In The News - 30 October

The decision was handed down by the Constitutional Court today. The mood was tentatively hopeful but that was quickly dashed at the beginning of the hearing. The Court immediately rejected the grounds of appeal for the three Australians, stating that foreigners could not enact provisions of the Indonesian Constitution.

This wasn't a killing blow, however, and there was still hope that the appeal would be carried by the two Indonesian women joined to the appeal.

A few hours later the judges handed down their final decision. It wasn't what I was hoping for and it was nothing short of disappointing and at best it wasn't crushing. It was ruled the right to life made out in the Constitution was not absolute and would bend under considerations of the damage done to their society by drugs. The decision was split 6-3.

That's where there is perhaps the greatest progress to come from the case. 1/3 of the bench in favour of the proposition is certainly more than just a modest amount of support. Also, there was a recommendation by a majority of the judges to create a 10 year probation of good behaviour. Julian McMahon summarised it as:

"Instead of just going out and pursuing the death penalty they are really saying... we hope that in the future the law can be changed and that there can be a 10-year probation period so that if after 10 years you've reformed, then your penalty can be reduced to a 20-year penalty,"

At first I thought this would be a strange outcome and I still don't quite understand the intricacies of it. Will it mean that lawyers will have to do everything in their power to keep their client alive for 10 years? Wouldn't this encourage time wasting and vexatious appeals? I'm not too sure, but it's certainly encouraging and shows that they are very focused on some sort of law reform in the area. And like a friend of mine said earlier, you can't change a country's values over night.

The next step is to follow on with the planned Judicial Review, albeit without the support of the majority of the Constitutional Court. This will be an incredibly challenging stage as it will essentially involve asking the Court to reconsider their previous decision, however thie time it is done with not only three justices' minority support, but also an Indonesia with a less dogmatic Attorney-General and 2 years of political and social change.

There is currently another appeal taking place for some others of the Bali 9 on death row through Judicial Review. The outcome of that case will be crucial in determining the success for Sukumaran, Chan and Rush.

Hopefully after the election, when there is a less pressure to say what everyone wants to hear, the Australian Government will be able to form a consistent approach in support of the Bali 9. On that note, the executions of the Bali Bombers seems to be imminent. If it occurs before the election you can be sure it will be twisted every which way for political purposes and so I really hope that there is as little conditional support for their executions as possible. Ideally there could be some really strong resistance by the Australian Government, even if just to tell them that we do not support their executions. Whatever happens it will have massive consequences for Australians on death row in Indonesia.

"I can't help that, I can't help that"

So it's all over the news in Australia at the moment, the death penalty. The Attorney General in Jakarta has softened on the issue and has agreed to enforce whatever verdict the Constitutional Court of Indonesia hand down. This could mean, at best, that the the Indonesian Constitutional right to life, Undang-Undang Dasar cl. 28 (i), will be upheld and applied to not only citizens but foreign nationals and that it will apply retrospectively. I have been saying for months to keep your eye out for this decision, and the lawyers are telling me that it should come any minute now, but no one can really say exactly when it will come.

This entire issue comes at a painful time for many Australians with the anniversary of the bombings. Perhaps with the assurances of the Attorney General in Jakarta that the Bali bombers will not be executed soon will mean that some respite on the issue can be given to those in mourning. When both political parties are fighting tooth and nail for this next election it perhaps isn't helpful that the issue is being thrown around carelessly, both by Howard and Rudd. I think it was a real fear amongst like-minded abolitionists that the Bali bombers would be executed on the 12 October as a symbolic act of retribution.

However, don't let me tell you that this isn't something that needs to be discussed urgently. If the Indonesian government is showing signs of slowing then we should re-double our efforts.

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Beyond the political issues that are at hand, I found something incredibly touching and honest in a statement to The Age from, Dave Byron, the father of one of the victims of the Bali bombings, Chloe Byron. To have lost his 15 year old daughter must have been no doubt traumatising and it is tragic to see that he still suffers so greatly from the scars of his loss. He is calling for the death of the Bali bombers to "protect" his daughter and he is also asking for political rhetoric on the issue to stop.

This really struck me though...

"Realistically, for me, it is just vengeance and vengeance isn't good, but I can't help that, I can't help that."

The victims of capital punishment don't stop at the death of the condemned. The family and friends of the condemned suffer for the rest of their lives from images of the execution and the loss of their loved one. It must be unbearably traumatic to watch a State slowly and systematically put a loved one to death. The prison wardens are put in a situation where they witness death every week. And finally, the other side of the spectrum, the families of the victims who are left to indulge their urge for revenge in the blood of the condemned.

