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s a country that has championed the upholding of human rights, it needs to further review its implementation of the death penalty and whether if it is still needed.

Criminal law experts say that the death penalty should be a special punishment, not a general punishment, so that judges will still have two more options apart from capital punishment and life sentences--or 20 years’ imprisonment.

Then, the judges’ final decision should be based on a lengthy case review and in consideration of convicts’ legal efforts.

Muzakir, criminal law expert with the Indonesia Islamic University (UII) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, said on Friday that the country should not execute people without any comprehensive, transparent and legal process, because the arbitrary decision to impose the punishment violated the Constitution.

If the death sentence became a special law, Muzakir added, the judges would have options to lessen the punishment if convicts could prove their reformed character.

“There should be many reasons to support the punishment and the implementation should be strict. Moreover, [judges] have to ensure that convicts have the opportunity for legal recourse, such as filing an appeal or for clemency, and the completion of these processes,” Muzakir said.

However, he emphasized that the nation still needed such a punishment, otherwise it might open the door for more extraordinary crimes, such as drug smuggling.

The House of Representatives is currently deliberating the revision of the Criminal Code, where capital punishment has become one of the most debated articles. Many rights activists have called on the legislative body to remove the death penalty from the law, as it violates human rights and, purportedly, has no impact on reducing the drug trade.

Law expert Ganjar Laksamana Bondan from the University of Indonesia (UI) said the death penalty was still relevant in Indonesia, but the implementation must be restricted. Moreover, law enforcers and judges should be more careful in sentencing the penalty.

“The punishment cannot be arbitrarily imposed. But if it’s omitted from our law, it means we open the door for extraordinary crimes,” Ganjar said.

Deliberation of Article 88 of the Criminal Code’s revision is still in deadlock as lawmakers are split on whether the death penalty should be a general or special punishment.

United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker Arsul Sani said the punishment could still exist but the government should also build a review team to audit all cases before imposing the death sentence.

“The team may consist of officials from the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) or from the LPSK [Victims and Witnesses Protection Agency],” Arsul said.

However, NasDem Party politician Taufiqulhadi objected and said such a team was not needed as it would interfere with the judges’ independence. “Technically it’s not allowed to let any individual or team get involved in the decision-making process of judges,” Taufiqulhadi said.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Benny Kabur Harman said the death penalty should be omitted from the law as it was not an effective deterrent for drug rings. Moreover, no data proved that drugs smuggling cases were falling after the government’s two rounds of executions.

“It’s not effective. It’s better for us to comprehensively debate whether to keep the law or not. If we have to have it, we should at least limit it to only certain crimes,” Benny said.

However, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung seemed to neither support nor oppose the idea, but signaled that there might be a time for such deliberation in the future.
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