No more death penalty: Bishops

National News - August 13, 2006

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.