Halt Impending Executions, Secretary-General Appeals to Government of Indonesia

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General appeals to the Government of Indonesia to stop the reportedly imminent execution of a number of prisoners for alleged drug-related crimes.

The United Nations opposes the use of capital punishment in all circumstances.  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.  Drug crimes are generally not considered to meet this threshold.

The Secretary-General urges President Joko Widodo to consider declaring a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Indonesia and to move towards its abolition.