The United Nations issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the planned execution of 14 drug convicts in Indonesia, urging Jakarta to put an end to the “unjust” practice of capital punishment.
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Indonesian officials have said all measures will be taken to prevent the drama surrounding the executions in April a year ago.
The Indonesian authorities have directed the spiritual advisers and families of inmates on death row to prepare for executions tonight as coffins were ferried to the prison island of Nusa Kambangan this morning.
Indonesia will execute 14 drug convicts including at least four foreigners this weekend, the country’s attorney general said on Wednesday.
But President Joko Widodo has defended the use of the death penalty to combat rising narcotics use.
Prasetyo stressed that all the convicts for the death penalty have been transferred to the Nusakambangan prison.
Police oversee preparations for the executions in Cilacap, the closest town to Nusakambangan where the prisoners will be shot.
Indonesia resumed executions in 2013 as a radical move to curb the growing drug problems in the country. Widodo declared a “drug emergency” a year ago, on the grounds that use reportedly kills around 40-50 people in the country daily.
From Lahore, Ali’s sister Humaira Bibi on Wednesday made an emotional appeal to the Indonesian government to spare the life of her ailing brother.
“I need to emphasise that all the legal processes of the convicts have been completed, all their rights have been fulfilled – we target the drug traffickers and not users”, he said.
Relatives of Pakistani Zulfiqar Ali, a convict on death row, arrive at the prosecutor’s office in Cilacap prior to a meeting with prosecutors and lawyers in Cilacap on July 26, 2016.
Rights groups have expressed concern that Ali was tortured into confessing to possession of heroin and did not receive a fair trial.
She said Australia’s position came as no surprise to Indonesia, given the strong comments from the Government past year before the executions of Chan and Sukamaran.
He said “President Widodo’s era was supposed to represent a new start for human rights in Indonesia”.
Australian drug convicts Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed after numerous appeals from supporters who claimed they were reformed.
“I think that. what is about to happen again is pretty distressing for all families involved and I totally understand what they are going through”.
Phelim Kine, the Group’s Deputy Asia Director, urged the president to commute the death sentences.
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The executions will be the third round under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, after the country put 14 drug convicts, mostly foreigners, to death in two groups in 2015, to much global outrage. But analysts say that this supposed drug problem is misguided and that drug use in Indonesia remains relatively low compared to other countries. Under Indonesian law all legal avenues must be exhausted before an inmate can be executed.
