T

he death penalty is deemed a human rights violation. The Declaration of Human Rights clearly states the right to life as a non-derogable right. There are about 140 countries that abolished the death penalty in 2012, but surprisingly that did not lower the number of executions around the globe as reported by Amnesty International.

There were 773 executions in 2013 implemented in 22 countries around the world, compared to 2012 when the number was 682 executions. The number rose by almost 15 percent in 2013 compared with 2012 '€” a distressing figure.

The basic arguments for the death penalty are '€œan eye for an eye'€ and its effectiveness in deterring crimes. It derives from the simple logic that humans are afraid to die, thus they will follow the law.

The main question is whether indeed the death penalty brings justice for all people. Surprisingly, a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that at least 4.1 percent of all death-row convicts in the US were innocent; hence out of 1,000 convicted inmates at least 41 persons could have received a wrong conviction, an enormous number of human lives.

Other studies also suggest a decline in support for the death penalty since the mid-1990s. This is because of a major decrease in violent crimes, and also awareness of the high probability of wrongful convictions. By DNA testing or other forensic tools in criminal investigations, justice can be served '€” only if damage has not been done by a death sentence, of course.

Indonesia recently executed six drug dealers including five foreigners (from the Netherlands, Malawi, Brazil, Nigeria and Vietnam) and one Indonesian. Though the government insists this is the best option to deter similar crimes, until now there is no adequate proof to support the effectiveness of the death penalty to deter crimes.

For example in Indonesia, it is very hard to determine whether there is a declining trend in drug crime cases due to the death penalty because of a lack of annual records of convicts and their status. Clearly, when the risk of wrong penalties involves human lives, we need more evidence to support the implementation of the death penalty. Convicts in Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Japan and South Sudan do not have information on their forthcoming executions, nor do their lawyers or families. It seems that human lives are in the hands of the people in power.

The US is one country that has managed to measure the effectiveness of its capital punishment by linking it to crime rates. A longitudinal study from 1990-2009, aimed at measuring the effectiveness of the death penalty to deter crimes in states that implemented it, compared with those which did not have the death penalty, found that states without capital punishment had consistently lower homicide rates compared to states with it.

Another question is what actually works to serve justice and prevent crimes? A probable answer is effective law enforcement. A study in 2004 suggested that the more focused and specific the strategies of the police to address certain crimes, the more effective the police will be in controlling crime and disorder.

Reports say that at present there are 131 people on death row, 69 of them murder convicts, 60 in drug-related cases, and two related to cases of national security. Out of the 60 convicted in drug cases, 34 are foreigners.

More than 50 percent of drug convicts are foreigners. Thus, it is time to ask critically, whether the way we ensure national security has to be improved. We are not talking merely illegal immigration, but more about foreigners who stay or land in Indonesia legally. Complicated papers and documents have to be prepared for a foreigner to enter to Indonesia, but some still manage to smuggle drugs into the country.

What is lacking with these procedures must be mapped out carefully by related ministries and the National Police. This collaboration should strengthen national security by providing baseline data to map out current patterns for transnational crimes, to be integrated into a national strategy to combat drug crimes.

International collaboration is also crucial when we take into consideration that Indonesia is one of the transit zones for drug smugglers from East Asia and Europe. Ongoing efforts to fight drug crimes as transnational crimes have been made in the past, apart from improving the capacity of law enforcers and strengthening border security.

Indonesia also needs to think about updated and comprehensive prevention strategies. It sounds cliché, but prevention is the most efficient way to tackle drug crimes by cutting the demand for drugs. Because when we are calculating all the risk of human error and its ineffectiveness, the death penalty is surely a band-aid solution in these cases. It is further irrevocable and too general by any means to combat delicate crimes like drug abuse and its tentacle-like network.