The Jakarta Post, August 13, 2006
No more death penalty: Bishops
The Jakarta Post, Palu, Kupang, Jakarta
Unimpressed by the government's decision Friday to stay the execution of three
Christians in Central Sulawesi, church leaders are continuing to demand the abolition
of the country's capital punishment system.
In their letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian Bishops
Conference (KWI) leaders said Indonesia had ratified an international convention on
civil and political rights, which required the acknowledgement and respect of citizens'
right to live.
"We appeal to the government ... to abolish capital punishment for good," KWI said in
a letter signed by chairman Julius Kardinal Darmaatmadja SJ and secretary-general
Arch Bishop I. Suharyo Pr., a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post
on Saturday.
The government delayed the execution by firing squad of Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus
Da Silva and Marianus Riwu just hours before it was due to be held at 12:15 a.m.
Saturday.
The men were sentenced to death for inciting riots in connection with sectarian
violence in Poso on May 23, 2000, in which 191 Muslims were killed.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said the three convicts -- all migrants from East
Nusa Tenggara -- would be executed after Aug. 20 to allow them and officials to
celebrate Independence Day on Aug. 17.
"It (the execution) is just a matter of time. It's not possible to reverse the court's
decision," he said.
The men's lawyers have claimed that 16 other people were responsible for instigating
the violence in Poso and have called on the authorities to stop or at least delay the
execution to allow for further investigation into the case.
The President has yet to respond to their second appeal for clemency.
The announcement the execution would not go ahead Saturday was made just hours
after the President received a telegram from Pope Benedict XVI, asking him to spare
the men's lives.
But Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said in Malang the government was not acting
under pressure from any party because Indonesia was a sovereign state.
"The execution has not been canceled, just delayed," he said. "We (the government)
did receive letters from various quarters, including the one from the Vatican, although I
didn't see it personally."
In the predominantly Christian town of Tentena in Poso regency, 40 Christians who
occupied the local high court Friday demanding the abolition of the death sentence,
dispersed peacefully Saturday morning after hearing about the stay of the execution.
In Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, thousands of protesters forced the prosecutor's
office to lower the Indonesian flag to half mast to symbolize "the demise of the
supremacy of law".
Chairman of the Commission for Justice and Peace Father Maxi Un Bria said the best
solution would be to cancel the execution and find the real masterminds.
"There is no dignity in execution, because humans assume the divine authority of
taking a man's life, in the name of the law," he said as quoted by Antara news
agency.
Mahendradatta, one of the lawyers of three Muslims convicted for the 2002 bombings
in Bali -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Gufron -- said the decision to execute the
Poso convicts was suspicious because it came just as the execution of the Bali
bombers was expected.
He said the government wanted to appear fair in its treatment of both Christians and
Muslims on death row.
"It seems that the decision to execute Amrozi and his partners (Imam Samudra and
Ali Gufron) was a hasty one. Why is that?"
The stay of the Christians' execution angered many Muslims in Poso.
Cleric Adnan Arsal, who chairs the Poso Muslims Fighting and Family Forum, told
The Jakarta Post on Saturday that if the convicts were not executed, Muslims in Poso
and Tojo Una-Una would stage a massive rally.
"We'll see what happens after the Independence Day celebrations. If the execution
doesn't take place as promised it will insult the Muslim victims," Adnan said.
A victim of the Poso conflict, Nyak Harun Itam Abu, who is also on the team of Poso
Muslims' lawyers, told the Post that Tibo, Dominggus and Riwu did not mastermind
the conflict but they did murder hundreds of Muslims.
"We have witnesses and evidence, so there's no way the three can say they're
innocent. They should be executed."
But the delay brought some relief to Christians groups in Palu. Priest Jimmy
Timbelaka said it would allow police to investigate the 16 people who lawyers claimed
were the real masterminds of the conflict.
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