The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Bank Ki Moon, has appealed to the Government of Indonesia to refrain from carrying out the execution, as announced, of ten prisoners on death row for alleged drug-related crimes.
Of the ten is a Nigerian man, two Australian men, a Philipino woman, and one man each from Brazil, France and Indonesia. Legal options for the nine of them have been exausted, while the Frenchman still has an oustanding legal complaint over the procedure followed in his request for clemency.
In a statement released today, the UN secretary-general recalled that under international law, if the death penalty is to be used at all, it should only be imposed for the most serious crimes, namely those involving intentional killing, and only with appropriate safeguards.
Drug-related offenses generally are not considered to fall under the category of “most serious crimes,” said the spokesperson’s statement.
The United Nation opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, said the statement, urging Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, to urgently consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia, with a view towards abolition.
