ICJR welcome the new chapter in 2022 by publishing an annual report on death penalty cases that have been collected throughout 2021. To the present, ICJR has consistently reported on the development of the situation related to the application of the death penalty every year since 2016 as part of our commitment to advocate the abolition of the death penalty in Indonesia.
The spirit of our determination for the total abolition of the death penalty is reflected in the Draft of Criminal Code (RKUHP) which has been included in the National Legislation Program. The RKUHP stipulates that there will be a middle ground between abolitionists and retentionists in terms of regulating the death penalty in Indonesia, namely through the opportunity for death row convicts to be granted with the commutation or change of sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment if during the ten-year probation period the death row convicts show a good attitude.
However, in its development, the current situation of death row convicts in the execution waiting list remains unclear. Many of the death row inmates have even been listed in the execution waiting list for more than ten years. This report elaborates the impact of the absence of a moratorium on the death penalty in the Indonesian criminal justice system, resulting in an increasing number of death row convicts.
ICJR issues the situation report on the death penalty policies to remind the Indonesian government of its commitment to consider a moratorium on the death penalty, and ultimately, the abolition of the death penalty in Indonesia, and to provides the developments on the number and situation of death row convicts in Indonesia every year. The commitments that have submitted in cycle 3 of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism from the UN human rights body will be re-examined in 2022. The Government of Indonesia must be able to provide the accountability aspect for its commitments that has been submitted in 2017.
Jakarta, January 27th, 2022
Erasmus A. T. Napitupulu
Executive Director of ICJR
