INDONESIA – ADPAN Appeals for Three More Prisoners facing Execution and an end to Executions – ALL THREE EXECUTED ON 17 MAY 2013!

On 16 May, the Attorney General’s office confirmed that three men could be executed imminently. ADPAN is appealing to the President to commute these death sentences and any other prisoners whose appeals have been exhausted and may face execution this year.

The families of the three prisoners, Suryadi Swabuana, Jurit bin Abdullah, and Ibrahim bin Ujang, who were all convicted of murder were reportedly told that the executions will take place on Nusakambangan island, Central Java.

Suryadi Swabuana was convicted and sentenced to death in 1992 and has had his clemency application rejected. Jurit bin Abdullah,and Ibrahim bin Ujang were also convicted and sentenced to death for a murder committed in 1997.  According to their lawyers, Jurit and Ibrahim re-filed clemency applications in 2006 and 2008 respectively.

“The execution this year and the threatened execution of more in Indonesia at this time is regrettable and proof that the death penalty is being used as a political tool before the Presidential and general election next year. In 2008, Indonesia executed 10 people shortly before its election in 2009” said Bhatara Ibnu Reza from Imparsial and ADPAN member.

All executions contradict the government’s decision to establish the setting up a Migrant Workers’ Protection Task Force to appeal for Indonesians sentenced to death abroad and the decision made by the government to move from voting against to abstention at the recent UN General Assembly vote in 2012 calling for a global moratorium on executions.

ADPAN opposes the death penalty in all cases and regrets that Indonesia resumed executions in March this year after four years.

ADPAN, a regional network that campaigns for an end to the death penalty across Asia and the Pacific, is appealing to the President to commute these three imminent death sentences and to introduce a moratorium on executions.

ADPAN members in Indonesia:

Imparsial, Indonesia

Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (KONTRAS), Indonesia

Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (LBH Masyarakat), Indonesia

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Amnesty India petition – Death penalty is not justice

Over 30,000 people have signed a petition demanding abolition of death penalty in India. Have you signed it?Stand up to end the death penalty in India. Sign the petition now
Death penalty is not justice

Inconsistency:

Three people, Harban, Kashmira and Jeeta were sentenced to death for a crime in which they played similar roles. But they met different fates. Kashmira Singh’s petition to the Supreme Court was accepted and his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Harbans Singh was recommended by the court for clemency from the President. Jeeta Singh’s petition was dismissed and he was hanged.

Flaws:

In August 2012, 14 retired judges wrote to the President of India, pointing out that the Supreme Court had wrongly awarded the death sentence to 13 people. They called the execution of two wrongly sentenced prisoners in 1996 and 1997, “the gravest known miscarriage of justice in the history of crime and punishment in independent India”.

Bias:

“I thought I should get all these (capital punishment) cases examined from a normal citizen’s point of view in terms of the crime, intensity of the crime and the social and financial status of the individuals who were convicted and awarded capital punishment. This study revealed to my surprise that almost all the cases which were pending had a social and economic bias.” APJ Abdul Kalam.

Two executions in three months in India. Devender Pal Bhullar could be next. At least 17 more at risk.

STAND UP TO END THE DEATH PENALTY IN INDIA. SIGN THE PETITION
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by adpanadmin on 08/05/2013  •  Permalink
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TAIWAN – Another six executions despite call by international experts to introduce a moratorium

“Six executions were carried out earlier this afternoon in four prisons throughout Taiwan – in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Hualien.  We feel sad and outraged,” said Lin Hsinyi, Director of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty and ADPAN member.

All were executed by shooting. In December 2012, Taiwan executed the same number of prisoners, taking Taiwan to the fifth-largest executing country in the region in 2012. There are fears for the lives of the remaining 50 death row prisoners who have exhausted all their appeals.

Chen Tung-Jung, Chen Jui-Chin, Lin Chin-Te, Chang Pao-Hui, Li Chia-Hsuan, and Chi Chun-I were all executed today.

These latest executions come shortly after a report was issued on 1 March this year, by an International Group of Independent Experts, who recommended the government intensify its efforts to abolish the death penalty and introduce an immediate moratorium on executions. In response, the government tasked a special committee with examining options for the gradual abolition of the death penalty. The Independent Experts had been invited by the government to consider its report on implementation of UN human rights covenants.

