Amrozi—the ‘Smiling Assassin’—and his two counterparts were executed in Bali by firing squad on 9 November 2008. But the method of execution is irrelevant. A judicial system should not be allowed to play God with people’s lives. Not here, not in Indonesia, not anywhere. Death by electric chair, by lethal injection, by firing squad, or by noose: they’re all death at the hands of a judicial system. This is no sort of justice.
Background
The Bali Bombings, on 12 October 2002, saw 202 people killed by three bombs detonated in two night spots. Australia lost 88 citizens in the terrorist act. Following six years of trials and appeals, the Indonesian Attorney General announced that Amrozi bin H Nurhasyim, Ali Ghufron and Iman Samudera had exhausted all legal avenues and would be executed.
Almost one year since the United Nations General Assembly resolution called for a worldwide halt on executions, the world was told the three men were dead. Australia was one of 104 countries to sign the UN resolution. Yet Australia’s government—a close neighbour of Indonesia and a country without capital punishment—allowed the killing to proceed, in silence.
Double standards: Time for Australia to be vocal!
The Australian government has double standards. Morally speaking, it opposes the death penalty. When an Australian faces execution in another country the government lobbies the foreign government in an effort to prevent the death. But if a non-Australian faces certain death, in the name of justice, the government does nothing.
In December 2005, Australian citizen Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged in Singapore for heroin trafficking despite calls by Australian officials to prevent the execution. Perhaps heroine trafficking cannot be likened to the murder of 202 innocent people, but who are we, as humans, to decide who dies for what? No life, no matter how ill-spent, can be justly taken. If Australia wants to be taken seriously as an anti-capital punishment nation all executions must be challenged—all lives must be respected, Australians and non-Australians alike.
Katie Wood, spokesperson for Amnesty International Australia, told the
International Herald Tribune that Australia cannot continue to object only to executions of Australian nationals. ‘The government is promoting a two-tier policy on capital punishment, which is ultimately undermining its position as an advocate for the abolition of capital punishment in the region,’ she said.
Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, explained the government’s position on capital punishment as a ‘general policy of opposition to the death penalty’ in a radio interview following the news of the deaths of the ‘Bali Bombers’. Why? Because killing the person guilty of murder does not bring the murdered person back to life, Rudd explained. If this is Rudd’s position he needs to make it known.
In an article released by Amnesty International in the lead-up to the executions, Australia was named and shamed for its weak stance against capital punishment in the region. New Zealand and East Timor also lost citizens in the bombings and still expressed vocal opposition to the death penalty.
Moral objections apply in all and any situation where the death penalty is applied. International Law expert at the Australian National University (ANU), Professor Don Rothwell, told ABC radio shortly before the execution of the ‘Bali Bombers’ that the Australian government needs to approach Indonesia on a human rights level, not a law and justice level. ‘Megaphone’ diplomacy, as Rothwell describes the media pressure, will not work.
The problem goes beyond the bombers…
The death penalty is not an isolated issue only relating to the ‘Bali Bombers’. Despite a global trend towards the abolition of capital punishment, Indonesia is killing an increasing number of people in the name of justice. In 2006 Indonesia ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, and yet continues to employ the firing squad.
Australia’s silence on this issue is dangerous. Rob Stary, Australian lawyer for one of the ‘Bali Nine’ currently on death row in Indonesia, told the
International Herald Tribune that Australia’s reluctance to comment on Indonesia’s justice system is endangering the lives of Australians in custody. ‘Whether it’s the Indonesian government, the Singaporean government or any other Asian government, they will be able to read between the lines and say, well, Australia will lie down on this issue as far as Asian nationals and yet protest loudly for its own nationals. It’s hypocrisy,’ Stary said.
Spokesperson for the Human Rights Council of Australia (HRCA) and former Human Rights Commissioner, Chris Sidoti, agrees. ‘It’s time to end the killing, for an immediate stop on all executions. The death penalty is wrong everywhere, all the time.’
Every human has the right to life. No human has the right to kill. When Australia says nothing in the face of foreign death penalties, what it’s really saying is it’s ok, we don’t care about non-Australian lives anyway.
How do I know this?
‘Australia mixed over Bali Bombers execution, calls for end to capital punishment’, 9 Nov. 2008,
The Jakarta Post, www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/09/australia-mixed-over-bali-bombers-execution-calls-end-capital-punishment.html
Glanville, Brigid, ‘Bali bombers’ executions raise questions over death penalty’, 3 Nov. 2008, Transcript:
www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2409264.htm
‘Bali Bombers to face firing squad’, 31 Oct. 2008, Amnesty International,
www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/bali-bombers-to-face-firing-squad-20081031
Cary, Greg, Interview with PM Kevin Rudd, 3 Oct. 2008, Radio 4BC, Transcript:
www.pm.gov.au/media/interview/2008/interview_0519.cfm
‘Execution a day of reflection for Bali bombing survivors’, 9 Nov. 2008, ABC,
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/09/2414449.htm
Foley, Meraiah, ‘Bali Bombers get no clemency plea from Australia’, 30 Oct. 2008,
The International Herald Tribune,
www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/30/asia/australia.php?page=2
‘Human Rights Council of Australia calls on Indonesia for immediate moratorium on executions to stop the killing of the Bali Bombers’, 31 Oct. 2008, Press Release:
www.hrca.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/moratorium-on-dp1.pdf
Shanahan, Dennis, ‘Save Bali Bombers: McClelland’, 9 Oct. 2007,
The Australian,
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22554363-601,00.html
