(Bangkok, 21 November 2012): We, the undersigned organizations of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) who were meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, for our 7th General Assembly on 20-21 November 2012, convey our strongest condemnation towards the execution of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab by hanging him on 21st November morning in the prison of Pune in high secrecy. Kasab was the sole surviving convicted perpetrator of the 2008 Mumbai attack.
While we condemn the Mumbai attack itself, we denounce the execution, especially the secrecy surrounding the execution and the act of burying Kasab’s body inside the prison.
For years, many civil society groups and rights organizations have been demanding for the abolition of death penalty in India.
Despite this, India remains one of 78 countries including the US, China, Iran and Vietnam, which have not banned the death penalty. Furthermore, we are appalled that India, a member of both the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council, had recently voted against the UN General Assembly draft resolution calling for the abolition of death penalty. The rate of death penalty and execution remains disturbingly high in India.
We therefore strongly call on the Government of India to immediately adopt a moratorium on executions with the view of eventually abolishing the death penalty.
We also call on the entire nation to raise its strongest objection against death penalty in India.
- Rural Development Society Legal Resources for Social Action (RDS-LRSA), India
- Law & Society Trust (LST), Sri Lanka
- Community Self –Reliance Centre (CSRC), Nepal
- People’s Watch, India
- Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI), Indonesia
- Friends’Association for Rural Reconstruction (FARR), India
- Odhikar, Bangladesh
- Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Bangladesh
- Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), Pakistan
- Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), India
- Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), Nepal
- South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM), India
- People’s Empowerment Foundation (PEF), Thailand
- Tanggol-Kalikasan – Public Interest Environmental Law Office, The Philippines
- Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), Cambodia
- Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PHARA), The Philippines
- Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), The Philippines
- Think Centre, Singapore
- The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Indonesia
- Perhimpunan Bantuan Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia (PBHI), Indonesia
- Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Indonesia
- The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (IMPARSIAL), Indonesia
- Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Malaysia
For further inquiries, please contact:
- Mr. Sayeed Ahmad, FORUM-ASIA, Country Program Manager, +66842176150, [email protected]
- Mr. Ahmed Abid, South Asia Program Officer, + +66846719735, [email protected]