The debate on the death penalty in Taiwan was brought into sharp focus in 2011 when Chiang Kuo-ching, a 21-year-old Air-Force cadet, was found to have been wrongly executed after a forced confession.  Chiang Kuo-ching was granted an official posthumous pardon.

ADPAN appeals to the government to stop all further executions.

 

ADPAN members in Taiwan:

-               Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP)

-               AI Taiwan

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INDIA – Unfair Trials – Bhullar – ADPAN Calls for a Retrial

Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, convicted of killing nine people in a car bomb explosion in Delhi in 1993 had his petition for commutation rejected by the Supreme Court on 12 April.

This decision could affect the lives of at least 17 other prisoners on death row. President Mukherjee has also rejected at least nine mercy petitions involving 14 people since coming into office in July 2012.

Devender Pal Singh Bhullar sentenced to death in 2001 under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA),  petitioned the Supreme Court to commute his death sentence on the grounds that there was an unacceptably long delay in deciding his mercy plea.  The Supreme Court rejected this chiefly on the basis of the “enormity of the crime” in effect ignoring Bhullar’s claim that he was subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The TADA has been criticised for its unfair trial concerns and was repealed in 1995.

ADPAN members, Lawyers for Human Rights International said, “..the Supreme Court failed to take cognizance of the fact that Bhullar was admitted to a mental hospital for more than two years as he was mentally sick …”

Bhullar had no lawyer during his pre-detention and trial, was forced under duress to sign a confession by the police which he later retracted. Since January 2011, Bhullar has been treated for mental illness at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, New Delhi. In its recent decision, the Supreme Court acknowledged that some mental impact had taken place since his arrest but the court failed to adequately address the mental impact of the ‘inordinate ‘delay in considering his clemency petition. International human rights standards prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on, and the execution of, the mentally ill.

On 15 April, the Punjab Chief Minister met India’s Prime Minister and called for commutation of Bhullar’s death sentence.  The Home Minister agreed the government would examine the request.

India ended an eight-year unofficial moratorium on executions last year by hanging Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru in November 2012 and in February 2013;  both were executed secretly. Transparency is considered fundamental to due process.

ADPAN opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and reiterates that the death penalty is an ineffective means of combating violent crime. It is calling for a retrial of Devender Pal Singh Bhullar’s death sentence.

ADPAN regrets the resumption and secrecy of executions, and urges India to join the growing number of countries that have chosen to abolish the death penalty.

ADPAN members in India:

Additional Information

http://adpandotnet.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/adpan-unfair-trials-asa-010232100-final-pdf.pdf

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by adpanadmin on 17/04/2013  •  Permalink
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INDONESIA – Execution of Drug Offender

On 14 March, after four years of no executions, Indonesia executed Adami Wilson (48), a Malawian national.  Adami was executed by firing squad. He had been convicted of drug offences in 2004 in Banten province.

“This  execution  in Indonesia sets a worrying precedent; the Government should consider introducing an immediate moratorium on all executions” said Louise Vischer, Coordinator of ADPAN.

Around 130 prisoners are under sentence of death in Indonesia – more than half have been convicted of drug offences.  ADPAN, which opposes the death penalty in all cases, is concerned about the high number of drug offenders facing the death penalty.

“Imposing the death penalty for drug offences breaches international law which states that the death penalty can only be used for “the most serious offences” and only crimes of intentional killing” said Vischer.

Governments around the world  are restricting the number of capital crimes including those for drug offences. Singapore and Malaysia are currently discussing or amending their death penalty laws for drug offenders. “Any decision to resume executions in Indonesia runs counter to moves, both at ASEAN and at global levels, away from the death penalty,” said Vischer.

Last year, Indonesia decided  to abstain from voting on the UN resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions – previously it had always voted against the resolution.

The last known executions in Indonesia took place in November 2008 when three men involved in the 2002 Bali bombings were executed.

ADPAN members in Indonesia

Imparsial

http://www.imparsial.org/

Commission for ‘The Disappeared’ and Victims of Violence (KONTRAS),

http://www.kontras.org/

Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (LBH Masyarakat)
http://www.lbhmasyarakat.org

15 March 2013

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