Indonesia: 72 hours to stop state-sanctioned executions

Amnesty International is calling for an immediate and urgent halt to plans to execute a group of prisoners in Indonesia, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, following confirmation of 72-hours’ notice until the state sanctioned killings take place.

Diana Sayed, Human Rights Lawyer and Amnesty International Australia Crisis Campaigner, said:

“If these executions go ahead, they'll be a serious stain on Indonesia's human rights record and Joko Widodo’s Presidency and damage relations between Indonesia and its friends, including Australia

“Hundreds of thousands of people from right around Australia and the world have continued to respectfully call for a halt to the executions and mercy for those on death row.

"Despite their pleas, it’s deeply troubling the Indonesian government is apparently determined to push ahead with more killings, despite showing promise to move away from the death penalty until executions resumed in 2013. 

“We urge President Widodo to change course immediately, before his early human rights record is tarnished further.

“The failure of President Joko Widodo to genuinely consider clemency applications on a case-by-case basis, contrary to the Indonesian Constitution, also raises serious questions about the rule of law in Indonesia.

"One of the men on the list to be executed has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, even though international law could not be clearer on banning the execution of people with diagnosed mental illness.

“These executions would seriously undermine Indonesia’s credibility to speak out about human rights at a regional and global level, including saving the lives of Indonesians on death row elsewhere, as it has done in recent weeks.

“Despite the desperateness of this situation, past experience shows us there’s still time to stop the executions and end the death penalty in Indonesia altogether.

“Amnesty International has been campaigning to end the death penalty for more than 30 years. When we first started, only 16 countries were abolitionist.

“Now that number stands at 140 countries that have stopped using the death penalty either in law or practice.

“We strongly urge Indonesia show strong leadership by granting Andrew, Myuran and all prisoners on death row mercy, ending the death penalty and joining the global trend moving away from state-sanctioned killings.”