Religious heads differ on death penalty
Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, August 24, 2006

Religious leaders disagree on Indonesia's embrace of the death penalty, with one saying it is allowed by God and another reaching the opposite conclusion.
"Life and death are in the hands of God, the creator of life. No institution has the right to kill others for whatever reason," Catholic priest Mudji Sutrisno told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the first Indonesian Religious Leaders Congress here Wednesday.
He said the government should abolish capital punishment, as many modern countries have rejected it. "They believe there are other alternatives," he said, explaining that the central issue of the death penalty actually lay in the question of whether human beings were capable of doing good.
"As a country that believes in the death penalty, Indonesia should be extremely careful before deciding to impose the death penalty," he said, citing the example of Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marianus Riwu, who have been sentenced to death for inciting religious riots in Poso, Central Sulawesi. The violence on May 23, 2000 claimed the lives of 191 people, mostly Muslims.
Mudji said Tibo's case was different from that of Imam Samudra, Amrozi and his elder brother Ali Gufron, alias Mukhlas, who received the death penalty for their involvement in the 2002 nightclub bombing in Bali. "Tibo has not yet been proven guilty of masterminding the murders. If he's executed, people will wonder about the 16 people Tibo has reported to be the actual masterminds," he said.
He said the executions of Tibo and those of the three Bali bombers had become too politicized. The Bali bombing killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
"The executions have nothing to do with the law and the effort to enforce it. The government is simply trying to be fair. Muslim and Christian convicts are to be executed simultaneously," he said, adding that the decision to postpone the execution of those convicts had left the people with legal uncertainty.
National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Bambang Kuncoko said Wednesday that the National Police had been informed of the time and place for the execution of Tibo, Riwu and Da Silva. "I cannot reveal the information, though. I'm sorry," he told reporters.
Former religious affairs minister Tolchah Hasan said Islam recognized the death penalty. "We have no problem with capital punishment," he said. "But it must go through due legal process first. We can't just kill anybody," he said.
He believed the postponement of Tibo's execution had nothing to do with the politicization of religion. "It's just a matter of time," he said.
Since Indonesia gained independence in 1945, authorities have executed 71 people for criminal offenses. Under the current laws, the death penalty is only handed down for those convicted of drug trafficking, premeditated murder or terrorism. (07)