Inter Press Service News Agency, Thursday, March 30, 2006 22:13 GMT
DEATH PENALTY: Time Running Out for Indonesians on Death
Row
Stefania Bianchi
LONDON, Mar 30 (IPS) - The London-based human rights group Amnesty
International says the men - Fabianus Tibo (60), Dominggus da Silva (42) and Marinus
Riwu (48) - are due to be executed before the end of March for their role in inter-faith
clashes in Indonesia. The three were sentenced to death in April 2001 for their alleged
role in the riots and ensuing deaths in the Indonesian town of Poso in May 2000.
Indonesian newspapers are reporting that the Central Sulawesi Police have prepared
four firing squads, comprising of 44 sharp shooters, to carry out the executions within
the next few days.
Between 2000 and 2001 Poso and the surrounding area, in the province of Sulawesi in
eastern Indonesia, became the scene of rioting and violence between Christian and
Muslim factions, leaving more than 1,000 people dead. A government-brokered truce
was established in December 2001, but sporadic violence has continued since that
time.
The three men claim they know who is truly responsible for the violence, but they say
their appeals have gone unheeded. Amnesty says last month lawyers representing
the three men announced that they had new evidence proving their clients' innocence
and called for a renewed investigation into the case. They claimed that this evidence
demonstrated that 16 other people were responsible for instigating the violence in
Poso.
Last November, the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned down
their appeal for clemency. Shortly after, the Attorney General's office declared that the
three men would be executed soon.
Since then Christian and Muslim human rights activists have been quick to leap to
their defence at both national and international level. In the past few weeks, the case
has attracted the attention of numerous local and national human rights groups and
religious leaders, including former president and prominent Muslim cleric
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid. They have repeatedly called on the authorities to
abandon or at least delay the execution to allow for further investigation into the case.
Early last week, more than 500 people from a variety of non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) demonstrated in Jakarta calling for the sentence to be
overturned. Amnesty International has launched an appeal to President Yudhoyono,
calling on him to revoke the death sentence hanging over the men.
"This death penalty case became very urgent last week, as we had confirmation that
Riwu, da Silva and Tibo will be executed by the end of this month," Francesco
Guzzardi, a research and campaign assistant for Amnesty told IPS from Indonesia
Monday (Mar. 27). "We are trying every possible way to put pressure on the
Indonesian government to stop or at least delay the execution," he added.
Amnesty officials fear that the trial of the three men in 2001 may not have been fair. It
says 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 also planted at the house of one
legal adviser.
"The lawyers assert that the new evidence will show that Tibo, da Silva and Riwu did
not orchestrate the disturbances, but that they are key witnesses in the cases of the
16 people, whose names the lawyers have submitted to the national police
headquarters," the group wrote in its statement.
Amnesty is also concerned that the judicial system that sentenced these three men
to death has done so "in contravention of international standards and safeguards"
governing the use of capital punishment.
"Even the most proficient of judicial systems carry with them a serious risk of error in
applying the death penalty. The Indonesian authorities have widely acknowledged that
there is need to reform the country's judicial system, and Amnesty International
welcomes the important steps that they are taking to address the inherent problems,"
the group in a statement.
Guzzardi says Amnesty "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 punishments," it said. More than 66 people are believed to be under
sentence of death in Indonesia.
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 October 2005, the Indonesian Parliament ratified the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) which promotes the right to life. However, they did not
ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aimed at the abolition of the death
penalty. (FIN/2006)
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