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Coalition calls on Jokowi to cancel executions

Jakarta Post - May 17, 2016

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Ina Parlina, Jakarta – A coalition of human rights groups made an urgent call to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to end capital punishment on Monday after it was revealed that the government was preparing its first batch of executions for this year.

Although Jokowi is currently overseas on a working visit to South Korea, this did not stop the coalition from visiting the state palace to remind the government of potential miscarriages of justice in the impending executions of death-row inmates on Nusakambangan Island in Central Java.

The central government has remained silent on the upcoming executions despite apparent preparations on the island, in a move many see as trying to avoid animosity from the international community.

Central Java Police revealed that 10 foreign nationals and five Indonesians were already on the list, but the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has denied this number, with the attorney general saying that his office had yet to decide when and who would be included in the next batch of executions.

On Monday, the coalition, comprising a number of human rights groups including the Foundation for the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), Imparsial and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, held a meeting with two representatives from the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff.

One of the two was Ifdhal Kasim, a former chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights, who is now an expert staffer for Commission V overseeing law and human rights.

"If Jokowi continues to support the executions [while they are still prone to unfair trials], it means that he is legitimizing errors in the legal proceedings. And people will see him as a President who has no commitment to law enforcement," Julius Ibrani of the YLBHI told reporters on Monday.

The coalition demanded that Jokowi order the AGO to stop the planned executions and the AGO provide the public with more details about the executions so the coalition and the public could see whether the convicts had undergone a fair trial.

Recently, the Judicial Commission, the oversight body for judges, also criticized the Supreme Court for what they deemed poor case management, particularly in case reviews – the last legal option to challenge a court ruling – and cassation handling. The two legal options are often prolonged and inconsistent.

Indonesia's move to put 14 drug convicts, comprising Indonesians and foreigners, to death in two different rounds of executions last year sparked criticism from local and international human rights campaigners and world leaders.

The move also created diplomatic tension between Indonesia and Brazil following the execution of a Brazilian drug trafficker.

In Monday's meeting, the representatives from the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff and the coalition mulled a plan to form a kind of joint team to share data and study the judicial process. The representatives also promised them to bring the coalition's concerns to the President.

Al Araf of Imparsial said Indonesia should begin to implement correctional measures that were in line with the principles of restorative justice. "In a civilized democracy, punishment no longer means retaliation. It is a correctional measure," he added.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/05/17/coalition-calls-jokowi-cancel-executions.html.