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HRWG appreciates Indonesia's stance on UN death penalty moratorium
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A protester holds a parasol during a speech at a rally against the death penalty outside the presidential palace in Jakarta on July 26. (AP/Achmad Ibrahim)
T
he Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) expressed appreciation of Indonesia's stance which, along with 31 other countries, has abstained from using the death penalty in response to the UN resolution made during the UN General Assembly in New York, the United States, on Tuesday.
HRWG executive director Muhammad Hafiz said Indonesia’s choice to abstain from using the death penalty, favoring the UN's resolution, should be appreciated amid the current implementation of the death penalty in the country.
“Indonesia’s stance to abstain is a moderate choice in the current situation related to the implementation of the death penalty in Indonesia, including the current deliberation of the Criminal Code at the House of Representatives, which still considers the death penalty as a legal punishment,” Hafiz said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
(Read also: Jokowi told to assess deterrent effect of death penalty)
At the UN general assembly, 117 countries favored the resolution while 40 countries rejected the resolution. Among the ASEAN nations, the Philippines was abstain and Cambodia was in favor of the resolution while Malaysia and Singapore rejected it.
“ASEAN countries are at a cross roads dealing with how to solve crimes, especially related to the drugs,” ASEAN HRWG program manager Daniel Awigra said.
Daniel said the death penalty went against human rights and had been proved to not actually deter perpetrators nor decrease crimes related to drugs.(jun)