There is book I read a year ago called "Don't Kill In Our Names" which examines personal stories of loss at the hands of a criminal which ultimately ending in forgiveness, sometimes after their execution and sometimes before. The book depicts some incredibly difficult and moving journeys towards ultimately quelling the urge for revenge. One quote from the book is particularly applicable,

"To say that vengeance and closure can exist together is a contradiction... the other side of vengeance is anger and as long as we hold onto our anger, our grieving isn't over."

Dave Byron wants to protect the memory of his daughter by exacting revenge on the three murderers who took her away from him. Perhaps we should also try protecting him from something he "can't help".

Quote of the day:

"Revenge is a confession of pain."

-Latin proverb

In The News - 8 October

Finally there is a strong voice coming from Australian politics that it is totally and unashamedly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. Robert McLelland of the Australian Labor Party has made it clear that under no circumstances, here or abroad, will a Labor Government condone State sanctioned executions. This means both Saddam Hussein and the Bali Bombers.

Watch closely now as John Howard gives a text book definition of double standards. He would have us believe that we, as a Nation, prohibit the death penalty in Australia and from being exacted upon Australians overseas, yet, we are entirely in support of the execution of foreign nationals in their own countries. This sort of approach smacks of, at worst, racism and at the absolute best, hypocrisy.

To think that somehow Indonesian lives are worth less than the lives of Australians overseas seems quite blatantly racist. Perhaps it is driven by ideas of sovereignty, that Indonesia has a right to enforce its laws on its own constituents, but leave ours out of it. For starters, most Indonesians are undoubtedly more appalled by drug traffickers than terrorists. Drug trafficking has been a massive economic and social burden on nearly all the South and East Asian countries. Drugs are a far greater scourge than terrorism and so the disgust is understandable. Watching Howard suggesting with a straight face that the lives of Australians are to be held to a higher standard than the lives of foreigners is completely in conflict with any attempts to try to save the lives of the Bali 6. I understand that as our Prime Minister he is supposed to have our best interests at heart, but if he was truly interested in protecting Australians then why would he so cooly condone the use of capital punishment in a country where 6 Australians face that very fate.

"What other countries do is ultimately a matter for those other countries..."

What messsage does this send to Indonesia? When we suggest that the use of the death penalty is degrading and inhuman yet we support it in some cases. It completely undermines any attempt by other Australians to saves the lives of the Bali 6. John Howard's hate mongering for the Bali bombers is disgusting and is quite frankly racist and hypocritical.

"I find it impossible to argue that those executions should not take place when they have murdered my fellow countrymen and women."

I simply don't understand what line John Howard is drawing to justify the Bali bombers' execution. It could not possibly be the act of murder which he is condeming as worthy of death, for surely in such a case Martin Bryant should be executed for the Port Arthur Massacre (barring his possible psychological problems). So if it isn't the crime, then all I can isolate this to is the race and nationality of the offender. John Howard feels that the life of an Australian is worth more than the life of an Indonesian, quite simply. This sort of approach is entirely consistent with his xenophobic foreign policy in regards to refugees and asylum seekers.

We are a nation either absolutely opposed to the death penalty or we are a nation who support it. If we want to have any chance of helping to encourage the legal systems of our neighbours to consider abolishing capital punishment then it is imperative that we form a united and unconditional opposition to the death penalty. We can't come to the steps of Indonesia asking for them to spare the lives of Australians simply because they are exactly that, Australians.

Prime Minister, should those 6 boys be executed in Indonesia then the blood is on your hands.

I can only pray that a Labor government can hastily undo the damage you have already done to the prospects of saving their lives.

In The News - 30 May

Being an Australian myself, I am more closely involved with cases of Australian's sentenced to death overseas. Hopefully I will find the time to make a post on my involvement thus far in this area, but for now you will have to be content with some recent newsworthy developments.

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More foreigners sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Indonesia.

You might already be aware the 6 Australians are facing execution in Indonesia. These 6 come from the renowned "Bali 9". Renae Lawrence, Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens have all been given lengthy sentences in Jakarta for their role in trafficking heroin out of Indonesia and into Australia. The 6 that are sentenced to death, Myuran Sukumaran, Andrew Chan, Si Yi Chen, Scott Rush, Tan Nguyen and Matthew Norman are all fighting for their lives in any way possible (I'll refer to them as the Bali 6). I'll go into more detail about this case another time, but for now, that's a very brief summary for those who don't know about it. They are all Australian citizens.

Now it seems that many more countries will be dragged into this fight for the Australian's lives.

Seven sentenced to death in Indonesia

AN Indonesian court has sentenced two Europeans and five Chinese nationals to death for running a large ecstasy factory outside the capital Jakarta.

