[Kabar-indonesia] No more death penalty: Indonesian Bishops

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post 
Sunday, August 13, 2006

No more death penalty: Bishops

The Jakarta Post, Palu, Kupang, Jakarta

Unimpressed by the government's decision Friday to stay the execution of 
three Christians in Central Sulawesi, church leaders are continuing to demand the 
abolition of the country's capital punishment system.

In their letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian Bishops 
Conference (KWI) leaders said Indonesia had ratified an international convention 
on civil and political rights, which required the acknowledgement and respect 
of citizens' right to live.

"We appeal to the government ... to abolish capital punishment for good," KWI 
said in a letter signed by chairman Julius Kardinal Darmaatmadja SJ and 
secretary-general Arch Bishop I. Suharyo Pr., a copy of which was made available to 
The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The government delayed the execution by firing squad of Fabianus Tibo, 
Dominggus Da Silva and Marianus Riwu just hours before it was due to be held at 
12:15 a.m. Saturday.

The men were sentenced to death for inciting riots in connection with 
sectarian violence in Poso on May 23, 2000, in which 191 Muslims were killed.

National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said the three convicts -- all migrants 
from East Nusa Tenggara -- would be executed after Aug. 20 to allow them and 
officials to celebrate Independence Day on Aug. 17.

"It (the execution) is just a matter of time. It's not possible to reverse 
the court's decision," he said.

The men's lawyers have claimed that 16 other people were responsible for 
instigating the violence in Poso and have called on the authorities to stop or at 
least delay the execution to allow for further investigation into the case.

The President has yet to respond to their second appeal for clemency.

The announcement the execution would not go ahead Saturday was made just 
hours after the President received a telegram from Pope Benedict XVI, asking him 
to spare the men's lives.

But Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said in Malang the government was not 
acting under pressure from any party because Indonesia was a sovereign state.

"The execution has not been canceled, just delayed," he said. "We (the 
government) did receive letters from various quarters, including the one from the 
Vatican, although I didn't see it personally."

In the predominantly Christian town of Tentena in Poso regency, 40 Christians 
who occupied the local high court Friday demanding the abolition of the death 
sentence, dispersed peacefully Saturday morning after hearing about the stay 
of the execution.

In Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, thousands of protesters forced the 
prosecutor's office to lower the Indonesian flag to half mast to symbolize "the demise 
of the supremacy of law".

Chairman of the Commission for Justice and Peace Father Maxi Un Bria said the 
best solution would be to cancel the execution and find the real masterminds.

"There is no dignity in execution, because humans assume the divine authority 
of taking a man's life, in the name of the law," he said as quoted by Antara 
news agency.

Mahendradatta, one of the lawyers of three Muslims convicted for the 2002 
bombings in Bali -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Gufron -- said the decision to 
execute the Poso convicts was suspicious because it came just as the execution 
of the Bali bombers was expected.

He said the government wanted to appear fair in its treatment of both 
Christians and Muslims on death row.

"It seems that the decision to execute Amrozi and his partners (Imam Samudra 
and Ali Gufron) was a hasty one. Why is that?"

The stay of the Christians' execution angered many Muslims in Poso.

Cleric Adnan Arsal, who chairs the Poso Muslims Fighting and Family Forum, 
told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that if the convicts were not executed, 
Muslims in Poso and Tojo Una-Una would stage a massive rally.

"We'll see what happens after the Independence Day celebrations. If the 
execution doesn't take place as promised it will insult the Muslim victims," Adnan 
said.

A victim of the Poso conflict, Nyak Harun Itam Abu, who is also on the team 
of Poso Muslims' lawyers, told the Post that Tibo, Dominggus and Riwu did not 
mastermind the conflict but they did murder hundreds of Muslims.

"We have witnesses and evidence, so there's no way the three can say they're 
innocent. They should be executed."

But the delay brought some relief to Christians groups in Palu. Priest Jimmy 
Timbelaka said it would allow police to investigate the 16 people who lawyers 
claimed were the real masterminds of the conflict. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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