Indonesia will execute 14 drug convicts including at least four foreigners this weekend, the attorney general said on Wednesday, stepping up a “war on drugs” that has drawn international condemnation.
Those executed will include nationals of Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and India, H. Muhammad Prasetyo told reporters at the state palace. News of the impending executions prompted condemnation from the United Nations and the European Union.
“We understand that there is a camp that does not agree with us, but no matter what, this is not a pleasant work but it still has to be done,” Prasetyo said, adding that notifications had been sent to the foreign embassies.
He did not say which day of the weekend the executions would happen.
The U.N. human rights chief expressed alarm and urged Indonesia to reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty that was suspended in 2013.
“I find it deeply disturbing that Indonesia has already executed 19 people since 2013, making it the most prolific executioner in South-East Asia,” said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.
The EU also called on Indonesia to halt all executions.
“The death penalty is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity,” a spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief said in a statement.
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