The Supreme Court today ordered the sentences against a French and a Dutch national who were found guilty late last year of producing dangerous substances, court spokesman Djoko Sarwoko said.

Dutchman Nicolaas Garnick Josephus Gerardus, 61, and French national Serge Areski Atlaoui, 43, have not yet been informed of their sentence, he said.

Five Chinese nationals were also given the death penalty after they were convicted in a separate trial last year of helping organise production of drugs at the same factory, said Sarwoko.

"The Supreme Court decided at 3pm (18:00 AEST) today that ... seven ecstasy experts should all receive the death penalty," he said.

"The seven experts are one Frenchman, one Dutch and five Chinese men."

"We decided to deliver the death penalty because it is related to international organised crime which is very dangerous," he added.

Two owners of the factory are already on death row after their conviction last year, officials have said.

The tough penalties came after appeals were lodged against life sentences handed to the two Europeans, and jail terms of 20 years given to the Chinese, following their convictions, Sarwoko said.

Prosecutors said during their trials last year that the plant was among the largest ecstasy factories ever found in southeast Asia, and recommended the judges pass the death sentence.

- Correspondents in Jakarta

This news is potentially huge for Indonesia and for the Bali 6. Firstly, 3 more countries have been brought into the playing field, France, Netherlands and China. This will bring Indonesia's system of mandatory death sentences for drug traffickers into the international spotlight even more, thus increasing the pressure.

The approach for the European nations is quite straight forward. They are both abolitionist and thus would appear hypocritical if they did not attempt to save their citizens from execution. However, it becomes complex for China, the biggest state sanctioned killer in the world, according to Amnesty International, in how they may or may not approach the fate of their citizens. I don't hold much faith that the government will rally to their aid, however, some sympathy may be raised amongst the Chinese people, thus creating some friction around the issue.

Whatever the case, this is a huge development in the battle to save the lives of the Bali 6 and to reform the Indonesian system of mandatory death. I'll keep you updated on any developments.

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Australian convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Sudan.

An Australian man who could face the death penalty in Sudan will today appear in court to appeal his conviction for murder.

George Forbes, 46, a construction manager with Kenyan firm Trax International, could be executed after he was last week convicted of killing Ukrainian flight engineer Mykola Serebrenikov, who was found hanging from a towel rack in the Trax compound in the southern city of Rumbek in March.

A High Court judge last week found Mr Forbes and three colleagues guilty of the killing, despite a post-mortem examination finding the death was suicide.

The case was transferred to the country's Court of Appeal after Australia's ambassador to Sudan, Dr Robert Bowker met with local officials including the Chief Justice of South Sudan.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said Australia's Vice Consul had travelled from Cairo to Sudan to support the Australian at his appeal hearing, which was scheduled to take place in Rumbek today.

Australian lawyers for Mr Forbes last night submitted a brief to Dr Bowker which will be used in his defence.

The court of appeal had agreed to accept the Australian lawyers' contribution, the spokesman said.

Melbourne barristers Julian McMahon and Lex Lasry, QC, who represented Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van before he was hanged in Singapore in 2005, are working on Mr Forbes' case on a pro-bono basis, along with Alex Danne, a solicitor with Allens Arthur Robinson who has expertise in Sudanese customary law.

Mr Forbes yesterday received medical treatment at a United Nations hospital in Rumbek, after Dr Bowker intervened to secure his release from the town's squalid prison.

He is staying at Trax's Rumbek compound.

Gerald Taylor, a relative of Mr Forbes who is helping to coordinate his defence, said local officials initially demanded a payment of more than A$180,000 for the release of Mr Forbes and his colleagues, but the men were eventually released without payment.

Mr Forbes became dehydrated in Rumbek's overcrowded prison, which exacerbated a malaria-related kidney condition.

He contracted typhoid while in custody in the lead up to his trial.

Parliamentary secretary for Foreign Affairs Greg Hunt welcomed Mr Forbes' release and praised Dr Bowker, who is shuttling between a tent in Rumbek and a mud hut in the southern capital Juba as he makes representations on the Australian's behalf.

"Whilst these developments around both the health of Mr Forbes and the legal case are positive, we remain cautious about the final outcome and will be completely vigilant until the legal process is finished and his rights have been fully preserved and protected," Mr Hunt said.

- The Age

This case seems really interesting in the sense that there appear to be many grounds for the appeal that is now being run in Sudan. I know very little about this case so far, but when I find out how the appeal process develops, and perhaps what grounds they are appealing on, I will update.

Perhaps he will be found innocent...?

Quote of the day:

"Till the infallibility of human judgments shall have been proved to me, I shall demand the abolition of the death penalty."

- Marquis de Lafayette