Bali bombers' execution raises questions over death penalty

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Bali bombers' execution raises questions over death penalty
Reporter: Brigid Glanville
MARK BANNERMAN: As the three Bali bombers wait for their execution, the debate over the death penalty is once again an issue.

For victims of the bombing and their families it's a day they've been waiting for, a chance to see justice to convicted killers.

But human rights advocates claim the Bali bombers should not be killed and suggest Australians should oppose the death penalty in all situations.

Brigid Glanville reports.

BRIGID GLANVILLE: Gold Coast real estate agent Glenn Cosman was at the door of the Sari Club in Bali in 2002 when a bomb went off. His two friends who were also there survived, but both of them lost limbs. Glenn Cosman says he believes the Bali bombers deserve the death penalty.

GLENN COSMAN: I'm happy for it to happen, absolutely. They certainly deserve what they're getting and I think it's justice for the crime.

You know I heard recently a Member of Parliament I think in Western Australia stood up and she said she didn't, you know, want them to have the death penalty. I think it's people just trying to put their names out there in the public really. It's none of their business and they should get out of it.

Glenn Cosman says he can understand people not believing in the death penalty, but not when it comes to mass murderers.

GLENN COSMAN: I can certainly see why when the death penalty here and the last few people that were put to death there was some ambiguity in their sentencing and their guilt. But there is absolutely no ambiguity in the guilt of the three Bali bombers. They're certainly guilty. They've admitted to it and they're proud of it, which is a very sad thing.

I certainly went over to Indonesia and saw the trials and saw the processes over there and you know, one of them that was on trial the day I was there was actually remorseful and very sorry for his actions. And I certainly you know don't mind him not getting the death penalty.

But these guys aren't remorseful and certainly don't regret their actions. And I think they'd do it again if they got out tomorrow so really, they really should be put to death because they're not going to be reformed.

BRIGID GLANVILLE: Chris Sidoti from the Human Rights Council of Australia disagrees.

CHRIS SIDOTI: Well human rights are universal values and human dignity applies to all human beings. At a most practical element, practical level, there just seems to be no point in making martyrs out of murderers, and so that's the first thing that needs to be said.

But we need to move beyond that kind of pragmatic approach that says we are not going to make martyrs out of these mass murderers, to saying that there are values about human life and human dignity that we as a nation have traditionally upheld and we should uphold now.

Indonesian lives are no less valuable than Australian lives and if we are interested in protecting Australian lives we must be consistent. We must say that all human life is important.

BRIGID GLANVILLE: But international law expert from the Australian National University in Canberra professor Don Rothwell, says when it comes to the Bali bombers people often have double standards.

He says the former Howard government took the stance that if an Australian such as one of the Bali nine were facing the death penalty it would oppose such a move, but it didn't have a problem with the Bali bombers being executed.

Professor Rothwell wants the Rudd Government to make it clear it doesn't support the death penalty for anyone.

DON ROTHWELL: Well the first thing is that they have to be very careful in terms of the way that they choose their language. Secondly they need to be cautious about not in any way engaging in megaphone diplomacy with Indonesia. I think that's the last way in which progress is made with Indonesia on matters such as this.

The Rudd Government has indicated that there have been already bilateral ministerial discussions in which Rudd Government ministers have been making their positions known on the death penalty and no doubt that dialogue will continue as long as Australians are on death row in Indonesia.

But I think that the Government also needs to be introducing a strong human rights dimension into that debate and the fact that Indonesia is a party to the international covenant on civil and political rights certainly allows for that dialogue to be developed.

BRIGID GLANVILLE: Professor Rothwell also says if the Government is lobbying Indonesia to get rid of the death penalty it should also be lobbying the United States and China on the same issue.