Comparative Analysis of Death Penalty Practices Socio-Political Influences in India and Indonesia
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Abstract
The paper compares the multi-dimensional issue regarding capital punishment in India and Indonesia from legal, socio-political, and human rights perspectives. It will further probe how, in these two countries, the death penalty evolved along the lines of ancient practices, colonial inheritance, and modern developments relating to its legal frameworks. It interprets constitutional provisions, landmark judicial decisions, and recent legal reforms, providing insight into the comparative legal interpretations and procedural methods of execution. The research examines in detail statistical analyses, demographic patterns, and regional trends that bring out these variations in the practice of the death penalty. It investigates what socio-political dynamics bring about capital punishment practices, such as public opinion, media, political parties, and NGOs. Wrongful convictions and human rights abuses are assessed against ethical debates and compliance with international human rights treaties. This research attempts to highlight some of the main similarities and differences in cultural, religious, and socio-political factors influencing the death penalty in India and Indonesia. The policy recommendations and future directions are addressed at the end, with the purpose of enlightening legal and policy reforms that uphold human rights and principles of justice, to add to global discourse on capital punishment.
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References
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Adhigama, Andre Budiman, Ajeng Gandini, Kamilah Genoveva Alicia, K. S. Maya Iftitahsari, and Maidina Rahmawati. 2020 Indonesian Death Penalty Report: Taking Lives During Pandemic. Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, 2020. https://icjr.or.id/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Death-Penalty-Report-ICJR-2020.pdf.
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———. “Indonesia: Reprehensible Executions Show Complete Disregard for Human Rights Safeguards.” Last modified April 29, 2015. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/04/indonesia-reprehensible-executions-show-complete-disregard-for-human-rights-safeguards/.
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Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab. (1980) 2 SCC 684.
Bachman, Ronet, and Russell K. Schutt. The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice. 7th ed. New Delhi, India: SAGE, 2020.
Britton, Jack. “Capital Punishment, Human Rights, and Indonesia's Chance for the Moral High Ground.” The Diplomat. Last modified April 3, 2018. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://thediplomat.com/2018/04/capital-punishment-human-rights-and-indonesias-chance-for-the-moral-high-ground/.
Charles Sturt University. “Bali Nine Executions Politically and Ethically Complex.” Accessed June 29, 2024. https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/charles-sturt-university/bali-nine-executions-politically-and-ethically-complex/.
Devender Pal Singh Bhullar v. State of N.C.T. of Delhi, April 12, 2013.
Everett, Francis. “The Reality of Capital Punishment: Examining the Controversial Existence of State-Sanctioned Death.” Medium, November 21, 2023. https://medium.com/@francis.everett/the-reality-of-capital-punishment-examining-the-controversial-existence-of-state-sanctioned-eadfe62b807c.
Hartanto, Bella Setia Ningrum Amin. “The Effectiveness of the Death Penalty as a Preventive Action in Suppressing the Number of Narcotics Crime in Indonesia.” ScienceRise: Juridical Science 1, no. 15 (2021): 29–37. https://doi.org/10.15587/2523-4153.2021.225793.
Hood, Roger, and Carolyn Hoyle. The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Online edition, Oxford Academic, March 22, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228478.001.0001. Accessed June 28, 2024.
Hoyle, Carolyn. Investigating Attitudes to the Death Penalty in Indonesia Part I Opinion Formers: An Appetite for Change. London: The Death Penalty Project, 2021. Accessed June 2021. https://www.deathpenaltyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DPP-Indonesia-Opinion-Formers-Report_Web.pdf.
Human Rights Watch. “Indonesia: Free All Political Prisoners.” Last modified May 9, 2015. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/09/indonesia-free-all-political-prisoners#:~:text=Clemencies%20require%20a%20request%20for%20clemency%20from%20the,whose%20legal%20process%20is%20not%20yet%20exhausted%20abolition.
———. So Long as They Die: Lethal Injections in the United States. April 23, 2006. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.hrw.org/report/2006/04/23/so-long-they-die/lethal-injections-united-states.
Indian Bar Association. “Death Penalty: Contemporary Issues.” Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.indianbarassociation.org/death-penalty-contemporary-issues/.
Institute for Criminal Justice Reform. Death Penalty Policy in Indonesia. December 2017. https://icjr.or.id/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/DEATH-PENALTY-POLICY-final-1.pdf.
IIT Bombay. “Death Penalty: When Justice is Seen to be Done.” Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.cps.iitb.ac.in/death-penalty-when-justice-is-seen-to-be-done/.
Kramer, Matthew H. The Ethics of Capital Punishment: A Philosophical Investigation of Evil and its Consequences. Oxford, 2011. Online edition, Oxford Academic, January 19, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199642182.001.0001. Accessed June 28, 2024.
Lev, Daniel S. “Colonial Law and the Genesis of the Indonesian State.” Indonesia, no. 40 (1985): 57–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/3350875.
Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 1983 SC 957.
Masselman, George. “Dutch Colonial Policy in the Seventeenth Century.” The Journal of Economic History 21, no. 4 (1961): 455–68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2114411.
Muller, F. M., and G. Buhler. The Laws of Manu. 1st ed. Routledge, 2001. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315029221.
Mukesh v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2017) 6 SCC 1.
National Law University, Delhi. Death Penalty India Report (DPIR), Volume 2 (2016; Project 39A). Accessed June 29, 2024. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By7frQ8Q1_moUTJUZjUxelRFWE0/view?resourcekey=0-S0DHQDHnjFIqzTfERoNWDQ.
———. Deathworthy: A Mental Health Perspective of the Death Penalty (Project 39A). https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a843a9a9f07f5ccd61685f3/t/616fd7988256c93ab9735618/1634719720928/Deathworthy_MainReport_19Oct_2021.pdf.
Otto, J. M. “Sharia and National Law in Indonesia.” In Sharia Incorporated. A Comparative Overview of the Legal Systems in Twelve Muslim Countries in Past and Present, 433–490. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2010. https://hdl.handle.net/1887/16318.
Pew Research Center, "World’s Muslim Population More Widespread Than You Might Think," Pew Research Center, January 31, 2017, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/01/31/worlds-muslim-population-more-widespread-than-you-might-think/.
Penal Reform International. Sharia Law and the Death Penalty. July 2015. https://cdn.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Sharia-law-and-the-death-penalty.pdf.
Project 39A. “Abolition of the Death Penalty: A Tough Road Ahead for India.” Project 39A. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.project39a.com/writings/abolition-of-the-death-penalty-a-tough-road-ahead-for-india.
Rappler. “How Indonesia Executes Death Row Convicts.” Last modified July 30, 2016. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.rappler.com/features/world/indonesia/141384-executions-death-penalty-process/index.html.
The Diplomat. “Australia-Indonesia Relations after the Executions.” Last modified May 7, 2015. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/australia-indonesia-relations-after-the-executions/.
The New York Times. “Indonesia Executes Four Drug Smugglers Despite Protests.” Last modified August 13, 2016. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/world/asia/indonesia-executions-drug-smuggling.html.
Vatsa, Apala. “Death Penalty in India: An Examination of the Historical Discourse.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 80 (2019): 1174–82. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27192972.