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Decades on death row: Calls made for commutation of death sentences
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A PMI officer sprays disinfectant on the door of the Cipinang Class 1 Correctional Institution in Jakarta on March, 20. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
W
ith dozens of Indonesia’s death row inmates having spent more than 10 years waiting for their execution dates, one government official and legal activists are calling for reform of what they consider to be an unjust and inhuman system.
At present, 358 death row inmates – convicted of crimes ranging from drug-related offenses to terrorism – are awaiting execution in 22 correctional facilities across the country, data from the Law and Human Rights Ministry show. Fifty-seven have been waiting on death row for more than 10 years – including three who have been on death row for between 21 and 40 years and one who has been waiting for 41 years.
“Many death row convicts have spent more than a decade in prison as if they have also received prison sentences as well,” Law and Human Rights Ministry research and development agency head Sri Puguh Budi Utami said in a recent webinar.
“They will be executed eventually but they don’t know when that will be,” Sri said, adding that she regretted the situation, as it appeared the inmates had undergone an unfair punishment.
Sri said that many of the death row inmates who been forced to wait decades for their execution day had suffered from severe psychological distress.
“Just imagine how tough the situation is that they have to endure and that must cause severe distress also,” said Sri, who during her time as the ministry’s corrections director general traveled frequently to correctional facilities across the country and asked inmates about their emotional wellbeing.
