3 more convicts executed as Indonesia bucks global downward trend in state killings

Indonesia executed three convicted murderers, including a mother and son, the latest in a spate of state killings bucking a downward trend in the death penalty globally, officials and activists said Saturday.

Human rights groups speculated that by ramping up killings, the Indonesian state was trying to demonstrate its authority over its 220 million people after 10 years of often chaotic democratic rule that emerged from decades of dictatorship.

"It is likely the government want to improve its image ... as a strong institution," said Zaenal Abidin, from the Legal Aid Foundation, one of several groups calling for last-minute stays of execution.

A firing squad executed the mother and son early Saturday in the industrial town of Surabaya on Java island, said their lawyer Soeteja Djajasmita.

Sumiarsih, 60, and Sugeng, 44, were convicted of murdering five members of a single family 20 years ago during a dispute over money. The pair go by single names.

Djajasmita said the pair prayed together before being led to an isolated field. They were then blindfolded and shot by 20 police officers from a distance of 50 meters, as is customary in Indonesia.

Sumiarsih's last request was that her cellmates continue to tend her flowers, he said.

Also on Java, prosecutor Lari Gau said a man was executed late Friday in Banten province.

He was convicted of murdering eight people in a series of ritual slayings, according to media reports.

Indonesia resumed executions in June after a 14-month hiatus, when two Nigerians were put to death for drug trafficking. Last week, a man who murdered more than 40 woman and girls was also put to death.

Authorities say they are preparing to execute three Islamic militants for their role in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. The men have said they are looking forward to dying, believing they will become martyrs.

Amnesty International, a London-based rights group that campaigns against the death penalty in all cases, said Indonesia's apparent embrace of the death penalty was especially upsetting because globally executions were on a downward trend.

"An execution is actually becoming quite a rare event," said Piers Bannister, the group's death penalty team coordinator. "Both common sense and numerous studies have shown it's not a deterrent."

The death penalty remains on the books in every country in Asia apart from East Timor and is regularly carried out in China, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. In Europe, only Belarus maintains the punishment. The United States and several African and Middle Eastern nations also kill convicts.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Indonesia was not party to any international efforts to ban the death penalty and the convictions followed a lengthy legal process.

"We have to respect the independence of Indonesian law," he said.