On Wednesday in Indonesia, the government proceeded with the execution by firing squad of eight men who had been arrested on drug charges, disdaining pleas from the international community to grant the men clemency. The ninth prisoner condemned to die and the only woman, Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina single mother with two young sons, was temporarily spared from execution after pleas from the Philippines, including one from famed boxer Manny Pacquaio.

Seven of the men executed came from outside Indonesia, only one was a native Indonesian, according to the Los Angeles Times. On Tuesday, the European Union and governments of France and Australia joined to release a statement pleading with President Joko Widodo on Tuesday to stop the executions, asserting, “It is not too late to change your mind. Forgiveness and rehabilitation are fundamental to the Indonesian judicial system as well as in our system.”

On Tuesday afternoon, families of the prisoners made their last visits to the condemned, then made public statements begging for mercy, to no avail.

The prisoners were dressed in white, then tied to poles in the jungle on Nusakambangan Island shortly after midnight before they were shot.

Veloso had claimed that she had been victimized by someone sewing drugs in the lining of her suitcase given to her by the boyfriend of Maria Kristina Sergio, who has been charged back in the Philippines with recruiting Veloso to smuggle drugs. The Philippine government claimed Veloso was an innocent victim of human trafficking; her attorneys said that Indonesia did not use an interpreter who understood her native language of Tagalog when they interrogated her.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop referred to the “ghastly process” the families of the condemned Australians endured, adding, “They do deserve respect and they do deserve to have dignity shown to them at this time of unspeakable grief, but that doesn’t seem to have been extended to them at this time.’

The victims included two Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, a Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, an Indonesian, Zainal Abidin, and four Nigerians, Martin Anderson, Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, Okwudili Oyatanze, and Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise

Indonesia ended a four-year moratorium on executions in 2013, and this year has increased the number of executions for drug crimes; Widodo has asserted that Indonesia is suffering from a drug emergency. In January, Indonesia executed five foreigners and one Indonesian on drug charges.