Government Sanctioned Killing

Capital punishment in Indonesia.

In all probability two young Australian men will, in the very near future, be taken from their cell to some remote spot in the middle of the night and killed by a firing squad. A secret and you might say furtive operation. At the same time there will probably be another three of four men and or women shot alongside them.  Apparently the Indonisian Government prefer to have multiple executions take place at the same time, but for reasons known best to themselves not always in the same place or remote area. It all seems very grubby if that’s the word to use for such a violent obscene act as deliberately executing/killing fellow human beings no matter what crime they have been found guilty of commiting.

These two Australians were condemned for trying to smuggle 8.3 kgs of heroin OUT of Bali, Indonesia, not INTO Indonesia way back in April 2005, and the Indonesian authorities were notified by the Australian Federal Police that these two men and their 7 mules were about to try to get this heroin out of the country. Naturally the Indonesians moved in and caught the lot. The two men under sentence of death were of course the ringleaders and the rest of the gang have had their sentences reduced but for the ringleaders no such relief nor is any expected. They will be shot.

What is causing concern here in Australia is the action of the AFP in notifying the Indonesians of the attempt knowing perfectly well the policy in Indonesia as regards drug smugglers. Had they not informed Indonesia and allowed the gang to board their aircraft and return to Australia apprehended them as soon as they stepped off the plane these men would not now be preparing to die under a fusilade of bullets fired at them from a distance of 5-10metres, but be incarcerated for many years to come in an Australian prison. We in Australia have done away with the obscenity of ‘Capital Punishment” as have so many other civilized countries on this planet. 

But why, I ask, do the Indonesians carry out the executions in such a way. Taking the prisoners who are to be shot usually to some remote island or beach around midnight given the choice of either standing sitting or kneeling being blindfolded or not and then shot in cold blood. Why are they not killed in the prisons where they are being held? Why have they not got a set execution ground within the prison confines for carrying out their government sanctioned killings? Do they suppose that by moving out in the middle of the night to some remote spot to effect the executions makes it acceptable? That out of sight is out of mind perhaps?

I have no truck with drug smugglers / dealers / peddlers in death and destruction, they deserve nothing less than the full force of the law, and the laws must be strong to be an effective deterrent to any would be dealer. 

Of course the only real way to stop this insidious trade is to do away with the prohibition and to legalize the drug trade under strict supervision.

Will the execution of these two men and the other people on  death row in Indonesian jails stop fools from trying to buck the system? I doubt it. Will there be any backlash from Australians with their seemingly endless love affair with Bali and things Balinese? Will it stop the Aussie tourist heading for their most popular holiday spot overseas? It might for a week or two after the men have been shot but they will soon be forgotten and Bali will once again become the favoured holiday destination of Australians, then again it’s likely that it will have no effect whatsoever; which is my bet!

I doubt very much whether  many people will actually care after their death, although I’m sure my good chum Neill will feel some sadness, he was a teacher/master at their high school and they were two of his ‘boys’!