Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors to Indonesia yesterday after they both had citizens among five foreigners and an Indonesian woman executed on drug trafficking charges.

Amnesty International condemned the executions as a “retrograde step.”

The five foreigners from Nigeria, Malawi, Vietnam, the Netherlands and Brazil — along with the Indonesian — were shot by firing squad shortly after midnight yesterday.

“The use of the death penalty, which the world society increasingly condemns, affects severely the relationship of our countries,” said Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

She had made a personal plea to Indonesian President Joko Widodo who refused her last-minute appeal along with one from the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Ms Rousseff said that she was outraged and appalled by the execution.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders called the execution “a cruel and inhumane punishment … an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.”

Amnesty International said that the first executions under Indonesia’s new president, who took office in November, were “a retrograde step” for human rights.

Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo has said that there is no excuse for drug dealers and that “hopefully, this will have a deterrent effect.”

President Widodo has insisted that he will not grant clemency to the dozens of drug convicts on death row.

“What we do is merely aimed at protecting our nation from the danger of drugs,” said Mr Prasetyo, adding that 40 to 50 people die each day from drugs in Indonesia, which has become the largest drug market in south-east Asia.