As with most aspects of criminal justice in sub-Saharan Africa, the death penalty as it currently exists in law is a colonial import. Criminal justice before the modern era was a private matter.
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Articles on Death penalty
Displaying 81 - 100 of 126 articles
Why do so many people support capital punishment?
India has only hanged four criminals since 2003. But given the state is founded on principles of non-violence, it’s surprising they executed any of them.
What are the arguments for and against the death penalty and do they stand up to examination?
SCOTUS effectively continued the practice of lethal injection with its ruling. But is lethal injection really as humane as we think?
In returning Paul Grigson to Jakarta so swiftly, the Australian government proved that its choice to put its relationship with Indonesia at risk for short-term political opportunism was pointless.
The West has stood by and watched as democracy was stifled in Egypt. It will reap the whirlwind.
Two years after the ousting of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, military rule is now firmly entrenched.
Despite global protests, the executions will not harm Indonesia’s position in international bodies and its co-operation with other countries.
In spite of vigorous appeals from Australia for Indonesia to spare the lives of Bali duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, most Indonesians were not persuaded. Chan and Sukumaran were executed last week…
While recent executions by Indonesia have captured the world’s attention, this year is also the 30th anniversary of the execution of political prisoners that first created global concern.
Whatever you think of capital punishment, if your police force helps convict people of capital crimes, you are complicit to some degree.
Indonesians have long felt that Australia lacks respect for their nation’s sovereignty, but Indonesia’s status as a rising power adds to the urgency of recalibrating our approach to the relationship.
The executions in Indonesia were a mistake. Eight people are dead, including Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, despite alleged violations in the judicial process.
The AFP revised the guidelines on international co-operation since alerting Indonesia to the Bali Nine but there is arguably still an imbalance between security and human rights considerations.
In condemning Indonesia’s execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Australia has relied on the same human rights obligations that it rejects when applied to asylum seekers.
However disappointed we may be in Indonesia’s actions, it can make a couple of claims in its defence.
Indonesia’s most distinguished practising human rights lawyer, Mulya Lubis, is central to continuing efforts in Indonesia to abolish the death penalty.
The execution of Bali Nine pair Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan presents major problems for the Australian and Indonesian governments.
Australia’s politicians were unable to make the most persuasive argument for clemency for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran because Australia is also a combatant in the misguided war on drugs.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor in Human Rights and International Law, University of Newcastle
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William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College
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Director of the University of Oxford Death Penalty Research Unit, Centre for Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
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Senior Lecturer, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University
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Associate Professor, Director of Eleos Justice, Faculty of Law, Monash University
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Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Death Penalty Project, University of Oxford
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Associate Lecturer, School of Government, Universitas Jendral Achmad Yani
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Term Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology Law and Society, George Mason University
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Director, La Trobe Asia, and Professor of International Relations, La Trobe University
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Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, The University of Melbourne
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Dean of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya
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Adjunct Professor, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University
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Assistant Professor of History, Emory University
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Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Secretary General of ALMI and Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law and Human Rights, Universitas Gadjah Mada
