ASIA/INDONESIA - Moratorium on the death penalty: appreciation of civil society and the Church

Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - Indonesia has declared a moratorium on executions. According to observers, the decision was taken for economic reasons, given that several countries had feared a reduction of trade relations with Indonesia if executions continued. The last executions (14 executed in 2015) concerned above all people involved in drug trafficking.
The option of a moratorium has been welcomed by activists and leaders of the Church in Indonesia.
As reported to Fides, the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, based in Jakarta, said they liked the decision to suspend executions and urged the government to grant clemency to prisoners on death row. Even the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers and other civil society organizations agree.
The Indonesian Bishops, in the recent "National Conference of the Catholic Church in Indonesia", reiterated its opposition to capital punishment, applied in Indonesia for many offenses including trafficking and drug dealing. The Church argues that death penalty is an inhuman form of punishment and it is not effective in deterring crime, highlighted the "Justice and Peace" Commission of the Indonesian Bishops, asking President Widodo several times, before the moratorium, to reconsider the decision to apply the death penalty. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 27/11/2015)

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