of Poso, Central Sulawesi, in May 2000.
Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu, all
Christians, were accused of leading an attack on a Muslim
village.

On 8 August 2006, the office of the Prosecutor of Central
Sulawesi sent a letter to the families of the three men
informing them that they would be executed by firing squad
at 12.15am on 12 August. Hours before the executions were
due to take place, the three men were granted a reprieve.

The case has attracted the attention of human rights
organizations and religious groups, both locally and
internationally. Thousands of local Christians joined a
rally on 11 August 2006 to protest against the executions
while Pope Benedict XVI made a direct appeal for clemency to
President Yudhoyono on 12 August 2006. In postponing the
executions, local police made no reference to such
interventions and said that the postponement was due to
local authorities being engaged with various activities in
the run-up to Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations on
17 August, and that any execution would not be rescheduled
until at least three days after Independence Day.

Other religious leaders, including former President and
prominent Muslim cleric Abdurrahman Wahid, known as ''Gus
Dur'', had in the past called on the authorities to abandon
or at least delay the execution to allow for further
investigation into the case.
In April 2006, the Supreme Court, which had confirmed their
death sentence in 2001, agreed to review their case for a
second time. This followed an announcement by lawyers
representing the three men that they had new evidence which
could prove the defendants were innocent (see previous UA
update). However, in May it ruled that no convincing new
evidence had come to light. All judicial remedies have now
been exhausted.

Amnesty International believes that the trial of the three
men in 2001 was unfair. According to reports, there were
demonstrators armed with stones outside the courthouse,
demanding that the three be sentenced to death, and their
legal representatives were subjected to intimidation
including death threats. A bomb was planted at the house of
one legal adviser.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
To Amnesty International's knowledge, at least 89 people are
believed to be under sentence of death in Indonesia. Seven
of these have been convicted this year. Indonesia executed
two people in 2005: Astini (see UA 303/04, 10 November 2004)
in March 2005 and Turmudi bin Kasturi in May 2005. Both were
convicted of murder.

Following the execution of two men in May 2001, there was a
de facto moratorium on the death penalty in Indonesia until
2004. Prior to 2001, there had been no executions in the
country for six years.

In September 2005, the Indonesian parliament took the
necessary steps to authorize ratification of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), which states that ''every human being has the
inherent right to life.'' The ICCPR entered into force on 23
May 2006. However, the Indonesian authorities did not
authorize ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to
the ICCPR, aimed at the abolition of the death penalty.

Amnesty International recognizes the need to address serious
crime, including murder, but is convinced that the death
penalty does not provide a solution. There is no clear
evidence that the death penalty deters crime any more
effectively than other forms of punishment. Amnesty
International opposes the death penalty unreservedly in all
cases. Every death sentence is an affront to human dignity,
every execution a symptom of a culture of violence, rather
than the solution to it. Today 125 countries are
abolitionist in law or practice. An execution cannot be
undone, yet the risk of error is inescapable.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
- expressing concern that Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva
and Marinus Riwu are facing imminent execution, and calling
on President Yudhoyono to commute their death sentences
immediately;
- expressing concern at reports that they did not receive a
fair trial;
- urging the authorities to review the trial, and order a
retrial if any irregularities are found;
- calling on the authorities to commute all outstanding
death sentences in Indonesia, as they constitute a violation
of the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life;
- urging the government to sign and ratify the Second
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, and undertake to work towards the
abolition of the death penalty.


APPEALS TO:
(Please note that fax numbers may be switched off outside
office hours, 7 hours ahead of GMT. Please keep trying).
President:
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President RI, Istana
Merdeka
Jakarta Pusat 10110, Indonesia
Fax:    011 62 21 345 2685 / 011 62 21 526 8726
Salutation:     Dear President Yudhoyono

Head of Central Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office:
M Jahya Sibe
Kepala Kejaksaan Tinggi Sulawesi Tengah
Jl Sam Ratulangi
Palu Timur, Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 451 452281 [please note that this is the fax
number of Kontras Central Sulawesi, a local human rights
organization. Their staff will take your appeals and bring
them to the office of the prosecutor]
Salutation:     Dear Mr. Sibe

COPIES TO:
Attorney General:
Abdul Rahman
Jaksa Agung, J. Sultan Hasanuddin No. 1
Keboyoran Baru
Jakarta, Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 21 725 0213

Acting Ambassador
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
2020 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20036
Fax: 1 202 775 5365


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

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
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan at aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax:     202.675.8566

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