UN concerned by death penalty for drug crimes in Asia

(Vatican Radio) The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) is concerned about the continued use of the death penalty for drug crimes in parts of South East Asia. The UN rights office has especially urged the Indonesian authorities to reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty and to conduct a thorough review of all requests for pardon.

Listen the report by correspondent Peter Kenny: 

 “Last Sunday, six people convicted of drug offences were executed in Indonesia in spite of several national and international appeals,” said the commission’s spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

“Sixty others remain on death row for drug-related offences,” she said. “We are particularly concerned about the respect for due process in such cases after the President reportedly stated that he will reject all requests for clemency for drug-related crimes.”

Shamdasani said that Indonesia has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Covenant says that anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.

According to international human rights jurisprudence, capital punishment can only be applied to the crime of murder or intentional killing and not to drug offences.