“It is time for Indonesia to impose a moratorium on all executions in 2018, as Indonesia’s first step in eliminating the death penalty permanently,” said Usman Hamid during a discussion of death sentence moratorium at his office in Menteng on Thursday, April 12.
According to Usman, Indonesia has the capacity to do it. In 2017, other countries have shown and taken bold steps to eliminate the death penalty.
Based on the Amnesty International’s report entitled ’Death Penalty and Execution 2017’, the dead executions decreased globally. In 2016, it was 1,032 people and decrease to 997 people in 2017.
According to Usman, the moratorium could facilitate international diplomacy to save Indonesian citizens, considering there are 188 citizens who are currently imposed with the death sentence abroad. “How can Indonesia convince other countries to forgive its citizens facing the death penalty, if Indonesia itself is still doing the domestic inhuman punishment?” he said.
Usman noted that death penalties were imposed for 47 convicts in 2017 and the ten of it were imposed on foreign nationals. The number is decreased compared to 2016 with 60 cases. In 2017, 33 death penalties were implemented to drug cases and 14 for murder cases. Until 2017, a total of 262 convicts are waiting for the execution time.
Muhammad Hendartyo
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